Film Cameras

35mm Lens-Shutter Camera

Canonet QL19

Canonet QL19

Canonet QL19

  • Japan
  • Americas
  • Europe, Asia, Oceania
  • Outline
  • Specifications
Marketed March 1965
Original Price 20,800 yen, 1,800 yen (case)

A sibling of the QL 17, the QL 19 used the same lens as the original Canonet and was priced 3,000 yen less than the QL 17.

The QL (Quick Loading) feature was Canon’s unique way to load film quickly. All you had to do was align the edge of the film leader with the specified mark on the camera and close the camera back. The film winding arm with hard rubber pads then grabbed and wound the film around the take-up spool.

Type 35mm Lens Shutter rangerfinder camera with shutter speed-priority EE
Picture Size 24 x 36 mm
Normal Lens Canon SE 45mm f/1.9 (5 elements in 4 groups)
Shutter Copal SV; B, 1 to 1/500 sec. Built-in self-timer. Flash sync enabled with M-X switchable German socket.
Viewfinder Coincidence rangefinder integrated with reversed Galilean viewfinder. Automatic parallax correction with projected frames and marked finder. 0.7x magnification. Viewfinder bottom features aperture scale (f/1.9 – f/16) and match needle correct exposure window/exposure warning indicator.
Exposure Meter
and EE
CdS comb-controlled shutter speed-priority EE. Metering range of EV 2.5 – 19 (at ISO 100). Film speed range of ISO 25 – 400. Manual exposure enabled by disabling AUTO.
Power Source One 1.3 V MP mercury cell
Film Loading &
Advance
After opening camera back, film leader is aligned at mark then advanced to first frame with Quick Loading (QL) system. Advances with camera-top lever. (120° single stroke)
Frame Counter Counts up. Resets automatically when camera back is opened.
Film Rewind Camera-top crank
Dimensions &
Weight
140 x 79 x 33 mm, 800 g