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Drhfuhruhurr
Tinkerer
Username: Drhfuhruhurr
Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2009 - 07:55 am: | 
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Hello,
Sorry in advance for the length of this, but I wonder if anyone can help and/or offer some advice. I have a Canonet QL17 GIII that seems to be having a few problems.
I bought it about 2 years ago and it’s never wound on as smoothly, or been as pleasant to use, as I would’ve expected it to. The wind-on lever, or part of the mechanism, has always resisted movement about 3/4 way through the wind-on stroke. Due to this, I put a couple of films through it then stuck in on a shelf where it has remained.
Until now. The symptom is still there but seems to have worsened with non-use. It almost feels like it’s the interlock (?) mechanism catching, but not in the same way that it does after a wind-on. It’s hard to explain.
The other problem is that the shutter button has been known to depress all the way down and but not fire the shutter. Oh, it’s also missing the battery cover!
Can anyone help, please? I mentioned the interlock mechanism above because it’s the nearest thing I could find when searching the forum and googling but as far as I am aware, the interlock is operating ok.
I realise that taking it to a repairer would be the simple option, but my local-ish one has closed and if I found another I fear the price quoted would be more than I could afford.
Tom. |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 794
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2009 - 06:15 pm: |
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I have some notes on the GIII, but nothing directly addressing your problem... if you think they might be helpful, email me at rick_oleson@yahoo.com and I'll send them to you.
The shutter release issue sounds like it might be sticky shutter blades, this is pretty common in these for some reason. If you can get it to do this on demand, remove the front lens cell, press the shutter release (presuming the shutter does not fire) and gently lift the first shutter blade with the point of a needle. If the shutter fires as soon as you lift the blade away from the others, the blades need cleaning.
A missing battery cover is likely to need another GIII as a donor. Given the other issues, maybe THIS camera should be a donor to keep another one going.... |
Drhfuhruhurr
Tinkerer
Username: Drhfuhruhurr
Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 15, 2009 - 08:55 am: |
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Thanks for your reply Rick. I may well email you and take you up on your kind offer.
I would like to persevere a little longer with this camera before I relegate it to donor status. I'm not sure I could afford another that would be in any better condition.
Anyway, further to my original post I've noticed that the wind-on resistance seems to vary depending on what shutter speed the camera is set at. For instance at 1/4 sec it's there, but it's not resisting like it is at 1/500 sec. I've also noticed that 1/4 sec is not always 1/4 sec (sometimes it sounds quite a bit faster).
Also, I have my suspicions that the previous owner may have taken the camera apart.
Could it be that something (to do with the wind-on/shutter cocking mech) hasn't been put back quite in the right place? |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 800
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 15, 2009 - 09:50 am: |
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It might be that there is an unusual amount of resistance in the shutter mechanism as the camera tries to cock it during the wind cycle. There is no perceptible difference in winding force based on shutter speed in my Canonet.
It is probably worth noting that the shutter of the Canonet is extraordinarily difficult to get inside for repair ... the saving grace for this has been that this shutter is also unusually reliable, and problems are nearly always found to be external to the shutter. But they are getting older, and this equation may change. |
Baddboy
Tinkerer
Username: Baddboy
Post Number: 1
Registered: 05-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 24, 2009 - 11:32 am: |
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Hi Rick or Drhfuhruhurr,
I recently bought a QL-17 for $20 with a jammed shutter. The shutter has fired a few times since I fiddled the externals, and has shown itself to be well gummed with oil/grease, as it fired v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. Since then I have stuffed the black ring's engagement with the shutter with my ham-fistedness. Therefore it would appear that I am going to have to take the shutter out of this camera if I want to fix it.
Rick, you say it's extrordinarily difficult, would you say it's worth doing? If I want to give it a go, what roughly are the steps?
If my name is familiar it's because we communicated over the OM Message Board. That OM-PC you helped me fix did well for my son's photography course - thanks again!
Any advice gratefully received.
Cheers, Viv Baddeley |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 883
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 25, 2009 - 12:44 pm: |
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Hi Viv!
Email me at rick_oleson@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to share what notes I have. Between the meter itself and the auto-aperture system and then the regular shutter stuff, there's just piles and piles of crap hung on the shutter, and I'm grateful not to have ever been driven to the point of having to get inside it. I have removed the whole thing from the camera, and pulled the shutter speed ring and other bits off of the front, so I may have enough notes to be of some help.
A common cause of this shutter hanging up is the blades themselves sticking together, and that is something that you CAN reach, by removing the lens elements from front and rear. There is a good discussion of that whole process on this site at https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/canonetblade.html
rick |
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