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Rangefinder cameras have a unique charm that gets into your blood and causes you to not only want to use them, but to collect them. There are few being manufactured today other than the legendary Leica and the working man's Cosina/Voigtlander Bessa, but during the 50's, 60's and 70's rangfinder cameras were commonplace. For consumer cameras, which most of them were, they were well built and rugged.

Here's my latest rangefinder, a Canonet QL17 GIII, acquired in a trade with another member of the Rangefinder Forum (www.rangefinderforum.com/) affectionately known as RFF.

Canonet QL17 GIII
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

I had particularly wanted this model for some time. I like its 40mm lens space, it's fast at f/1.7, the quick-loading feature (hence the QL in its name) really works, and I like its solid, hefty feel. The camera is smallish (ever so slightly larger than a Leica CL) and like all rangefinders, very quiet to operate. But I also had sentimental reasons for wanting one of these. I had encouraged my father-in-law Ab to purchase a Canonet in the early 1970's, which he did. He later handed off the camera to his wife Lilian and she used it well. Both Ab and Lilian have passed on and somehow just using this camera gives me a small psychic link to the past when these two wonderful people were alive and energetic.

I traded two used Pentax Super-Takumar lenses for the Canonet: a 35mm f/2 and 135mm f/3.5. Nice lenses I had acquired some while back but I no longer use a Pentax so they were sitting idle. The day after the camera arrived I shot my first test roll: Tri-X developed in Rodinal 1:50.

First, a self portrait. I shot this in the bathroom mirror with a black towel hanging behind me, then reversed the image in Photoshop:

Self Portrait
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

Then the nicknacks and some of the artwork in Marion's studio:

Marion's Studio Window
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

Not to mention the piles of materials and tools.

Marion's Art Supplies
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

I took the cam for a walk, heading up Stavebank Road toward Lakeshore Road and the Credit River. There are many mature trees along Stavebank and just before the railway tracks they arch over the road in an atractive way:

Stavebank Road RR Crossing
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

The stones you can see in the preceding picture looked interesting backlit so I homed in on them for this composition:

Stones, Stavebank Road
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

A little farther along I crossed the RR tracks and took this shot of the signal structure over the tracks:

RR Signals
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

I needed to visit Ryan's Pet Store to pick up some timothy hay for our guinea pig, Piglet, so I crossed the Credit River auto bridge on the N side and took this shot up-river as a small motor boat was cruising up the channel:

Credit River
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

As my friends know, I collect images of unusual or humourous signs, especially ones that are unintentionally funny. I caught this one further up the street and titled it 'Which One?':

Which One?
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

I seldom travel near the harbour without popping into Starbucks for a Tall Mild. This interior shot was a test of the self-timer with the camera resting on my table top:

Starbucks
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

And finally, a full dress rehearsal of the GIII plus the 20-foot release bulb I acquired from Joe on RFF, and the VC hotshoe meter I acquired from Peter on RFF. This camera is a child of RFF:

Canonet and Accessories
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)

References (some interesting Canonet QL17 GIII links):

1. http://www.cameraquest.com/canql17.htm
2. http://www.netaxs.com/~cassidy/images/equipment/ql17/ql17.html
3. http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?CanonCanonetGIIIQL17.html~mainFrame
4. http://phr.www.cistron.nl/canonet-faq.html
5. http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/canonet.html

(17-Aug-2004)

www.NorthernJourney.com -- gene@wilburn.ca

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