Street Photography with Jesse Acosta: The Girl with the Arm Tattoo

This is a photo taken minutes before the camera stopped working due to the shutter stuck syndrome.

After using my Canonet QL17 GIII for a few hours I notice the vertical alignment was a little bit off. I found instructions on the internet on how to align it but in the process I managed to mangle and destroy the film advance lever along with the shutter button and everything in between. I was very upset with myself. Eventually I was able to open the top face and make the adjustments to the alignment. The focus was spot on but now I could not use the camera.

The camera sat on the corner of my room for three weeks before I went back to eBay to look for a replacement camera. While doing that, I found the shutter and advance lever up for sale. I made an offer to the seller and he agreed. I got the parts and put the camera back together. Then I took to the streets.

The day was marvelous and there was a lot of stuff going in downtown San Antonio. I started shooting a lot of stuff while enjoying this little camera. Then all of the sudden, the shutter didn't go off. I started fiddling with it while a panhandler asked for change. "I don't have any money" I said in a rather rude voice which is very unlike me. At that point, I was done for the day.

I went home and tried to fix the issue by removing the lens elements and cleaning the shutter blades. Again, I managed to scratch the lens housing and make a whole lot of damage to the insides of the camera but was unable to get to the last lens element because I did not have the right tool which I'm told is called a spanner.

Another three weeks passed and the little-camera-that-could stood on the corner of my room. I finally decided that one way or another (meaning throwing it against the wall) I was going to get to the last lens element to mitigate the problem. Without help from the wall or a hammer of any kind, I was able to remove the last element. I used digital sensor cleaning solution on a Q-tip to free up the shutter blades from themselves. I then started the process of gently cleaning the blades with the solution as well as the lens elements which by this time had all my finger's fingerprints. After a few tries of putting everything together everything look OK with the exception of a few scratches that weren't there before.

I went and got some film and started using it on my dad for his birthday. I shot a 24 exposure role of Fujifilm Superia 400 in about 30 minutes, and I dropped it off at the neighborhood Walgreen's to get some prints. Within 45 min I had the prints. I drove back to my dad's house and we opened the envelope together. Wow! The photos came out great. I had fixed the unfixable! The photo clerk at Walgreen's told me as she handed me the photos: "This is the first roll where all the photos came out good." That made my day.

Since that day, I have been using the camera and so far so good. Two days ago I got a Canolite D flash from eBay for my Canonet and I can't wait to use it.

If you find a Canonet QL17 GIII or any of the Canonet models in working condition, don't hesitate to get it. This camera is amazing for street photography and very fun to use.