Classic Canon Rangefinders

<p>I currently using a Canon P on a daily basis. The 7,VI-T seem house bound as of late. I'd like to read of others on this forum that use these great cameras and the lSM lenses that fit them.</p>

<p>I have just obtained my very first Canon rangefinder, the Canon P. My other RF's (excluding the fixed lens campy Minoltas and Yashicas and Olympus XA...) are the Voigtlander Bessa R2A and the Leica CL (with the usual broken meter, making it a small M4 I guess). Anyway I love the Canon P, the feel of it, the mechanics, the size and weight, and I can't wait to see my first roll of film, which I might process tonight. We shall see....</p>

<p>PS By the way if anyone is thinking of getting rid of the Serenar 85mm f/2 lens for the Canon RF series, contact me as I'm looking for one. Secondarily, the 100mm f/3.5</p>

<p>So far my "classic Canon rangefinders" consist of exactly one Canonet QL 17 in basic black, and a Canonet 28.</p>

<p>Sweet as they are to me ("the poor person's Leica"), I suspect that these might not be up to your standard. ;)</p>

<p>I wonder why the ex-Soviet re-manufacturers have not changed any Zorkii cameras into early Canons? Or <em>have</em> they? Wouldn't an "ex-Luftwaffe Canon" be awesome?</p>

<p>I have a nice Canon 7Sz I use a lot. I am just auctioning off my Canon 7 because I replaced it with a Bessa. I have a lovely QL 17 (in burgundy wine!) that I carry a lot too.</p>

<p>Check out my recent post: <br>

<a href="00XHsX">http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00XHsX</a><br /><br /></p>

<p>I managed to clean up a Canonet recently, the original model with the bottom winding lever. I still haven't got the Auto working (and I suspect I never will), but I like the camera. I see the LSM ones going on ebay for ridiculous amounts of money, and I've decided that unless I can pick one up locally for very little money, I will concentrate on other sorts of cameras. I remain a dedicated large format user, there are hundreds of vintage lenses I would buy before spending the money on another Canon.</p>

<p>They look cool though.</p><div></div>

<p>I have a Canon III LTM rangefinder that I use on a fairly regular basis. It typically wears the 50mm f/1.9 collapsible Serenar, but I also use the 135mm f/3.5 and notably the Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 Super-Wide Heliar Aspherical, one of my favorite lenses. I have several photos with that camera in my portfolio here. Essex in NJ did an outstanding job of refurbishing it and now this 1950s camera works as new! I guess my only critique would be the rather small viewfinder, but an overall outstanding all-mechanical camera!</p>

<p>Those are some great pictures. I have to wait for my computer Guru to arrive so i can upload some of my efforts. I'm really a beginner at RF work. I've really grown to enjoy the "feel" of the canon P. My Bessa R is a very good piece of hardware but for some reason I seem to take better shots with the P. I suspect the photographer is at fault. All will be reveled!</p>

<p>I had a Bessa R, a Leica M4-P and a Canon P. They are all very good cameras but in the end I only kept the Canon P. Actually I have two of them right now but I might sell the other one later. I've also had a series of different Canon LTM lenses. My favourite Canon lenses must be the 35mm/1.8 and the 50mm/1.4 which I think is almost as good as the 50mm Pre-ASPH Summilux. The 50mm/1.2 is nice to have too but it's a bit too large for P and could feel more balanced with the 7 I guess. I also have two sets of quite rare Canon P accessory light meters. Both are of the newer, swinging type and work accurately. Finally I have a few Canon reloadable metallic film cassettes which I use regularly.</p>

 

<p>I use a Canon P more than any other RF camera. For the fun of it, I then got a black P followed by a green P.</p>

<p>Lately I've been using a Canon L1 but just got an "inoperable" VT Deluxe from KEH that turned out to be operable in every way. To me the 7 has the best viewfinder of all.</p>

Interestingly enough, I have all versions of the QL17, in both silver and black. My favorite is a non-GIII black version which

I bought for $10. I also have one P and 4 Canon 7s, one of which is a black model. What I don't have is a good collection

of Canon screw mount lenses, the only one I have is the big 50mm f/.095 bayonet mount. I've shooting them with an old

lanthanum glass Summicron or the early Industar 22 that normally lives on my FED-'48-Zorki. The P is the most

pocketable of the bunch, but I like the meters on the 7s.

<p>I only have a few Canon lenses: f1.9 50mm and f3.2 35mm Serenars, early (chrome) and late chrome & black) f1.8 50mm and an f1.4 50. I mainly use an f1.4 Nikkor.</p>