Aperture of Canonet QL 17

[krisheylen]

Hi,<p>

I got my hands on a Canonet QL17 GIII lately, and find it a lovely

piece of technology. I think I could be falling in love with it :-)<p>

That said, after the first roll I burned with it, I saw something is

wrong with the aperture. When I want to use it wide open, and I push

the shutter halfway, the aperture closes to about the same aperture

as when setting to between f/4 and f/2.8 (estimated). This happens

both in A-mode as completely manual. Frames shot with smaller

apertures came out normally both in A-mode as manual. Is there a

(easy) way to fix this myself (on the cheap...) ?<p>

Meanwhile I use it with faster film and try to avoid apertures wider

than f/4, but wider could be usefull sometimes of course, since it

should be a real fast lens at f/1.7. <p>

I apreciate your help.

[awahlster]

Kris, Checking mine which is in perfect working order in every way having just been completely tuned up.

 

If I turn the aperture off of the A setting and tune the aperture to 1.7 there is no apperant diaphram showing as the lens remains wide open. if I turn it to f2.0 it will instantly turn to be stopped down showing a 5 sided diaphram which as I turn the aperture dial towards f16 it gets smaller and smaller JUST as it should. No operation of the shutter is needed for this to happen.

 

Are you saying that if you do the same thing the diaphram stops down to what. You can not control the aperture in Auto mode it is set by the camera based on the light meter.

 

If you do this manually it should behave exactly as I have described above.

 

I have serviced a number of these cameras and can help you but I need a little more info.

 

Is your battery fresh and is it a 1.35V merc or are you using a 1.5V cell which will not give you an accurate exposure unless you have had the meter modified.

[krisheylen]

Thank you for your answer.<p>

 

Maybe I did not explain well in my first post. When in manual turning the aperture dial, I can see the diaphragm open and close to the chosen f-stop. At f/1.7 the blades are not visible (wide open). When I then press the shutter slightly, the blades close again before taking the shot, to an aperture of aprox. f/2.8.<p>Then in A-mode, when an aperture of f/1.7 is measured, I check the position of the diaphragm after taking the shot, and it is also closed to about f/2.8 instead of the measured wide open.<p>

I have been trying this a hundred times without film in it also, and it always does the same: press button, close diaphragm.<p>Regards,<br>Kris.

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

It is possible to adjust the actual aperture opening but this involves opening of the camera body. I have seen a Canonet service manual (not just the exploded views as seen on www.kyphoto.com/classics) explaining how to adjust it.

 

However, you will need some mechanical skills since the Canonet design is everything but simple. Any repairman with some experience in older cameras should be able to fix this.

[krisheylen]

Thanks<p>

Maybe I'd better keep my hands off then, and try to find someone with some experience.<p>

Maybe another camera would be cheaper after all :-)

<p>Regards,<br>Kris.