eric herzlich , Dec 02, 2002; 03:31 p.m.
hello
i just got a kowa super 66 slr with a 55mm lens...
i am used to my rolleiflex tlr with a xenotar 80mm and no mirror.
what is the lowest hand held speed with 50 or 100 iso film without the
hand grip? with the grip?..., were i to get one...i always like to
feel the camera in my hands, somehow.unless i use a tripod; i used
this camera on a tripod the other day and the mirror makes quite a
vibratory slap. i get crisp incredible shots handheld with my rollei,
even down to 1/25th s...
experieced please reply
thanks
eric
Al Kaplan - Miami, FL , Dec 02, 2002; 05:18 p.m.
It all depends on you. You can without doubt shoot at 1/125 no problem. There are some people who can pull it off at 1/15 or longer. You need to run your own tests, then practice.
Jim Evans , Dec 02, 2002; 06:04 p.m.
Like the previous reply suggested, it really depends on you. I've had my Super 66 for about a year now and 1/60 is about the slowest I can handhold it. I am sure if I really praticed at it, I could improve. Also, since the camera weighs about as much as a small car, it actually "sinks" into the palms of my hands pretty well which helps stabilize it quite nicely.
Anyway, congrats on the purchase. The camera can compete with the best in terms of the lenses. It is a great value. One suggestion, advance the film by using the round knob. Try not to use the flip out handle that much. The handle is prone to breaking. Also, if you need a copy of the manual, let me know via email and I can fax one to you.
Wayne Harridge , Dec 02, 2002; 09:48 p.m.
There is no "correct" answer. As others noted, it depends on how well you do yourself, however another thing to consider is what the images are to be used for. If you only intend to make 4x4 prints then you can tolerate more camera movement than if you are making 20x20 prints. There is not a distinct "cut-off" shutter speed above which everything is as sharp as possible and below which everything is horribly blurred.
Pete Andrews 
, Dec 03, 2002; 06:01 a.m.
Forget the handgrip. If you haven't got one on the camera already, get a strong neck strap!<br>I've found over the years that using a neck strap with a waist-level finder allows incredibly steady pictures to be taken handheld with any square format MF camera.<br>Just pull on the neck strap so that the camera is tensioned against your body, and you can get away with quite slow speeds - 1/30th easily. (The film speed makes no difference to the shutter speed that you set, BTW!)<p>You can also get a high viewpoint with a WLF by inverting the camera and holding it above your head, and again, you can tension the neckstrap to help steady the camera.<p>I don't use my Kowa much since I got an M645 outfit, but I feel a lot more confident handholding the Kowa at waist level than I do using the eyelevel prismfinder of the Mamiya.<br>A monopod's a good investment too.
Scott K. , Dec 07, 2002; 04:43 p.m.
I can usually get 1/30 or 1/15 with my Kowa Super 66. THe mirror slap on kowas, while loud, is nothing compared to that on my bronica sq-a. I have heard that this is because the kowa has some sort of air piston thing going on to stop mirror slap shock(I think i read that in a '60s modern photography).
The Kowa is a great camera, I like it better than my bronica for a lot of reasons. The ONLY thing the bronica has on it is weight.
-Scott
David Hay , Jun 30, 2004; 11:49 a.m.
You can use the self timer setting to eliminate mirror vibration as the mirror comes up first....may cause other problems with handholding!
PEDRO ALVES , Jun 24, 2005; 06:15 a.m.
Which neck strap do you use? Are we limited to the Kowa's neck strap or can we use other one? Any suggestions?
Pedro
