In a way this is all about getting back to the first influences photography had on me. My father (tomcollinsphotography.com) starting shooting this camera back in the 60s. Most of the early images of my childhood are taking with one of these and I even found a photo of me when I was 13 or 14 with the QL17 around my neck. What a privilege it was to shoot a ‘real’ camera.

After on and off searched of eBay and watching the price of the QL17 go higher and higher I finally decided to pick one up. There are dozens to choose from and I was willing to spend a little extra to get a fungus free, cosmetically clean copy. Thanks to a fantastic seller on eBay I found the perfect copy, perfect considering it’s a 40 year old camera.

It appears that the QL17 sells from around $50 to $300+ for pristine copies. I picked up mine right in the middle of that range. I’m not going to go into a review of the camera yet, this is strictly an enthusiastic new owner of an old classic wanting to share his excitement.

It is hard not to make immediate comparisons to one of Leica’s rangefinders.