Canon Canonet QL 17 / QL 19 / QL 25
The Canonet QL range was introduced by Canon in March 1965[1], as a development of the Canonet. They are 35mm rangefinder cameras with shutter priority CdS-meter controlled auto exposure and manual override. Each is fitted with the Canon QL quick film loading system.
The QL17 had a 45mm f1.7 lens, the QL19 an f1.9, and the QL25 an f2.5, set in Copal SV shutters. The 17 and 19 have speeds from 1s-1/500s, and the 25 has 1/15-1/500; there was also a more basic QL 19E model, from November 1965 with a 1/15-1/500s Seiko shutter, recognisable by the self-timer lever being mounted beside the lens barrel, rather than on the barrel itself on the Copal models. The QL 17 has a battery tester. Later models of the 17 have a 40mm lens.
Early models are seen[2] with no hot shoe and the PC connector beside the lens barrel - which is all bare metal rather than having blacked rings, and a black-on-white QL badge; the top-plate is flat along the full length. Later models have a white-on-black badge, a plastic moulding on the advance lever, a hot shoe and a PC socket under a cover on the end, below the rewind crank; the rangefinder window now shows a transparent square visible in the middle rather than being entirely frosted; the top-plate has a small step down to the winding lever/shutter release. The "new" models, from 1969, have an extra pin on the hot shoe to link to the Canonlite D Speedlite flashgun[3].
The latest model of the QL17 is the QL 17 GIII.
Links
- Canon Canonet QL 17 at Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.fr
- in the Canon Camera Museum:
