Bessa Ii Bellows Issues

[ARCHIVIST]

I had my Voigtlander Bessa II cla'd several years back - very happy.
The bellows are now leaking slightly.

Can I replace them myself?
From whom do I buy them?
Will replacing them require me to have the focusing re-set?

OR

Do I patch them?

Cheers
Peter

 

[kangaroo2012]

Hi Peter, I'm in Sydney and have an idea that new bellows might be hard to get. You could try Mainline phot0graphics in Crows Nest, Scott Vanthoff was Voigtlander agent.
I had bellows repaired on my Fuji by a Peter in Rockdale. He used a very thin black light tight silk which still allowed the bellows to collapse fully.
I will try to find out if he is still in business. I had bellows made for my Arca Swiss by Frank Morand, but I think he has fallen off his tripod.
Cheers
Philip

 

[ARCHIVIST]

Thank you Philip.
I have dealt with John and Scott Vanthoff in the past and Frank Morand has made many sets of bellows for my larger cameras. And yes, he sadly passed away some years ago.

I can get new bellows to suit easily enough but it is the fitting that worries me. Can I do this myself, what is involved or do I just do a neat patch job.

I had the camera fully CLA'd and it works like new - the lens is fantastic.

Cheers
Peter

 

[ARCHIVIST]

Hello everyone,

The issue is not the bellows.

It turned out to be the hinge on the door, at the top.
Only a very slight leak but enough to fog the film slightly.
If I was winding and shooting quickly the film did not have enough stationary time to be fogged but if I was walking around looking for subject matter then it had enough time to fog.

A simple fix.

To celebrate I bought a Bessa I w/ Color Skopar 105mm.

Stay safe.

Cheers
Peter

 

[DwF]

Look up Jurgen Kreckel at Certo6. He has done very good work on several folders i have had over the years. His turnaround and prices are also quite reasonable!

David