david_mount Posted May 10, 2003 Share Posted May 10, 2003 I finally got my longed-for Canonet QL17 from Ebay - but it arrived ill-packed, with 2 top cover screws missing (so the cover's flapping in the breeze) and a very old strip of masking tape over the battery compartment...ho hum. Well, I clean it up as best I can (masking tape reacts with aluminium over time btw, pits badly); the adjustment rings, and shutter/aperture action, are stiff and cranky but it seems to free up a little with use; I hope sometime to get the courage up to remove the top cover completely to clean the VF and mirrors, but until that day I just want to make sure it's secure. So...if you have a dead one, and don't mind parting with 2 screws and a battery cover, get in touch. I got a Rollei E19C rechargeable flash and charger unit with the camera that I can't use, because of UK mains voltage (see my ad under 'Electronic Flash') so if you have 48mm filters/macros or other QL stuff too, maybe we can trade with that. Any CLA advice or ideas for screw/battery cover replacement are very, very welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger c Posted May 10, 2003 Share Posted May 10, 2003 I've had a couple off eBay and returned both of them for a refund. Hopefully yours is mechanically sound - neither of mine were. They're all getting long in the tooth and aren't economically repairable if anything major goes wrong. Check the shutter release/auto exposure interlock (the shutter shouldn't fire in insufficient light), the flash sync and the rangefinder adjustment (relatively easy DIY). I've seen all of these as faults. BTW, to remove the wind lever you need a length of dowel with the finder of a rubber glove over the end (or similar) - it's called a "friction screwdriver" and unscrews the chrome ring on top of the lever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_mount Posted May 10, 2003 Author Share Posted May 10, 2003 Hello Roger, thanks for your quick reply; >>Hopefully yours is mechanically sound - neither of mine were. Bad luck there, twice! At first sight I thought mine was jammed; it'd had a rough ride, ill-packed (no padding in the box) ... B^( ... but as noted above, it does seem to be easing off with a little manipulation. >>They're all getting long in the tooth and aren't economically repairable if anything major goes wrong. Hmmm, yes...particularly since they seem notoriously unfriendly to amateur mechanics. The stuff I've read here fills me with admiration for people's cleverness and dexterity, but makes me even more sure I'd just fubar it. As soon as I can possibly afford it, it's off to a mechanic for a good c/l/a...AFTER the 35SP, that is. >>Check the shutter release/auto exposure interlock (the shutter shouldn't fire in insufficient light) Check... >>the flash sync Check...well, it *seems* to fire with the shutter, anyway... >>and the rangefinder adjustment (relatively easy DIY) You've got me there. I have fallen off the tiny raft of my camera knowledge into the stormy sea of photographic ignorance. More research is evidently in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted May 11, 2003 Share Posted May 11, 2003 Sounds like your Canonet *is* the junker. Instead, look for a good one and save this one as a parts donor. BTW, you might find the screws you need by cannibalizing a junk lens - lotsa tiny screws of various sizes in there. Scrouge around pawn shops for the funkiest, nastiest, fungussy, dented up POS you can find and give 'em a buck for it. The battery is inserted sideways and retained by spring pressure inside the compartment so the tape is just a backup to keep it from falling out if the camera is jolted a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_mount Posted May 11, 2003 Author Share Posted May 11, 2003 >Sounds like your Canonet *is* the junker. Instead, look for a good one and save this one as a parts donor. No, no! This is not yet established...actually, I'd love to do just that, but the money won't be there for, ooh, about the next thousand years. >BTW, you might find the screws you need by cannibalizing a junk lens - lotsa tiny screws of various sizes in there. Scrouge around pawn shops for the funkiest, nastiest, fungussy, dented up POS you can find and give 'em a buck for it. Here in Rip-off Britain that junk lens would go for $25...well, possibly a *slight* exaggeration. Good call, as a source of tiny screws. Those tiny threads are very unforgiving tho', and it'd be easy to get it wrong. >The battery is inserted sideways and retained by spring pressure inside the compartment so the tape is just a backup to keep it from falling out if the camera is jolted a bit. Uh-huh. It's in the original case so the battery's not going anywhere (except loose, maybe) - guess I'm just picky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger c Posted May 11, 2003 Share Posted May 11, 2003 Rangefinder vertical adjustment is easy. Get the top cover off (to remove the rewind knob, you jam a chopstick or something in the fork of the cassette axle and turn the knob anticlockwise). You will see the adjustment screw through a hole in the rangefinder cover. Horizontal adjustment (i.e. focus) is more difficult, as is adjustment of the parallax correction. You can work it out for yourself - I spent hours getting it absolutely perfect on a QL19 once - but I can't remember enough to describe all the screws in detail. Incidentally, I cleaned up all the rangefinder internals with acetone, which didn't damage the silvering of the prism. The viewfinder was fantastically bright afterwards, but the results were Not Good as the QL19 lens isn't one of the world's greatest. I sold it and I believe the buyer was very happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger c Posted May 11, 2003 Share Posted May 11, 2003 BTW, try Jessops for 48mm filters. I acquired a yellow, red and orange at knockdown prices and sold them on eBay for more! A really useful item, given that these filters aren't made anymore, is a Hoya 48 --> 55 stepup ring, which I bought for a whole £1.30 from Snowdonia Photographic Society's website! There must be others out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_mount Posted May 11, 2003 Author Share Posted May 11, 2003 Thanks for those posts, Roger; most heartening. I do have some Nail Polish Remover (don't ask) but it's got all kinds of cosmetic goo in it as well as acetone; presumably you can get pure acetone from pharmacies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglas_green1 Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 If screws and the battery cover are all you need, get a junker Canonet 28 with the same body as the QL17 GIII - Working ones can be found for under $25, and ones with broken meters should barely cost more than postage. The cameras share most of the parts other than the lens and shutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_mount Posted May 13, 2003 Author Share Posted May 13, 2003 Cool and graceful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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