Anyone using the original Canonet 19 with selenium meter?

Hi Everyone,
Are any of you using the original Canon (or Bell and Howell) Canonet 19, the one with a 45mm f/1.9 lens and the selenium meter that circles the lens? It is a rather interesting camera with clean lines and is still reasonably cheap on the big auction site. The wind lever on the bottom is rather unusual. It reminds me of a big version of the Olympus Trip 35, but with more capacity because it has a fully manual shutter and apertures if you want to use an external hand-held light meter. Any comments or hints? Thank you.

Kodachromeguy said:

Hi Everyone,
Are any of you using the original Canon (or Bell and Howell) Canonet 19, the one with a 45mm f/1.9 lens and the selenium meter that circles the lens? It is a rather interesting camera with clean lines and is still reasonably cheap on the big auction site. The wind lever on the bottom is rather unusual. It reminds me of a big version of the Olympus Trip 35, but with more capacity because it has a fully manual shutter and apertures if you want to use an external hand-held light meter. Any comments or hints? Thank you.

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Hi. I fully agree, it's an interesting camera. I think I've had mine for about 35 years, although must admit I haven't used it for years. But every time a stumble upon it I resolve to use it again... The feel of quality is almost that of the famout L***a, and I think the lens is a match for most fine normal lenses. Great viewfinder, and it can be used fully manual. Only fly in the ointment is the somwhat stiff shutter release.

Does you Canonet have the infamous sticky shutter blades? The one I bought is sticky, and I need to send it off for cleaning and checking. Or, I may scrap it altogether and conclude it is not worth spending any more money on it because I have other 35mm cameras.

Kodachromeguy said:

Does you Canonet have the infamous sticky shutter blades? The one I bought is sticky, and I need to send it off for cleaning and checking. Or, I may scrap it altogether and conclude it is not worth spending any more money on it because I have other 35mm cameras.

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I'm familiar with this problem, but mine was running merrily along last time I fondled it. IMO it would be too expensive to service in a professional (and expensive) repairservice. There are other fine cameras of course, and good luck with yours! (If you like to tinker with mechanical things and have some tools, you might be able to unscrew the front lens group out of the shutter? In that case try to apply a small amount of graphite dust (like for door locks) and it might well get a new lease of life. I don't have my camera around here, but I imagine it just might be possible.)