Kowa SETR - The last leaf-shutter SLR

(c) Photos and Text by Frank Mechelhoff                 NEW 13. Aug. 2006



Above: Kowa SET -R (1968), down successor SET-R2 (1970). Differences: black (plastic) advance lever cap instead of chrome metal, film reminder under rewind crank, highest aperture setting f/1.8 instead of 1.9. No big differences though - it was more a marketing gadget.
The older f/1.9 standard lens has a classic looking chrome nose, the f/1.8 is just black metal.

So would you think this is a typical manual SLR with TTL-metering of the sixties and seventies like milion others ? Nope.
This is the only, and last leaf-shutter-SLR with fully changable lenses in the "Spotmatic" form.
In the early 1950's German made leaf-shutter SLRs rules the market, grave cameras like Contaflex and Bessamatic. The advantage of this concept is stroblights can be used at every shutter-speed. But the cameras were too heavy and the shutter opening is too small which limits the design of high-speed lenses.

The main disadvantage of  leaf-shutter SLRs is that user convenience dictates a long and very complicated shutter-design, somewhat unreliable in longer or heavy use, and difficult (borderline impossible) to repair. Of course, such a design is made from hundred parts and no longer is a cheap solution like simpler leaf-shutter cameras actually are. In fact they are more complicated than Leica type focal plane shutters, and therefore, not cheap to build.

If you press the trigger to photograph, the control circle of a KOWA SET-R(2) shutter includes in the following steps:

1. closing the shutter blades
2. closing aperture to the preselected value
3. mirror upward move
4. film door upward move
5. open the shutter again
6. after preselected time, close the shutter again
7. closing the film door again
8. mirror downward move
9. opening aperture to full value again
10. opening the shutter again

This was the most complicated control circle of any leaf-shutter SLR ever made. Solely the Voigtlander Ultramatic (first model) has had the same long circle (plus adding aperture priority automatic exposure) but function remains unreliable, and therefore was displaced by a camera that misses the mirror-back (last three steps).


Repair Notices made by Rick Oleson

Film door? What's that? The film door is the thing behind the mirror, sealing the film of light when the shutter is open. Remember the leaf-shutter is in front of the mirror and not behind like a focal plane shutter, and has to be open to allow seeing through the finder. If so, light finds their way beside the mirror to the film if no film-door as a light-seal is added.

All of these controls works fully mechanicly on a "clugg". The battery of the camera just feeds the open aperture metering. It's borderline to wonder that these cameras still works after more than 30 years use, knocks, drying-out of lubricants in sunlight, wear and tear of cogwheels and springs, operation and storage errors of some users. It amazes even more when keeping in mind that their only rival, Voigtlander Ultramatic not only was at least double the price when new - the Kowa was 1/3 less than a Pentax Spotmatic and never represented a considerable value - always kept a "collectable" position of some value, gets more maintenance by knowledgable persons, and still has a fame of beeing less reliable in function and good to repair.

The KOWA SET-R(2) has the fastest ever made leaf shutter SLR lenses made in history. The fastest lens of Voigtlander leaf shutter SLR was the 2/50mm Septon and 2/40mm Skopagon - the Zeiss-Ikons only had f/2.8 lenses.

No surprise after all this reading, The SET-R couldn't be the first SLR made by KOWA. It was just their first made with TTL metering. The SER, started in 1964 had a outer CdS-cell onto the  prism but otherwise works the same way.  But even the 1959's Kowaflex (link)  shows the same, very straight, modern looking design which become fashion in the seventies..! Other sites with KOWA 35mm SLR pages: Rick Oleson (screw down):

photo by www.amaha.or.jp

Kowa SET-R Lenses



Lenses: Above mounted on a Kowa SET-R, the 4/135 with impressive front element (and prone to flare). Mounted on a Kowa SET-R2 a sleek 3.5/100. Standing a wideangle 2.8/35, 1.8/50 and 1.9/50 with knocked filter rim. All lenses were nicely made.There was also a 4/200 which looks even more impressive, plus a 3.5/28. When changing lenses, you need to re-set ASA sensibility next to shutter-speed setting (which is quite uncommon with open aperture metering SLRs)

My suggestion is both cameras were made in batches of about 30-50.000 or less. Obviously the SET-R2 serial number range starts with 950.000, 1.8/50 lens with 3.400.000 (source Kowa SET-R2 english manual) - the SET-R probably with 900.000



The only lens diagram I could find: Kowa 1.8/50mm - 6 elements/ 4 groups, classical Planar type

Kowa is, and always was quite unkonown as 35mm SLR camera maker. They gained some profile with their Kowa Six, as the "poor man's Hasselblad"

	S/N	Year	Weight	Length	Filter	Width
Kowa SET-R	915716	1968	640g
Kowa SET-R2	976914	1970	630g
Kowa SETR 1:1.9 f=50mm	613729	1968	160g	31,0mm	49	60mm
Kowa R 1:1.8/50	3450245	1970	166g	31,0mm	49	60mm
Kowa R 1:2.8/35	947963	1970	172g	38,3mm	49	59mm
Kowa R 1:3.5/100	103380	1970	382g	60,5mm	55	61,8mm
Kowa R 1:4/135	151951	1970	562g	73mm	67	78mm

German rivalry of 1968: Voigtlander Ultramatic-CS

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