Super Wester-S2 6x6 folder

[Spotmatic]

I've always liked the products of obscure Japanese companies from the 50's. Back then there were many "garage" camera manufacturers, most of which do not have survived into the 60's. I have obtained a few nice 35mm rangefinders from this era, such as the Royal 35 and the ACON 35 Model II (pictured below):

Now, yesterday I bought a 6x6 rangefinder made by Nishida Kogaku Kogyo (NKK): the Super Wester-S2. It was cheap so I didn't pass up on this one. If it still works is anyone's guess, but it looks very nice.

There's not much to be found on the net about NKK and the Wester cameras apart from the info on Camerapedia. Does anyone on this forum have more info?

 

[hanskerensky]

Hi Spotmatic,

No, i'm afraid i don't have any more info about this camera. However just this morning i saw the advertisment on our local Dutch Internetmarket (marktplaats.nl) and i was complaining to myself that i had missed this one yesterday ! One hour later and i see your post in this forum. Funny 🙂

However i have a tip for you. Try to contact this member on Flickr. He is one of my contacts and a specialist in the field of vintage Japanese cameras.
http://www.flickr.com/people/rebollo_fr/

Good luck and if you come in the neighbourhood of Noord-Limburg bring your Super Wester and we have a shoot-out with one of my folders 🙂

 

[Spotmatic]

Really? Sorry Hans, but I simply could not resist it (yesterday evening) even though I know almost nothing about it. But as I wrote I like those obscure Japanese brands 🙂

Thanks for the link and where in Noord-Limburg do you live? Would be fun to compare folders, even though I've just been bitten by the bug. I've loaded my prewar Bessa RF with Heliar lens just a few minutes ago and am about to take my first shots with it... Which is tremendous fun!

 

[hanskerensky]

Hi Spotmatic,

I live in Panningen about 15km from Venlo. You can reach me by private mail or by Flickr post.

If we want to compete in 35mm i shall take my Agfa Super Silette RF with the Solagon lens 🙂
Together with the Fuji Superia Reala 100 a real hit !

 

[Spotmatic]

Hans,

It's a bit quiet in this forum... Please let me stir things up a bit! 🙂

 

[hanskerensky]

Hi Spotmatic,

Yes, it's too quiet 🙂

Very very nice camera ! I'm extremely jealous ;-)

Looks pristine so you have a good chance of making photos with it without too many fuss.

Did you manage to contact rebollo and ask him for information ??


Would also be a great idea if you published some of your photos of the Super Wester in our Flickr group for Medium Folder enthousiasts. You can find the group here :
http://www.flickr.com/groups/folding/

 

[fidget]

Very nice find, I'm jealous too. I like the focus mechanism and the depth of field scale!

Does it look like a 3 element lens?

Dave

 

[Spotmatic]

Yes, it's a great camera! Interestingly, everything smells of quality. Even the leather is real leather and not leatherette (it's very dry however; I'm going to fix that first with saddle soap. Also the focusing helicoid is a little dry so this will be solved with a bit of brake grease).

The lens appears to be a triplet indeed. At least with the shutter open I could make out three reflections (although a Tessar shows three reflections too, so I'm not sure how to check this).

Also the rangefinder seems to be spot on (no vertical adjustment needed) and the shutter seems to work very well too.

I'll contact Rebollo but let's first get it in a perfect shape again and run a roll of film through it; after that we'll see 🙂

 

[ZeissFan]

I like how they selected a German-sounding name for the camera.

It looks like a nice piece. Does it have autoframing? Or do you have to wind on until the number appears in the red window.

 

[Spotmatic]

I like how they selected a German-sounding name for the camera.

It looks like a nice piece. Does it have autoframing? Or do you have to wind on until the number appears in the red window.

Yes, it has autoframing. There's no red window and the film can only be advanced after a photo is taken.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I like how they selected a German-sounding name for the camera.

One of the last cameras I bought was an Okako Waltax. Strangely enough, it was not a copy of a Weltax but seems to be copied from a Zeiss Nettar.

 

[Spotmatic]

Yesterday I have received the first results (on some very old 100 ISO Provia film, I think 10 years old so there's a slight color shift) and everything was perfectly exposed and looking sharp too (all around f/4 and f/5.6). Based on the bokeh I think the lens is indeed a triplet.

I'll post examples as soon as I have a good scanner!

 

[Spotmatic]

Here's my first shot with the Super Wester S-2. Fuji Provia 100 from 1997, scanned on a Epson V500. I still need some experience, but here it is 🙂

 

[hanskerensky]

Great image Peter.

I really like the shallow DOF you used so the fore/backgrounds don't interfere !

Seems the Wester still performs well.

 

[Martin Bruntnell]

I've always liked the products of obscure Japanese companies from the 50's. Back then there were many "garage" camera manufacturers, most of which do not have survived into the 60's. I have obtained a few nice 35mm rangefinders from this era, such as the Royal 35 and the ACON 35 Model II (pictured below):

Now, yesterday I bought a 6x6 rangefinder made by Nishida Kogaku Kogyo (NKK): the Super Wester-S2. It was cheap so I didn't pass up on this one. If it still works is anyone's guess, but it looks very nice.

There's not much to be found on the net about NKK and the Wester cameras apart from the info on Camerapedia. Does anyone on this forum have more info?

Hi Peter,
I am new to rangefiderforum and I hope you can give me some help. I have been given a Wester s-2 but alas no instructions,the only thing I'm a little lost on is the little button on the rear with a arrow pointing up.Can you help ?

rgs,

Martin.

 

[Bushturkey63]

Hi Peter,
I am new to rangefiderforum and I hope you can give me some help. I have been given a Wester s-2 but alas no instructions,the only thing I'm a little lost on is the little button on the rear with a arrow pointing up.Can you help ?

rgs,

Martin.

The button with the arrow pointing up is used for resetting the film counter. When a new film is loaded and wound on to the start position, push the S button upwards and engage the wind on lever fully to the right. Wind the film winding dial until it stops and you should see the film exposure count is back to 1. The lever is also important in winding on between exposures.