5 Frames with a Canon Canonet QI17 GIII and Fujifilm 400

I recently picked up a copy of a Canon Canonet QL17 GIII that showed up at my local camera shop. This is not a new camera to me. I have had and also wrote a KEH review for it in the past. It’s a great camera. I wrote a welcome back post where I visited my “reasoning” for letting it go. Bottom line I was wrong and so I bought this copy. So… welcome back

What I like about the camera.

• It is a rangefinder (My minor obsession with rangefinder cameras is well documented on my blog.)
• Has a bright lens at f/1.7.
• The 40mm focal length is a favorite of mine.
• Pleasing image quality.
• It is a fine-looking little camera.
• It is well-built and feels good in hand.
• Easy to load film.
• Has exposure automation (It is shutter priority as opposed to my usual favorite aperture priority, but this works fine in practice. I just have to be mindful of the aperture markings in the viewfinder.)
• Full manual is available but there will be no exposure reading.

Did I need it? Nope. But I do not technically need a film camera. My prior justification for not picking one up was another small built-in lens rangefinder, the Konica C35 Automatic, but that camera takes the Automatic in its name very seriously. All you have control over is the focus.

Downsides.

Not much to note here.

I wish the price had stayed where it was when I picked up my first copy. This is not a reality nowadays and not the camera’s fault.

Otherwise, the rangefinder is usable but it lands somewhere around my Petry 7S in legibility, or a bit better, as opposed to my pretty solid Konica rangefinders. Comparing it to Leica would just be mean. So not best of breed but very usable. I cannot recall any focusing issues.

Moving on to the images.

While certain it was in working order I did put a roll through it to be safe. The film chosen was Fujfilm 400 and it was developed at home with Cinestill CS41. Nothing Earth-shattering. I quickly walked around a local town at dusk. In my experience, the Canonet struggles a bit with very low light. This copy was no different. The images I liked best tended to have more light. Here are my favorite 5 images from the roll.

That about wraps things up. Happy capturing..

Eric L. Woods

I shoot a variety of new and old digital and film cameras. Industrial Engineer by education, IT is my vocation, and I really enjoy using, testing, and writing about cameras. All three of the latter are very therapeutic exercises for me. If you are so inclined my blog address is ewoodsphoto.com and I can be found on Threads and Instagram. All the best to you.

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