Anyone still using Kowa Six?

[Jeremy Mudd]

Ross Yerkes emphasized that as part of the CLA, so apparently the seals do deteriorate. He uses black yarn as a replacement. This is a time tested solution.

I've never used yarn - I know people say it works but I've always been concerned about it compressing or fraying - its probably more durable than foam so maybe my worries are unfounded. I may try that on the next seal work that I do.

I shot with the Kowa Six on Saturday - ran a roll of Tri-X from it and shot some architecture in a local cemetery at different shutter speeds and apertures. The scans look really good so I'm optimistic that everything is working correctly and the light leak is fixed!

Jeremy

 

[campy51]

Is the film door the only place seals are needed?

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

Is the film door the only place seals are needed?

There are seals on the mirror flap/door, the body where the camera back connects to it, and there are seals on the camera back. For replacing the seals on the back, its easiest to remove it from the camera. There is a small part that holds it on that you rotate back and it allows the door to come off. It's small and located on the top on the side where the hotshoe is.

Jeremy

 

[thuggins]

Although I love the bright waist level finder, I had a hankering for a prism finder. The originals are hard to find and expensive. I stuck my neck out and got an NC2 copy for about 30 bucks. It works great, a wee bit loose, but that is easily fixed. It makes it much easier to focus and the correct view is really nice.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have both the metered and the unmetered eye level, still bright, the meter is no longer working, when it was functional did a reasonably good job.

 

[moto-uno]

^ I'm envious , the metered eye level finder was a source of GAS for me, but after this much time I'm pretty much over it.
The Sekonic 208 does a good job and is really small too. Peter

 

[thuggins]

30 bucks and a bit of tinkering.



I have no idea why they are loading sideways. :-(

 

[thuggins]

I just picked up the first style 55mm lens, the one with the big front. I would dearly love to put a bit of protection in front of that beautiful piece of glass. The calipers make the thread diameter at 84mm, but such an animal does not appear to exist. Any insights on the filter size?

 

[Alex Varas]

After servicing the body and the lens (150mm) first shooting...

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

I just picked up the first style 55mm lens, the one with the big front. I would dearly love to put a bit of protection in front of that beautiful piece of glass. The calipers make the thread diameter at 84mm, but such an animal does not appear to exist. Any insights on the filter size?

I couldn't find one for it when I was hunting last month. I did find the slip-on lens hood on eBay and bought one of those.

Just shot a few rolls thru my Kowa Six

this past week. Love the bokeh of the 85mm f/2.8 wide open. Reminds me a lot of the Helios M44-2 or M44-7 lenses.

 

[Alex Varas]

Today I got test roll developed from a service I have done on a Six MM, 85mm and 150mm.
https://flic.kr/p/2iUEQxa
https://flic.kr/p/2iUDhd1
I liked more the 85mm

 

[thuggins]

I just picked up the first style 55mm lens, the one with the big front. I would dearly love to put a bit of protection in front of that beautiful piece of glass. The calipers make the thread diameter at 84mm, but such an animal does not appear to exist. Any insights on the filter size?

It's 86mm if anyone stumbles across it in the future. The front lens cap is a 90 push on.

I feel much better with a UV filter over that huge piece of glass.

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

It's 86mm if anyone stumbles across it in the future. The front lens cap is a 90 push on.

I feel much better with a UV filter over that huge piece of glass.

Thanks for that, good to know!

I personally am not a UV filter fan, but it helps a lot for looking for ND filters and Polarizers.

Have a great day,

Jeremy

 

[Sonnomestjohn]

Ahoy!
What a pleasure to see others Kowa Six users. I got myself an Kowa Six ii with a 55mm a few months ago but could only find old forums talking about it until now

I shot my first roll (an pxp 125 as old as the camera itself) and discovered a ton of light leaks (the seller told me it was CLA'd, guess it was either a bad job or a lie ).

Here some examples :

Except these (not so minors) light leaks, I just love that sweet camera. The waist level viewfinder is a joy to use (such a massive piece of screen) and the handle feels great in hand.

I have two questions though:
I heard some people talking about black yarn to fix that. Is it harder to use than foam? And for the ones who fixed it with foam which mm width did you choose?

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

Ahoy!
What a pleasure to see others Kowa Six users. I got myself an Kowa Six ii with a 55mm a few months ago but could only find old forums talking about it until now

I shot my first roll (an pxp 125 as old as the camera itself) and discovered a ton of light leaks (the seller told me it was CLA'd, guess it was either a bad job or a lie ).

