QL25
A Gift From a Family Friend
4 min read by Dmitri and Betty.Canon’s series of Canonet cameras are all fixed-lens 35mm film rangefinders. They are mostly known for the sought-after QL17 GIII, though they tend to differ widely in form and function throughout the line.
QL25, isn’t nearly as popular its top-of-the-line rival, GIII, due to its bulkier construction and a slower 45mm lens that opens up to 𝑓2.5. Despite those shortcomings, I found it to be fairly versatile and pleasant to hold, with one of the best leather case constructions I’ve owned: simple, functional, and beautiful.
The lens is made with a well-coated, reasonably sharp glass that’s easy to focus, with a comfortable tab and a large, bright viewfinder. The rangefinder patch is dim on mine, which makes focusing in the low-light situations difficult.
I’ve got this camera as a gift from a family friend; it’s been my primary shooter for almost a year, until I got my Electro 35.
It came with lens fungus, stuck shutter blades and some light scratching on the front element, most of which wasn’t that difficult to mend. The abrasions on the glass made no difference for image quality (see this PetaPixel article), but the light meter continued to lack in accuracy even after being cleaned up. Thankfully, this camera could operate fully-manual with help from Lux light-metering app.
Being unsure of whether it works or not, I’ve placed a strange roll of expired film and took a few snaps. The results were a mix of hope and concern. The grain felt as if the pictures were drawn in the rough sand. Luckily, it wasn’t the camera’s or my fault, as you can see with the pictures below.