2026-06-16 Canon Canonet QL 17

   I was about to post this Canon Canonet QL 17 blog, but then I found I had only taken two images of the camera and not written its story! This means I have to try to search my records to see when and perhaps why I acquired it.
   You’re in luck because I found out when I acquired it and can remember the circumstances. I acquired seven cameras from a lady who gave me access to a large tote of cameras. I had been simply looking at what she had when she said, “Take as many as you want.” If I had a car there I would have taken the tote! As I was walking I satisfied myself with taking “just” seven.
   This camera was one of those.
   Canon Canonet cameras were made in various models from 1960 to the 1980’s. They could have f/2.8 and f/2.5 lenses, but more often came with f/1.9 and f/1.7 lenses. The early ones had selenium light meters circling their lenses inside the filter ring. In later models the selenium cell was replaced with a CdS meter with the cell just above the lens but again inside the filter ring.
   Canonet cameras started as fairly large rangefinder cameras but again with time they came out with a smaller “compact” style. Canonet’s also had added a “QL” designation for Canon’s Quick Load system that had been added to their SLR cameras.
   So to make a long story have a point, the camera you see here was the fourth Canonet model introduced in 1965, four years after the first Canonet introduced in 1961. It followed the first f/1.7 lens model—the Canonet S—introduced the year before. It added both the QL system and a battery check button. The Canonet 17 is also known as the 1965 type because there was a later 1969 type that had a small step in the top deck and a plastic tipped advance lever.

This Canonet QL 17 came with a really well done black leather ever-ready case.

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2026-03-14 - History and Evolution of the Kodak Logo

While working as a junior clerk at the Rochester Savings Bank, George Eastman first began commercial production of dry photographic plates in a rented loft of a building in Rochester, New York in April 1880. In the next few years, Eastman became very successful and expanded the company several times. His company started as the Eastman Dry Plate Company in 1881, later became the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company in 1884, and soon after the Eastman Company in 1889. The last name change occurred in 1892, when the Eastman Kodak Company of New York was organized. The company has been called Eastman Kodak Company ever since. The word "Kodak" was first registered as a trademark in 1888. The letter “K” had been a favorite of Eastman’s, he is quoted as saying, "I devised the name myself. The letter 'K' had been a favorite with me; it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter. It became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made word...

2026-03-20-Manfrotto monopods

Sometimes collecting is a matter of persistence. The Manfrotto “GRUPPO” 434SSB monopod (shown top) showed up one day at my local thrift store. They had a price tag of $25 on it. I had bought the lower Manfrotto Compact MMC3-01 monopod at the same thrift store for $3. So I asked, “Why so much?” They answered their “expert” had found it sold for $200 on the internet. I find experts—who almost never clerk in the thrift store, so are unreachable—hard to deal with. There is also the matter someone might actually pay them $25 for a 2.27 kg (5 pound) aluminum pole, so I decided to let the Gods-of-Collecting decide if I was going to ever own it. For weeks I would pick it up, check the price tag to see if they had come to their senses, and return it to the shelf. I did try various clerks to see if they would lower the price, but they said they were not authorized to change prices. I plodded on, week after week without much hope. ...

2026-03-25 The Kiron 70-150 mm F/4

This Kiron 70-150 mm f/4 Macro1:4MC zoom was made by Kino Precision, Japan in 1980. The same company made both 1.5x and 2x extenders for this lens. It is a lovely design featuring a 52 mm filter size —common to many normal lenses—and a constant f/4 at all zoom positions. The f/stops are full stops from f/4 to f/5.6 and from f/16 to f/22 while the other apertures are half stops apart. FOCAL LENGTH RANGE: 70mm - 150mm [2.1X zoom ratio] DIAGONAL ANGLE OF VIEW: 34.3° @ 70mm - 16.4° @ 150mm LENS CONSTRUCTION: 13 elements in 9 groups WEIGHT (Olympus OM Mount): 460 g (with hood, front and rear caps) The macro range sets in below the three foot (0.9 m) marked distance at all zoom positions but you only get to the minimum 1:4 ratio at 150 mm. Macro starts around a 1:8 macro range at 70 mm. This is the only lens I have ever collected that has the original price sticker on the rear cap. At least I assume it is the original price sticker… It ha...

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