Here some examples :
View attachment 248564 View attachment 248565 View attachment 248566

Except these (not so minors) light leaks, I just love that sweet camera. The waist level viewfinder is a joy to use (such a massive piece of screen) and the handle feels great in hand.

I have two questions though:
I heard some people talking about black yarn to fix that. Is it harder to use than foam? And for the ones who fixed it with foam which mm width did you choose?

Awesome!

I've never used yarn - still not sold on that idea. I prefer foam.

I've now CLA'd and rebuilt the seals in two Kowa SIx bodies. I've got several foam seal kits for RB67's and I just cut seals to length from them. There are several pieces in the kit that match the needed widths so that simple trimming to length is all that's needed. You should be able to reseal 2-3 Six bodies from one RB67 seal kit easily, more if you are good at cutting foam to width and length.

I've found that removing the back makes it easier to replace the seals. There's a small lever at the pivot point on one side that you can flip open and remove the back. Note that there are seals on the back and the body.

Also, don't forget the seal on the mirror. If the mirror is slow to flip up at all, you can remove the 4 screws that hold the doghouse on, and remove it. There you can access the pivot/slides for the mirror to ensure they are clean, and possible add a drop or two of watch lube.

Once you've replaced the seals you may find the the back is slightly difficult to latch - applying light pressure to the bottom of the back where the latch is located will allow it to compress the seals slightly and enable you to turn the latch to the closed position. After a few cycles it improves to where it's not as tight.

I just recently purchased some extension tubes, a T3 and T1. I just shot some macro yesterday on some Day Lilies with the T1. Looking forward to developing the film this weekend and seeing the results.

Here's a recent shot with the 85mm f/2.8.

Jeremy

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

Although I love the bright waist level finder, I had a hankering for a prism finder. The originals are hard to find and expensive. I stuck my neck out and got an NC2 copy for about 30 bucks. It works great, a wee bit loose, but that is easily fixed. It makes it much easier to focus and the correct view is really nice.

I picked up another Kowa Six body (I have a sickness) and it had the 90 degree Kowa prism viewfinder. I'ts "OK" - my biggest complaint about it is there's no rubber eye-piece, just a hard metal flange that would scratch the hell out of my glasses. I haven't seen any shots of them with a rubber piece - was there one originally? Has anyone found another brand/replacement that fits?

Jeremy

 

[moto-uno]

In the past I've used a black yarn that I squeezed black silicone seal into ( with my fingers ) and left it to dry
overnight before using . It actually worked very well ! I've since switched to foam ( 3 different thickness' ) , but to
be honest it's no better than the yarn and I find it a PITA to install . Others may have more pleasure with the
foam , I started using it out of laziness on my part . Peter

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

I picked up another Kowa Six body (I have a sickness) and it had the 90 degree Kowa prism viewfinder. I'ts "OK" - my biggest complaint about it is there's no rubber eye-piece, just a hard metal flange that would scratch the hell out of my glasses. I haven't seen any shots of them with a rubber piece - was there one originally? Has anyone found another brand/replacement that fits?

Jeremy

Just wanted to follow up on this in case anyone else in the near future is looking for a rubber eyepiece solution for the prism finder. I found these on Amazon and ordered a pair. They slide over the metal flange nicely and have enough friction to stay on fairly well. No more scratched glasses.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q4XLBH2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Jeremy

 

[campy51]

Just wanted to follow up on this in case anyone else in the near future is looking for a rubber eyepiece solution for the prism finder. I found these on Amazon and ordered a pair. They slide over the metal flange nicely and have enough friction to stay on fairly well. No more scratched glasses.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q4XLBH2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Jeremy

Did it take as long as it says for shipping?

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

Did it take as long as it says for shipping?

No, IIRC it was less than 2 weeks.

Jeremy

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

I picked up a jammed Six for not much money and tore it apart. The damping piston was siezed and also there were a few other things going on. I replaced with parts from another dead Six and got it up and running again. Couldn't find a source for pre-cut leatherette so I cut some of my own from brown stock and recovered it after I put it back together. Works great now!

Jeremy

 

[Paul Howell]

Looks great.

 

[moto-uno]

Damn nice job . A camera well worth the effort and beautification ! Peter