CanonCanonet QL17 GIII

Released into the early 1970s, when the compact 35mm rangefinder still ruled the camera bag, the Canon Canonet QL17 GIII is a rangefinder built around a Canon 40mm f/1.7. For context, nicknamed 'the poor man's Leica' — and proudly so.

Format

35mm

Year

1972

Lens

Canon 40mm f/1.7

Shutter

1/4s – 1/500s

Min. focus

0.8 m

Flash

Hot shoe (no built-in)

Battery

1× PX625 / MR9 adapter

The Canon 40mm f/1.7 is genuinely fast for a compact — it handles indoor light, blue hour and concert pits where slower lenses give up. Standard 35mm keeps it compatible with whatever Kodak, Ilford, Fuji or CineStill stock you find on the shelf today. It was designed around the now-banned 1.35V mercury PX625, so use a Wein cell or an MR-9 voltage adapter if you want the meter to read correctly. There's no built-in flash, but the hot shoe accepts any auto-thyristor unit; a small Vivitar or Sunpak is the period-correct pick. Minimum focus is 0.8 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. A quirk worth flagging up front: sold over 1.2 million units; you'll still find them at flea markets. The mild-normal focal length flatters faces and street scenes alike without either looking forced.

Pocket rangefinders with this much aperture are vanishingly rare; the Canon Canonet QL17 GIII is one of the few that still come up at sensible prices if you're patient. One last detail: that f/1.7 lens is sharper than it has any right to be.

• §1Nicknamed 'the poor man's Leica' — and proudly so.
• §2Sold over 1.2 million units; you'll still find them at flea markets.
• §3That f/1.7 lens is sharper than it has any right to be.