The Canonet QL17 G-III came to me as a surprise. I had been thinking about a lightweight 35mm rangefinder as an always-in-the-backpack alternative to the heavier Canon A-1 and even tried out a Minox 35 EL recently, but was not satisfied with the small viewfinders. An Olympus Mju or XA looked tempting, but when this Canonet showed up in the shop I could not resist. At about 650g it’s certainly not a featherweight like my Agfa Optima, but it still only weighs half of what the A-1 with the big zoom lens does. It will be challenging to shoot with a 40mm fixed focal length, but I guess I will just have to be creative and it will be a flashback to the 1980s with my Agfa. I have not yet decided what film I should use in it, but I’m sure I’ll take it out for a photo walk in the coming weeks.

The Canonet QL17 G-III introduced in 1972 was the final and best incarnation of a long range of Canonets that began in 1961 with the original model. The top version of the range was sold for over a decade and still is in high demand because of its sharp six-element 40mm f/1.7 lens and automatic aperture exposure function that could also be turned off for completely manual usage. It also has a double-window rangefinder like much more expensive cameras. Sometimes called the “poor man’s Leica” it certainly can’t rival the Leica M series that dominated the upper-class rangefinder market in the 1970s, but it is still one of the best and affordable 35mm rangefinder cameras of that time.