Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Canon Canonet QL-17 GIII

This slick little rangefinder is "findable" and popular for its nice 45mm f/1.7 lens, good looks, auto exposure, and its light quiet and compact nature. The QL-17 GIII is probably the most popular japanese rangefinder except for the Nikon rangefinders, which are way expensive. The only real problem with this one is the lens is not detachable. Also the light meter is a bit over-sensitive with the newer 625A 1.5v alkaline batteries. I tried shooting on a sunny day with 800 (it was already in the camera) and it was a total pain in the ass. Now I realize I could've pushed the film by adjusting the ASA knob like it was an exposure compensation control like on the Pentax ME Super. In completely unfair comparision (besides price), I'd go for the ME Super because it's also small, light and has auto exposure but it's an SLR (a plus) and it has interchangeable excellent lenses. The Canonet is basically a really nice point and shoot. The QL-17 GIII is the only valuable version of Canonets (the QL-19 to a lesser degree), partly because it's the best of them, but also because it was popularized by the movie "Pecker". As far as cool 35mm rangefinders go, I'd have to say my Kodak Retina IIa is a lot cooler because it folds and because of the Schneider lens which is crisp and takes wonderful pictures.

1 comment:

bucs said...

wow nice camera..been looking one myself for ages : (