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