Kowa Six and Super 66 Review - A Japanese Hasselblad?

In today’s episode, Greg and I review the Kowa Six, a lesser known 6x6 single lens reflex camera with interchangeable lenses built by the Japanese manufacturer Kowa between 1968 and 1974. The camera is known as the “poor man’s Hasselblad” as it cost about half the price of the famous Swedish Hasselblad 500C when it first hit the market. The Kowa Six was also directed at professional photographers and the manufacturer promised to offer all advantages of a medium format camera combined with the handling of a 35mm camera. Kowa made quite an effort in quickly offering accessories such as pistol grips that would allow the camera to be used for sports and action photography as well as fashion photography. Yet, Hasselblad and Rolleiflex were already well-established and many professionals had already invested in lenses and accessories by the Swedish or German manufacturers. As a result, the Kowa Six never became a true commercial success and remained mostly popular among amateurs. 

But how would we assess the camera from today’s perspective? We took the Kowa Six and its last iteration, the Kowa Super 66, out for photo walks in and around Würzburg shooting Kodak Portra 400, Rollei APX 100 and some Kodak Vision 3 cinema film developed in the ECN-2 process. Let’s dive in there and explore this Japanese Hasselblad alternative.


Gear used:
Kowa Six chrome body
Kowa Six black body
Kowa Super 66 plus 6x6 interchangeable backs

35mm f/4.5
55mm f/3.5
85mm f/2.8
110mm Macro f/5.6
150mm f/3.5
250mm f/5.6

Films used:
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Vision 3
Rollei RPX 100


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