Canonet GIII problem

[mtnbkr]

Ok, I finally got around to installing the new seals and performing a general cleaning of this camera. Jon Goodman's kit went in without any problems thanks to his wonderful instructions. With the camera back together and film in it for the first time, I now notice a problem with the film advance.

It advances fine, but there's no lockout to keep you from cranking the advance as many times as you want. In addition, the exposure counter does not work. I noticed this before loading film, but assumed it was because there was no film loaded (I've seen other old cameras do this). When I had the top plate off, I didn't notice anything obviously out of place or broken.

There's the slight possibility it might've been dropped. There are some very shallow dings in the filter ring and there was a broken off plastic stud from a tripod in the tripod socket. There's no other damage.

What might the problem be? Other than this and a bit of dust between the elements, the camera is nearly perfect.

Chris

 

[MattCarey]

Open the back and lok above the take-up spool. There is a groove that acts as the light trap for the door. Inside that there is a small "button" like thing. Say 4mm long by about 1mm thick. When the door opens, this button resets the exposure counter as it pops up. I know if this is up all the time, the counter will stay at zero and the advance lockout won't engage. If it is down all the time, the counter should get stuck at 36+ exposures, and the lockout will still work.

Make sure that this button is free to move and that the door is closing enough to push it in and reset it.

Matt

 

[gnashings]

Couple of things - perhaps really obvious, but worth checking:

First off - is this your first roll of film through the camera, and is it a QL? If it is, the Quick Load (QL) system makes you wind the film until it stops - takes several flips of the lever. The fram counter will not move until this happens.

Sorry if this is obvious - I don't mean to offend, I just know that a few people have been fooled by this feature before.

Also, the little button already mentioned - make sure it is not interfered with by the new foam (its in the groove near right hand top cornes of camera back if I recall correctly)

Best of luck - its a great camera once you get it up and running!

 

[mtnbkr]

The button should be fine. I checked it when I replaced the foam seals. As for the QL, I've flipped the lever about 10-12 times already. I don't remember having to do this on my dad's QL equipped SLR.

When I advance the film, the counter tries to move.

Chris

 

[gnashings]

Yeah - the QL feature is a matter of three, maybe four winds to the best of my recollection. Does the "film transport indicator" move? You may be resigned to opening it up in the dark and trying again - perhaps the film leader just did not engage properly?

 

[mtnbkr]

It was winding film. I opened the back and the film was wound around the mechanism. I'm sending it out to be repaired. I can't find anything obviously wrong with it.

Chris

Yeah - the QL feature is a matter of three, maybe four winds to the best of my recollection. Does the "film transport indicator" move? You may be resigned to opening it up in the dark and trying again - perhaps the film leader just did not engage properly?

 

[gnashings]

Yep, if the little counter "finger" is unobscured by foam, and the film was wound... a pro is called for, unless you hold your camera fixing skills in much higher esteem than I do mine - hopeits something minor that won't detract from your enjoyment of the little QL - we love ours and its been a rock of reliability!

I hope you opened it in the dark? Or did you not particularily care about that roll of film?

 

[mtnbkr]

I'm pretty handy (amateur gunsmith, shadetree mechanic, etc), but I couldn't see anything obviously out of place when I took the top cover off.

I didn't care about the film other than the couple bucks I lost when I exposed it to light. I should've used some expired film to function test it. Oh well...

Chris

 

[gnashings]

Well, I certainly hope you get that little camera backin tip-top shape, I know we enjoy ours very much! Wonderful little lens, in myhumble opinion - and quite quick!