KOWA: the bête noire of photography?

David Lyga · Apr 12, 2018

Can anyone say anything positive about KOWA? Their lenses are certainly superb, but are this brand's mechanics the sole bête noire of Japanese manufacture? Do any still work? - David Lyga

E. von Hoegh · Apr 12, 2018

David Lyga said:
Can anyone say anything positive about KOWA? Their lenses are certainly superb, but are this brand's mechanics the sole bête noire of Japanese manufacture? Do any still work? - David Lyga

I think Miranda holds that title, although I have an Fv that works as it should.

BMbikerider · Apr 12, 2018

I owned a Kowa 35mm SLR in the 1960's and can confirm that the lenses were perhaps ahead of their time. They were very, very, good but the mechanicals in the SE one I had were appallingly basic and crude. The shock of the mirror moving would register on the Richter scale. I have see one or two of the same models recently so they do seem to be still working.

tedr1 · Apr 12, 2018

Long ago I had a brief encounter with a used medium format Kowa 66 in a camera store. At the time my normal equipment was a Nikon FE. I seem to recall finding the Kowa mechanically unsatisfactory, things that should have fitted didn't, it felt clumsy and on the verge of failure. I left the store without it.

Barry Kirsten · Apr 12, 2018

Can't comment on the 35mm Kowas, but in my experience the 6x6 are very good. I previously had a Kowa 6 MM for many years and did some great work with it. The only trouble I had with it was occasional wind-on irregularities which led to uneven frame gaps which were a minor matter to me. One feature I loved and used often was mirror lock-up. I currently have a Super 66, and although it has removable film magazines (which is not a big deal for me), it lacks mirror lock-up, which annoys me, although I've never seen evidence of mirror vibration in any of my negs. I'd say on the basis of years of use that Kowas are well made and reliable cameras. And their optics are up there with the best.

blockend · Apr 12, 2018

E. von Hoegh said:
I think Miranda holds that title, although I have an Fv that works as it should.

I was thinking the same thing. Never owned a Petri but I've not heard anything good mechanically. Kind of the opposite of Chinon which were criminally underrated in the UK but were solid and optically very good indeed.

alanrockwood · Apr 12, 2018

blockend said:
I was thinking the same thing. Never owned a Petri but I've not heard anything good mechanically. Kind of the opposite of Chinon which were criminally underrated in the UK but were solid and optically very good indeed.

I once had a Petri FT. I don't know about all of the mechanics, but the breachlock camera mount was good, and I liked the ergonomics of the meter lever, the shutter release, and the camera generally. I don't know how they rated in terms of reliability, but from what I have heard they did not rate highly in that department. The range of lenses and accessories available were, as I recall, not particularly good.

Paul Howell · Apr 12, 2018

Past few weeks I've been shooting with a Kowa SE with 50mm 1.9 fixed lens. I also shoot with a Kowa 66 and super 66, have 5 lens. In terms of the 35mm, downfall is the leaf shutter and limited lens line up for the SET r, last of the breed that took interchangeable lens. The overall build quality is fair a for consumer grade camera, the meter is accurate, the lens is very good, 6 elements in 4 groups, sharp wide open, as good as any 50mm lens I've got. The leaf lens is problematic, very complex, hard to repair. To top it off there is a baffle to protect the film from light as the shutter has to be open to focus. Topcon made a similar entry level leaf shutter camera.

After 40 years or so finding Kowas in working order will be a challenge, were not as popular as say Pentax, Nikon, Canon or Minolta, and those that do survive will likely need to be worked on. I bought 3 before I got one that works, paid very little for them so one my working copy cost me around $70 and I have 2 for parts. Have not not gotten around to seeing what makes them tick, maybe over the summer.

In terms of Miranda, another brand I collected, the early models are rather sound, the EE, Senormate and the last body the Dx were not so good. Miranda was one of the first Japanese 35mm SLRs, the first the Oreran is very collectable. The weak point of the EE and Senromate was that the light meter is on the mirror, over the years the constant slapping up and down and something breaks. The lens are very good, the line up is average 25mm to 300. It has a dule lens mount, a bayonet and a 44mm screw mount. Longer lens were made, a 400 and a 800, not by Miranda, Soligor and others made these and were all preset. The Dx was as mess, drove AIC the parent company bankrupt.

Paul Howell · Apr 12, 2018

alanrockwood said:
I once had a Petri FT. I don't know about all of the mechanics, but the breachlock camera mount was good, and I liked the ergonomics of the meter lever, the shutter release, and the camera generally. I don't know how they rated in terms of reliability, but from what I have heard they did not rate highly in that department. The range of lenses and accessories available were, as I recall, not particularly good.

