romainsaccoccio

Then perhaps a Kowa system wasn't the best choice. It's a bit like buying a Morris Minor and not expecting to get your hands greasy.:cool:

Indeed. To be honnest, last time I spent 100$ to repair it, I wasn't expect to be in the same situation later.

Initially I wanted to sell this camera to someone who will be actually using it and to keep my Blad, Mamiya 7 and other medium format beasts. Too late I guess. I should have shoot more often with it !

Since the lens is useless as is, and probably beyond economic professional repair; what do you have to lose by attempting a DIY fix?

I'm going to ask for a second opinion to a cam repair service, without incur any cost yet if possible.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated

Yep, the lens shutter is open no matter what I do...

I double checked the self timer but it doesn't affect anything

The only case where I can remount the lens on the body is if I push the shutter release button on the body, the mirror goes up and the red pins match (red pins on the lens under the bottom of the arrow / holes on the body at 11 o'clock) but it's clearly the wrong position because then, when I advance the shutter knob, the mirror won't go back in down position. It blocks somewhere halfway and the viewfinder is dark. I have to remove the lens to finish the advancement and fire the camera.

I think my lens is jammed because I didn't shoot for a very long time and Kowa lenses don't like inactivity... :(

If my lens is jammed though, I still don't understand how I could finish a film roll just before this happened...

There's a tiny pin on the lens that needs to be depressed before you can re-cock the lens. Once you press the pin in, the red lugs can be twisted into the right position.

 

The small pin on the lens mount is automatically pushed in once the lens is mounted.

 

The lesson here is not to trigger the lens when it's removed from the camera.

 

P.S. I would have posted a picture of the small pin, but my Kowa 6/66 lenses aren't with me at the moment. I think the pin in question is at about 11 O'clock on your second picture.

I tried pushing the tiny pin but the pins won't move past the position on photo n°2.

When I push the tiny pin, the pins go back to their initial position on the bottom of the arrow.

These red pins can only go from the bottom of the arrow to the halfway (photo n°2) and nothing seem to unblock that...

Thanks for your help anyway rodeo_joe|1

Did your self timer get triggered and the shutter has not completed winding down? It can be helped with a little finger pressure.

I tried to move the red pins on every V-X-M flash/timer position but it's the same

Thanks for your response

I don't own a kowa but I've been reading about them. Here's something of interest ....

FAQ - KOWA Six, 6MM, Super 66: medium format SLR camera, user manual, data sheet, faq, prices

Why won't this Kowa lens go back on the camera?

The camera may have been triggered with the lens off the camera, so the mirror is out of position, or the lens shutter may have been triggered off the camera. They need to match states to line up and remount the lens. See Kowa 6 or your manual for more information.

Thanks for your response kmac

Indeed, camera and lens have to match states to line up but the problem is I can't set the lens on the right position as the manual requires (red pins won't go under the red dots)

Hello everyone,

I'm a Kowa Six user, had to send it to repair service a long time ago, I did not use the camera for a while and now it's stucked again...

>>> I removed the lens and can't remount it on the body because the red pins (on the lens) won't go all the way to the red dots to click. They won't go further the halfway.

The camera is in the right position to mount the lens : camera cocked and mirror is down

I read all the Kowa Six threads around here but can't find the solution and I'd like to avoid another 100$ or more to send to repair service.

Could someone help me ? Thanks in advance

Romain