Canon Canonet G-III QL17

reviewed by Patrick Umlauf, December 2000

Back in the sixties and seventies the main manufacturers produced a very nicely machined type of camera. They all had a compact rugged durable metal body, a mechanical rangefinder, mechanical lens shutter, fixed fast lenses and they featured manual as well as autoexposure modes. Most models cost as much as today's point-and-shoots and so many of them have been sold. Today they can be picked up cheaply on flea markets or eBay. The most popular representatives are the Minolta HiMatic 7sII, the Konica Auto S2, the Olympus Trip 35 and the Canon Canonet G-III QL17 being the most advanced model imho.

Sales for the G-III started in 1972. Canon produced a chrome as well as an all black version. Today the black version is hard to find. Expect to pay € 50 up to € 100 for clean chrome bodies. I payed about € 75 for mine in mint condition with case and strap.

Handling the G-III gives a feel of solidity. It weighs about 620 gr and is thus comparable to a mid-range AF SLR-body but at a much smaller size. The 40 mm f1.7 lens is BIG by point-and-shoot standards and fast. The glass (yes glass, no plastic) is multicoated and capable of producing very good results when stopped down to f5.6. Loading film is quick and easy thanks to the quick load feature ('QL').

Looking through the viewfinder is a breeze. It's bright with a slight blueish colour. An aperture scale and the meter needle is visible on the right side. You focus by turning the focussing ring until the central part of the viewfinder image matches with the mirrored second image. Once you are used to it it's simple and fast. You start the meter simply by uncovering the lens. With the G-III you select a shutter speed and the camera displays the metered aperture in the viewfinder (shutter speed priority). Turning the aperture ring from the 'A' position to an aperture setting disables the meter. Aperture and shutter speed can be set independantly but there is no metered manual mode.

The blue numbers on the aperture ring indicate flash metering modes. The numbers equal the guidenumbers of the dedicated Canonet flashes. I.e. when mounting a flash with guidenumber 28 the Canonet reads the distance setting of the focussing ring and calculates the according aperture (simply guidenumber/distance done by a variable resistor in the focussing ring). 3D-flash-metering of the seventies. Clever!

Pressing the shutter release is somewhat different to today's cameras. The G-III's lock-needle release button couples the aperture mechanism mechanically to the meter needle. You have to press the release button about 5 mm until the shutter fires. Pressing the button halfway locks the meter needle in autoexposure mode and is effectively an exposure-lock. Shooting is absolutely vibration free with a silent 'click'. No mirror shake, no shutter curtain, no winder noise.

A winding lever of outstanding smoothness transports film and cocks the shutter. Two small windows on the back indicate whether the shutter is cocked or not and whether the film is transported correctly. I found this to be nice features.

• Solid feel and handling, quality
• Silent shutter
• Fast lens
• Flash hotshoe and PC-socket
• Bright viewfinder
• Self timer (I notoriously forget the cable release at home)
• No batteries needed for manual operation

• Focussing ring turns only about 70 degrees
• No DOF-scale
• Shutter speed settings without 1s and 1/2s
• Max. ASA setting is only 800
• Lens protrudes into the visible viewfinder area
• No metering function with manual override

• Size and weight (FM2 or OM-1 are only little more in size and much more fun)
• Rangefinder focussing (I found it confusing to focus and compose when all subjects appear to be equally sharp)
• Lens protrudes into the visible viewfinder area

The Canonet G-III QL17 is a very nice camera for snapshots, street photography or just to take it with you on a walk. It's cheap, rugged and a good alternative to a modern point-and-shoot especially when you love to adjust settings manually. The results are in no way worse than those taken with a very good p&s.

The pictures below were taken during a sunday afternoon walk. No tripod was used. No separate lightmeter was used. Toning with Photoshop. Fuji Neopan 400 in Xtol.

Text and pictures copyright 2000 - 2007 Patrick Umlauf

Thanks for the info. It helped. I am looking at one of these cameras for sale on eBay which I hope to buy reasonable. I especially wanted a manually adjustable camera. Dale

Dale (20.10.2006)

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