Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/07/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On 7/22/05, Bill Smith <wrs111445@yahoo.com> wrote: > Nathan: > > You might try the Konica C-35 Auto--the pics are the same quality as the > Canonnet, but it's about 1/2 the weight and a tad smaller too. > > Bill > Nathan, I had the Canonet QL17 GIII (the model you are looking at might be different.) It was built like a tank. The downside was that it also weighed like a tank, which is why I sold it. This is a much favoured camera among fans of 70s Japanese rangefinders, but for my money, if you are getting a camera larger than a subcompact, I'd go for the Konica Auto S3 or, if you want full manual as an option, the Minolta 7SII. Any of the last generation of Japanese rangefinders that followed the big classics (Canonet QL17, Minolta 7, 9, 11, Konica Auto S2) are similar to the S3 or 7SII, and are more compact than their predecessors. Steve Gandy's CameraQuest website has lots of information about these. Unless you are just looking for an inexpensive beater, if you are going for something the size of the Canonet, which is bigger and heavier than the Leica CL or Minolta CLE, get the CL or CLE. If you want something that size, you may as well go for something with interchangable lenses. If having a built in meter is not an issue for you, in compact interchangable lens rangefinders, I'd recommend the Diax IIb with its nice Schneider lenses as a budget alternative to the CL and CLE. But then, you don't get to use your Leica lenses. Mark