kowas super 66

[herz1]

I have dragged out my cumbersome Kowa super 66

when i wind i am supposed to wind 1 1/3 around

it does that for the first couple but then stops itself at 1 turn

and that is where i have to take the photo (about 3 pics into a 120 roll)

is this correct? Does this camera stop itself; ready for the next photo?

Thanks

Eric

[jonathan_james]

Yes, it automatically stops when it has wound far enough. As the film becomes thicker on the take up spool, it doesn't need to wind as many turns to advance the film the same distance. In other words, you need some sort of differential gearing to ensure that the frames don't get further and further apart.

[pete_andrews10]

Try a roll of film and see if the spacing's OK Eric. The Kowa's are notorious for their delicate wind-on mechanism. I had to repair my Kowa 6MM because of badly spaced frames, and on examination, I could see that the mechanism is really far too soft for the job. Not sure if the Super 66 is the same, but I suspect so.

 

FWIW, I gave up on the Kowas some time back, and invested in Mamiya 645s. I've never had any trouble with 'em in the 10 or so years I've been using 'em.

[jean-louis llech]

Eric,<br>

Modern emulsions are thinner that former ones. Many "old" cameras using an auto-sensor were adjusted for old roll films and do not detect modern emulsions with the same accuracy. That's why such problems can happen.<br>

[jonathan_james]

Guys, I successfully used a Super 66 for about 12 years with modern emulsions without any significant film spacing issues. The winding mechanism on the Super 66 was upgraded from the Kowa 6 and 6MM because of its known delicacy. It shouldn't present any major problem.

 

Put a film through and then examine it to see if the frames are sufficiently separated. Most medium format cameras seem to have some degree of irregularity, except for the ones which use the old red window system. As long as there is enough space between them, a little disparity shouldn't be something to worry about.