Restoring a Canonet
by Kar Yan Mak

Light Baffles

Replacing light baffles is the easiest kind of restoration/repair. You just take the old ones out and put new ones in. I've written a short description on how to replace the light baffles in my Konica Auto S1.6 repair article. The light seals goes on the film compartment door. For the top and bottom, I used 1.5mm thick light baffle. There's a tiny strip that goes where the latch closes onto, which needs a little bit thicker baffles, 2mm. The main reason for replacing them is to avoid light leaks and prevent the deteriorating foam falling into the mechanisms of the camera.

Battery Contact

The battery contacts are the weak points of every camera. Somehow people never take the battery out of their cameras and they eventually get corroded. If power can't go up to the meter, then they assume it's dead. Easy fix is to use one of those battery contact cleaner pens. In my case, the battery contact were rusted and corroded. Carefully sand the tip of the contact with a fine emery paper (#500 or #600 grit).

Black Engravings

Two out of two GIII QL17's I've owned had the black engravings gone on the aperture dial. It's a bit hard to see the engravings without the black in them. Why it's only the black engravings, I have no idea. Micro Tools sells this great stuff called Lacquer Stik, there are 9 colors available which are $1.95-$2.95 each. They are very easy to use. Rub it in with a toothpick so it really goes into the engraving, then wipe off the excess with a cotton cloth.

BEFORE

AFTER

Rear Element Fungus

Fungus should be treated immediately, once it's etched in the lens, it's a goner. Mine had some "spot" etches but many thanks to Henry for a nice rear element from his junk Canonet, I was able to successfully replace it. A mixture to clean "webby" fungus (fungus that looks like spider webs) is 1 part of hydrogen peroxide and 1 part of household ammonia. For instructions on how to remove the rear element, go to Henry's Canonet Blade Cleaning article.