canonet QL17 ...

[maarten m]

i'm about to purchase a canonet QL17.
what would be a fair price?
and what should i check about the camera?

mm

[mgb74]

Great little camera. Most common things to check are:

lens (for haze, fungus, signs of separation)
lens mount (wobble)
shutter (for operation, oil on blades)
meter (working, reasonably accurate)
battery compartment (corrosion)
flash (does hot shoe work)
battery check light (these often seem to go bad even if meter is working fine, so not a big deal)
light seals (probably bad unless they've been replaced)
controls, especially those little slide controls on the lens (move smoothly)
cleanliness (if there's a lot of dust/dirt inside, I'd be concerned about dust/dirt in the shutter)
film advance and rewind (is it smooth)
self timer (working)

Twice I've seen shutters on these cameras work fine then lock up when the self timer is used. So my feeling is that if the camera is otherwise fine and you don't plan to use the self timer, leave it alone.

Price is very "situational" - based on condition, location, supply and demand at time of purchase. It seems sometimes that prices on these somewhat "cult" cameras rise and fall periodically. I'd say here (in the US) $40-80; so approximately 30-50 euros. I'd add about 10 euros for the matching Canolite flash.

[Brian Legge]

QL17 or GIII QL17? The prices tend to be very different..

[vpwphoto]

I just sold my QL-17 very clean for $79 on e-bay.

[Jeff Kubach]

Once in a while you might get a good deal from KEH.

Jeff

[maarten m]

thanks for your advice, all!
i did mean the GIII.

anybody here happening to be selling one?

mm

[vpwphoto]

Stop in the Goodwill and thrift stores....

[graywolf]

The back seals are going to need to be replaced, and the viewfinder will need to be cleaned, shutter may or may not need a CLA.

<$50. If those things have been done recently, $75-100. Note that it is cheaper to buy one recently serviced than it is to buy one and have it serviced, but you never know how it was serviced.

[maarten m]

so i've taken the plunge and got a GIII-QL17 + flash + "case" ordered.
i hope it will arrive safely beginning of next week, and that it is "in working order" as mentioned.

regards,
maarten.

[BetterSense]

My GIII has a small amount of lens wobble. Is there any way to fix this?