Canon Canonet QL 17 GIII
The Canonet QL 17 GIII is the final, high-end version of Canon's famous Canonet compact rangefinder series of the 60s and 70s. It provides shutter-priority auto-exposure and parallax compensation with its 40mm f/1.7 lens. The lens is actually sharpest when wide-open, a rarity in photography that makes this an excellent camera for use in low-light. Its Copal leaf shutter offers shutter speeds from 1/4 to 1/500, with X flash sync at any speed.
The meter uses a CdS cell mounted on the lens, just above the front element. It offers shutter-priority autoexposure, or metered manual mode using a match-needle system in the viewfinder. It was designed to use the PX625 mercury battery, no longer available in the US. The circuitry in the camera holds up well against slightly higher voltages, so you can use a PX625A alkaline battery as a drop-in replacement, but you will find your exposures tend to be slightly off. Only the autoexposure system requires a battery, however. The mechanical shutter functions perfectly under manual settings with no battery whatsoever. Therefore, if you own a handheld light meter, you can use this camera without a battery.
The QL 17 GIII is about 2/3 the weight of a Leica M6 with a similar lens, and is much quieter, making it an excellent alternative to higher-priced rangefinder cameras. They existed in chrome or in black. They can often be found on eBay for as little as $30, and with over a million of the cameras sold, they are fairly common at flea markets and garage sales as well.
Links
- Offical Canon Museum Entry for GIII
- Karen Nakamura's overview at Photoethnography
- Steven Gandy's overview at Cameraquest
- Canonet QL17 versus the Leica M6 by Kyle Cassidy
- Matt Denton's overview (including repair tips)
- Repair Notes by Rick Oleson
- Henry Taber's guide to Canonet blade cleaning
- Favorite Classics on the GIII
- The Canonet QL17 FAQ
- Instruction Manuals
- kataan.org review
- The Other Martin Taylor's opinion on the GIII
- Lionel's Canonet QL17 GIII overview in french at 35mm-compact.com
Photos
- Random photos from pbase
- sample photos from Dragan @ dnik.ch
- sample photos from Craig @ therangefinder.org
