peter_fowler

I'm in Canada too . Our peso makes repairs in the US kinda pricey . Last time I heard , Ross charged around

$150 .00 US to overhaul a Kowa lens ( not too sure how long ago that was ) . Of the 4 different focal lengths I've

played with, they were all very similar in operation and so I'm assuming ( I know that's dangerous) that their

CLA costs might be similar . He's easy enough to talk with on the phone . Good luck , and on another note , crap ,

am I ever jealous :) . Peter

I don't think you know how extraordinarily lucky you are :) . Even 40mm Kowa lens are like chicken teeth , in the

last year I saw one on ebay (Germany) and it went for over 1000 $ . I've had a number of their other lens apart in

the last couple of years and it sounds like the shutter needs cleaning , which is pretty much a complete tear down .

Ross is highly regarded in Kowa repairs . Peter

Not sure if this is pertinent , but the self timer I use has a considerable range of adjustment for the pin protrusion ( or stick out ).

I know I need to adjust it's stick out depending on which camera I'm using . Peter

Go to Professional Mode , Film ,Positive ,48 bit colour.

Preview , if thumbnail comes up , drag the cross hair over the area you want scanned.

Click scan , name it and then OK.

I simply place the slide pretty much in the center of the scanner glass. I just did this on my V600 . Email me

if you want more directions. Peter

^^^ Joe , I'm of the belief that you're certainly speaking of the S2 models . Which I'd second your remarks , but with

Etr(si) models that may be overstating it somewhat :) . None of them are Mamiya 7 silent ! Peter

^ Great links

It's kinda ironic that some of my favorite pictures were taken with an S2 . Felt good in the hand (I've larger mechanics hands) , but

don't think you'll get any sneaky pictures in churches :) . Have become almost adept a repairing Kowas and Pentacon Sixes , the

Bronica S2 however , the mechanics in those are daunting :( . Peter

^ Orsetto , where's the fun in that ?

ps; Just don't screw up the helicoid's lead thread :( . That'll put a screw into the works ( sorry about the pun ) .

I don't know if this may work , but it was mentioned that possibly pressing the film rewind button might unlock it .

Another remark was that there's apparently a couple of magnets that need some minor attention , but I have no idea

what or where they are . Good luck , Peter

Working meter means those connections are good , but I'm not completely convinced that's necessarily enough to operate the shutter . It's

simply the easiest and cheapest check .(Scottish heritage :) ) Peter

Great news "Gary" , one of my favorite photos was taken with an S2 I had ( and it was taken by someone else ! )

You should have seen the look on her face when she pulled the shutter button ! Peter

"Orsettos" remarks earlier about the repairs causing some of the earlier mechanical wonders becoming shelf queens might be illustrated

in this photo . This is a Kowa Super 66 that was advertised as jammed . Quite the understatement ! This is the classic cause of shelf queening

a Kowa . The arrow points to the single tooth responsible for engaging the gear which winds the film on , and cocks the shutter in the lens .( Being

recently retired and in search of a project ) I removed a carbide tooth from a circular wood saw blade and ground it to size and brazed it in place . That

was some delicate welding torch work ! There were many other problems with this camera too ,a more time consuming repair would be hard to imagine .

The second one ( either a bear for punishment or a room temperature IQ ?) took 1/2 the time of the first and it still took 60 hours ! Approach some

projects with caution :) , Peter

I feel like the odd man out , E-6 in medium format is pretty much the main thing I shoot . Was hooked in earlier years

watching slide presentations of Kodachrome in 35mm and never looked back after seeing similar presentations in 6x6 :).

Of course I'd be remiss if I failed to mention what a struggle getting good exposures was . Peter

Had the good fortune view one of these at a local camera shop (remember those ?) and for the first time I

felt my Kowa Six was rather svelte :D. Love to see a comparison photo of the Mamiya with a Bronica S2 .

Peter

^^^^ #16 from Rodeo-Joes pictures ,that's certainly nothing like the 55 mm lens I have ( the early(ish)) silver one.

No mistaking it for a longer reach lens . They've certainly tested my camera repair patience ( first one , the super 66 )

the lens was inoperative , the back wouldn't advance past the first frame and the body had so many problems I had to

weld carbide saw teeth into the winding mechanism , just a quick 123 hrs .The back up super 66 only required

about 50 hrs , practice makes perfect ( perfect fools for spending so much time , but hey , it crappy in Vancouver in

the winter time .) Peter

On the Kowa Six flickr page there's a photo of one fellows collection that includes the 19mm fisheye lens. Missed my chance at

one from France (about 5 or 6 months ago ) , it ended up going for over $1000 ! Way outta my range. Absolute heresy Joe , how could one

call the 55 mm lens weirdly shaped :D ? (there's enough glass in that lens to make a telescope) Kowa lover forever , Peter

ps: I've 2 kowa Super 66's and 4 backs and they may have some quirks , but they all space frames evenly .Maybe I'm lucky ?