Last Updated on 04/06/2015 by Chris Gampat
The Canon Canonet QL17 is a camera that is highly sought after by many film photographers these days. It comes with a 40mm f1.7 fixed lens, an ISO setting only up to 800, and even has a light meter built in. It was very popular, and guess what: it’s a rangefinder!
When you think of rangefinder cameras you could easily think of companies like Leica, Zeiss, Voigtlander, Mamiya, Bronica and even Nikon. Rangefinders dominated the scene for many years until the SLR came about and offered interchangeable lenses, through the lens field of views, and affordability for many professional and hobbyist photographers alike.
As digital photography became the norm, new photographers began to pick up old film cameras in order to experiment and expand their creativity. But beyond that, there were a number of years where photographers couldn’t get a small, mirrorless good quality camera. Indeed, I was a part of this crowd. Now, the world has so many options but very few have the feel of solid rangefinder cameras like the QL17.
Want more affordable rangefinder cameras? We’ve got a full list here. But for even more, the folks at PDExposures have a video after the jump on the camera.