Another camera I collect. Lens are also very good, Petri made telescopes and their optics are very good. I have a 300 and 400 that are as sharp as my Minolta A mounts. But your right, the worst camera body I have ever owned. I have FT that's shutter is at least 2 stops fast, did not know you could get a mechanical cloth shutter to be that fast. Petri started out with a breech mount then later made the same models in a 42mm screw mount just as the rest of the world was moving to K mount. I don't think there were many accessories, the lens ranged from 28mm to 800, never seen a 800, just a picture in a catalog. I been looking for an adaptor so I can shoot the lens with a Sony E body.

railwayman3 · Apr 12, 2018

That's reminded me, way back in the 1970's, my late Father had a s/h Kowa 127 (Komaflex 127 ? ) on trial from the local camera shop. (That was in the days when your friendly family camera shop would lend you a camera to try for a week, after spend a couple of hours chatting with you about it ! )

At the time he took a lot of architectural and industrial photos using 16-on-120 in his Rollei which he mounted as 4x4 slides for projection, and he thought that the Kowa might be more convenient to use. IIRC, he decided against buying, not through any problems or issues with the camera which he liked and found neat and useful, but mainly because he would get only 12 slides per 127 film, for the same price for film and processing for 16 on the 120 film; also, at that time, there was a vast choice of 120 slide film, while 127 slide film was already becoming less readily available.

Rick A · Apr 12, 2018

Having owned a pair of Super 66's plus a couple of different focal length lenses, they were magnificent beasts. I had owned a Hassy prior, didn't appreciate it. I started looking around to replace the 66's recently, can't afford them.I won't say they were anything except (for me) ergonomic and solid workhorses. I shot milesof film through them, portraits, sports, etc. I miss them.

albada · Apr 12, 2018

I own a Kowa SET (maybe SETR), which I fixed. Its main problem is a heavy mechanism in the bottom which slams back and forth during exposure, jarring the camera just as the shutter opens. Stupid design. I've never shot with it and probably never will.

Mark Overton

Chrismat · Apr 12, 2018

I owned a Kowa SixMM for a few years, I really liked it. The lenses are great, and the body I had worked fine.

E. von Hoegh · Apr 13, 2018

blockend said:
I was thinking the same thing. Never owned a Petri but I've not heard anything good mechanically. Kind of the opposite of Chinon which were criminally underrated in the UK but were solid and optically very good indeed.

I should point out that when I found the Fv in a trash dumpster it did not work (it had a Soligor T-mount preset 350/5.6 on it that's rather good). It's problems were due to neglect rather than poor quality, although it's certainly no Pentax!

blockend · Apr 13, 2018

E. von Hoegh said:
I should point out that when I found the Fv in a trash dumpster it did not work (it had a Soligor T-mount preset 350/5.6 on it that's rather good). It's problems were due to neglect rather than poor quality, although it's certainly no Pentax!

Mirandas look like they should work. Some cameras do, some don't. Nobody ever says I had a Miranda since 1967 and it never missed a beat. It's always about something important going bang inside. Which is why I never bought one even though they look nice.

guangong · Apr 13, 2018

For MF, Kowa is tied with another Japanese MF camera that was shaped like a large 35mm camera. I can’t remember its name but I think it began with an “R”. I am sure somebody on APUG can joggle my memory. They looked great...just didn’t work.

Steve Roberts · Apr 13, 2018

I once occasionally used to get asked to develop and print black and white material by a friend who had a Miranda. I don't know the model, but it had no metering. The negatives it produced from the standard lens were some of the best I've ever seen - they showed excellent sharpness and tonality. A couple of years ago I bought a Miranda G for the very good reason that it extremely cheap. It seems very well engineered in all respects except for a little rotational slack in the lens mount. Film advance, shutter dial, aperture selection, etc. all have a silky smooth feel to them. Regrettably, I haven't yet put a film through it.

Steve

blockend · Apr 13, 2018

Miranda finished up as a name on some low quality generic plastic SLRs. Before it came to that Dixons (UK high street photo and electrical) sold the metal ones off cheap. Something was up, and it wasn't Miranda's share price. Talk of Dixons reminds me I still want a Chinon CEII Memotron. The only M42 SLR that offered auto exposure on any lens.

Jim Jones · Apr 13, 2018

E. von Hoegh said:
I think Miranda holds that title, although I have an Fv that works as it should.

I agree. In 1966 I bought a Miranda and three Soligar lenses in the Far East. A very few months later I moved up to Nikon and sold the Miranda outfit. The Soligar lenses were fine, but the camera body had developed several minor problems. Miranda's allure depended on the ads and on the range of accessories (which never seemed to be available).

Paul Howell · Apr 13, 2018

I think Miranda took a dive when it was bought by AIC, an American Company in New York. AIC bought both Miranda and Soligo. My pre AIC G and Fv are well built, but the later models, Sensormate and EE lack the build quality. In terms of lens, I read years ago on line that towards the end Miranda made their own lens, but until then designed their own lens line up and contracted with 3rd party for manufacturing. I have early Miranda 135 3.5 that appears to be a clone of a Petri 135 3.5. Until the last model, the DX, Miranda's had interchangeable view finders, some early non metered bodies had interchangeable focusing screens. The made a range of bodies, entry level like the RE had stopped down metering, the top end EE had average and spot metering. Miranda got it's start making Contax to Leica and Leica to Contax adaptors. They also made a Sensormate in M42 mount, one 35mm fixed lens point and shoot, and a light meter.

AIC bellied up in 1977. The name Miranda along with Petri was bought by Dixon who sold rebranded Chinon bodies and lens in the UK.

juan · Apr 13, 2018

My Kowa SET works just fine. I prefer it to my Nikons for flash.

Paul Howell · Apr 13, 2018

Yes, very handy, I use a Sunpack with my SE for fill in, works rather well. Never had a Ziess or Kodak 35mm with leaf shutter, not sure how similiar they are to either Kowa or Topcon.

KOWA: the bête noire of photography?

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