Canonet QL17

aaronmichael · May 1, 2011

Some new neighbors moved in the other day and I ran into one of the girls that lives there now. We got to talking and I told her that I'm a photography major. She then told me she had an old film camera that wasn't working and that she was going to sell. I told her to bring it out so I could check it out and it ended up being a Canonet QL17 GIII

http://www.cameraquest.com/canql17.htm

It appears to me that the battery in it is just dead. I took the battery out and it's a EPX625 battery. I was just wondering if this battery would be able to replace it:

http://www.amazon.com/Wein-PX625-PX13-Battery-Volts/dp/B00009VQJ7/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

It looks like it would be the right one, but the title says PX625 rather than EPX625. Not sure if there's a difference between the two. I know that different companies use different names for the same batteries. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated! Would hate to have this thing sold or worse yet, thrown away.

BetterSense · May 1, 2011

I have a QL17GIII that is probably my most-used camera. It has no battery in it, and I don't even know if the meter works. The camera doesn't need a battery to work and most in-camera meters suck anyways so I have never bothered.

aaronmichael · May 1, 2011

BetterSense said:
I have a QL17GIII that is probably my most-used camera. It has no battery in it, and I don't even know if the meter works. The camera doesn't need a battery to work and most in-camera meters suck anyways so I have never bothered.

Hmm, interesting. The shutter blades are closed completely and the film advanced lever will advance but when the shutter release button is pressed down, nothing happens. Think it is just broken then?

Bill Burk · May 1, 2011

Haa, good luck aaronmichael,

I know just what to do.

Maybe it is in auto mode and without a battery it is designed to not let you take a picture when the shutter speed and f/stop combination is out of range (Shutter is designed to lock if set on Auto and f/stop is less than f/1.7 or greater than f/16). This will prevent firing when there is no battery.

So set a manual f/stop. If you can fire the shutter then there is nothing more to do.

But if you wrote this because you already tried that, this sometimes happens...

It might respond to exercise like mine did.

First off, don't set the shutter on B. Don't set the self-timer. Set the aperture on a number (not A).

Now... Wind a few times and press the shutter release. Does it make a kick inside sound? Good. Open the back. Wind a few times. Fire the shutter. Repeat this sequence as long as you feel the slight kick inside.

If you are lucky like I have been two or three times, one of these times it might just fire.

aaronmichael · May 1, 2011

Bill Burk said:
Haa, good luck aaronmichael,

I know just what to do.

Maybe it is in auto mode and without a battery it is designed to not let you take a picture when the shutter speed and f/stop combination is out of range (Shutter is designed to lock if set on Auto and f/stop is less than f/1.7 or greater than f/16). This will prevent firing when there is no battery.

So set a manual f/stop. If you can fire the shutter then there is nothing more to do.

But if you wrote this because you already tried that, this sometimes happens...

It might respond to exercise like mine did.

First off, don't set the shutter on B. Don't set the self-timer. Set the aperture on a number (not A).

Now... Wind a few times and press the shutter release. Does it make a kick inside sound? Good. Open the back. Wind a few times. Fire the shutter. Repeat this sequence as long as you feel the slight kick inside.

If you are lucky like I have been two or three times, one of these times it might just fire.

I got it to work! I'm not exactly sure what I did to get it to work, but it does I think it may have in fact been set to the Auto exposure mode. Thanks for the advice! Now I need to teach my new friend the fundamentals of exposure making and then teach her how to expose without a light meter :confused:

Diapositivo · May 1, 2011

EPX625 is a mercury battery. If you search APUG you will find plenty of information about solutions to replace a mercury battery.
Tell her that this is a nice camera and very well worth spending $50 for a general CLA in any case. The viewfinder might probably need a good clean, the gaskets might need to be replaced. Film is nice, but if the camera is not in a good shape photography can be frustrating, and she will go for a digital P&S, and we don't wish her that

Pumalite · May 1, 2011

BetterSense said:
I have a QL17GIII that is probably my most-used camera. It has no battery in it, and I don't even know if the meter works. The camera doesn't need a battery to work and most in-camera meters suck anyways so I have never bothered.

+1

elcabezagrande · May 1, 2011

aaronmichael said:
It appears to me that the battery in it is just dead. I took the battery out and it's a EPX625 battery. I was just wondering if this battery would be able to replace it:

http://www.amazon.com/Wein-PX625-PX13-Battery-Volts/dp/B00009VQJ7/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

It looks like it would be the right one, but the title says PX625 rather than EPX625. Not sure if there's a difference between the two. I know that different companies use different names for the same batteries. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated! Would hate to have this thing sold or worse yet, thrown away.

