I got this camera for $25, along with a newer-but-still-old Konica SLR. It was is sorry shape. The winder, shutter, and aperture were all stuck.
The Kowa seT is a leaf-shutter SLR. Some companies dabbled with the idea, returning to curtain-style focal plane shutters... but Kowa never gave up. To fire the camera, the Kowa must:
- Close the shutter
- Close the aperture leaves to the correct f-stop
- Raise the mirror
- Raise the light shield
- Open the shutter to expose the film
- Close the shutter
- Drop the light shield
- Drop the mirror
- Re-open the aperture leaves
- Re-open the shutter
(See http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Kowa_SETR_eng.html - with handy drawings by Rick Oleson!)
Most SLRs have the primary mechanics behind the shutter, optics and controls under the top cover, and a bit of wiring under the bottom cover. However, given the sequence above, there's no surprise at what lurks under the covers here:
Poking and prodding at the linkages under the bottom cover did not fire the shutter, although it did let me wind the winder again. So, digging deeper, the lens had to come off, exposing the shutter. Once I was that deep I could wind and fire the shutter manually, which was progress!
This exposed the first problem - the shutter wouldn't stay wound. Investigating the linkages showed that a pawl wasn't moving far enough to catch the wind action, so the camera would actually wind the shutter, but would just unwind again when you release the lever. Some careful bending of the longer rods was necessary to get the pawl to always catch.
The second problem was that the shutter release would start things moving, and the main barrel ring would travel around to raise the mirrors/light shield- but it wouldn't make it far enough to trip the shutter and make the return trip.
The light shield was bent and wouldn't sit flat, but I was able to carefully bend it back. This allowed the light shield to raise all the way, which gave more room for the mirror too. I pulled the shutter mechanism off and tried different meshes on the gears, and was able to get the camera to fire "properly" - but upon reassembly found that the light shield no longer landed back on its moorings properly. That would mean a pretty bad light leak, so everything came off again.
The mirror and light shield use geared cams that have forks on them to lift them up and out of the way. After much poking, prodding, and brow-furrowing I found that the fork for the mirror was binding on its cam. Careful bending again resolved the problem, this time with the snap-ring pliers to push outward only on the fork legs.
With the mirror no longer binding I was able to reset the gear mesh to their original locations, which allowed the light curtain to fully close. Success! Now the 10-step process runs through to completion!
But we're not done. I put the lens back on and found that we stopped at step 2 with a dull thunk. The aperture was stuck. So, off comes the lens again - the aperture is sticking as it closes. I can open it up, but closing it past halfway makes it jam - I can see the leaves flex outward when they should be sliding. So, the rear lens element was removed so I could lubricate the aperture leaves.
Bad idea - even the very, very thin oil I used got all over everything, and once it got between the leaves things started sticking again. I was able to swab rubbing alcohol on the leaves, which got some of the innards clean, but it was only when I got a bottle of lighter fluid that I was able to really clean things out.
The lens goes back on, and I discover I can't set the shutter speed using the dial. Further inspection showed that there should have been a pin on the front cover plate for the shutter:
Luckily, at some point I decided to pull apart the lens assembly even further (to attempt to clean the front of the aperture). I never did get to the front leaves, but I DID find the missing pin, stuck to the grease on the focus helix:
It was fairly easy to reset the pin and secure it with a center-punch. Now, we can set the speed control! After letting the aperture dry for a few days, everything was carefully reassembled with minimal lubricant - just a bit of grease on the focus helix.
With all the mechanics cleaned I now have a (mechanically) sound Kowa seT. However, the electrics are bunked - the flash sync is shorted out and the light meter doesn't seem to meter anything, so it's going to all come apart again shortly for some further work.
How did you manage to remove the film winding knob? It's the only part I need to remove to successfully remove the top assembly but no luck so far.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad bought a Kowa se in the early 60s. He let me use it to take pictures of his first ever flight on a commercial jet. I took a long exposure by holding the lens to the window at the gate at night. the aircraft was bathed in beautiful light and the pic was perfect. that photo convinced me to be a photographer....50 years later, I am still looking for the good light to capture!
ReplyDeleteI have to give you credit for sticking to it all the way thorough and documenting everything. I applaud your efforts.
ReplyDeleteA Kowa seT was my first SLR. I loved it. I got it around 1966 and used it as my main camera until 1976 when it was stolen. I had no issues at all with it. I was careful not to ding it and perhaps regular use helped keep it going. See my pictures posted on Flickr in this time period. Under user 'distar97'. I should make sure I add a tag for this camera.
It seems the Kowa H I just received as a gift has a similar issue. Unfortunately, I do not have your repair skills. Any thoughts on where I can start looking for help? Or any chance you live in Canada?
ReplyDeleteHello
ReplyDeleteMy issue is the light meter who indicate over exposition, seems that the iso ring is not influencing the light meter. I use 1.5 battery.