Yes, that is the correct replacement battery for the GIII. You can also use the much cheaper #675 zinc-air hearing aid batteries (available at most pharmacies) with a rubber O-ring of the correct diameter to take up the extra space.

aaronmichael · May 1, 2011

Diapositivo said:
EPX625 is a mercury battery. If you search APUG you will find plenty of information about solutions to replace a mercury battery.
Tell her that this is a nice camera and very well worth spending $50 for a general CLA in any case. The viewfinder might probably need a good clean, the gaskets might need to be replaced. Film is nice, but if the camera is not in a good shape photography can be frustrating, and she will go for a digital P&S, and we don't wish her that

Well I think I'll let her shoot a roll with it and I'll develop it and see how it comes out. Since we don't have a battery for the meter yet I'll just teach her about the sunny 16 rule. Unfortunately I only have 400 speed film for her to use, which makes applying the sunny 16 rule kind of limiting.

I'll also look at the pharmacy store to see if they have the #675 battery. The one on Amazon ins't that expensive though. Don't think she'd mind spending $6 to get the meter working, even if it isn't that great of a meter.

MattKing · May 1, 2011

The best place for 675 batteries is in the hearing aid department.

Wishy · May 2, 2011

A 625A (Alkaline) works reasonably well on the QL17, its not too sensitive to voltage changes.
If your anal enough to worry about if being 1/2 stop to a stop out, then you are probably better off with a hand meter anyway. The build in meter copes really badly with backlighting, even if its quite a way out of the actual frame.

aaronmichael · May 2, 2011

Wishy said:
A 625A (Alkaline) works reasonably well on the QL17, its not too sensitive to voltage changes.
If your anal enough to worry about if being 1/2 stop to a stop out, then you are probably better off with a hand meter anyway. The build in meter copes really badly with backlighting, even if its quite a way out of the actual frame.

Thanks for the feedback. Good to know that getting an alkaline battery for it wouldn't be that bad of an option.

elgato · May 5, 2011

The meter in the QL17 is surprisingly decent, good enough for negative film in most circumstances, especially considering that you can lock exposure by half-pressing the shutter release.

Newt_on_Swings · May 5, 2011

Now to get her over to your place and watch the movie "Pecker"... then teach her something about "exposure"... xD wink wink hahah

tomalophicon · May 5, 2011

Newt_on_Swings said:
Now to get her over to your place and watch the movie "Pecker"... then teach her something about "exposure"... xD wink wink hahah

Haha you're a funny bastard

woodsb · May 5, 2011

Just out of curiosity, does the Canonet have a meter that works in manual mode ?

I wanted to buy a QL17 as well but found an Olympus 35 SP in mint condition instead, and the spot metering works in Manual mode which is a great help. Does the Canonet have the same thing ?

Wishy · May 5, 2011

Switch to manual and it switches the meter off

elgato said:
The meter in the QL17 is surprisingly decent, good enough for negative film in most circumstances, especially considering that you can lock exposure by half-pressing the shutter release.

If you know its limitations, then its reasonably accurate (And as I've said, the variation between my hand meter and the camera in a simple scene is 1/2 stop tops, even with 625A battery). But you've got to be aware of limitations.

Diapositivo · May 5, 2011

woodsb said:
Just out of curiosity, does the Canonet have a meter that works in manual mode ?

I wanted to buy a QL17 as well but found an Olympus 35 SP in mint condition instead, and the spot metering works in Manual mode which is a great help. Does the Canonet have the same thing ?

No, the Canonet does not meter when in manual mode. If you want to use a different EV than what would be selected by the camera, and you want to use the in-camera meter, you have to first look into the viewfinder while in A mode to see which aperture the camera selects with a certain shutter time, and then manually set the aperture of your choice.

Peter Simpson · May 5, 2011

If you can't find a 625 battery, a standard SR44/357 will fit and works fine.

upnorthcyclist · May 5, 2011

Canonet Battery

Hi,

I know that with cameras of this age, there is a lot of variance from camera to camera.

I like shooting with my GL17 GIII, so at some point I bought a C.R.I.S. adapter for it, making the use of a silver-oxide battery corrected to the proper voltage possible. The adapter is expensive - I think, with postage and all, it cost around $30.

I find that the camera meters very accurately and consistently - I shoot E-6 slides nearly all the time and exposure is generally excellent, within the normal limitations of a CdS sensor.

The silver-oxide battery lasts for a very long time. When I'm not using the camera, I switch it out of the manual mode and keep a lens cap on it - maybe that helps.

I don't know if my particular camera just happens to have a "good" meter or if the adapter I'm using provides correct, consistent voltage over time, whatever the reason, I trust the meter and mostly shoot in the shutter priority "A" mode.

Mike

woodsb · May 6, 2011

Diapositivo said:
No, the Canonet does not meter when in manual mode. If you want to use a different EV than what would be selected by the camera, and you want to use the in-camera meter, you have to first look into the viewfinder while in A mode to see which aperture the camera selects with a certain shutter time, and then manually set the aperture of your choice.

Thanks for the reply !

Canonet QL17

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