sbug
Acceptably Sharp
I have inherited my great grandfather's 4x5 view camera. It needs new bellows for starters and I am not sure where to turn for parts (certainly custom for a 100yr old camera). I'm looking for suggestions of good repair people in the US that can help me get this camera back into use.
Thanks!
Thanks!
VictorM.
Well-known
Wow! That's worth a restoration.
John Robertson
Well-known
Possibly not much help but there is a firm in London which makes new bellows to order, not cheap probably. There is bound to be a source in US somewhere, have you trierd "Googling" camera bellows repair?
John Robertson
Well-known
How about this?
http://www.camerabellows.com/
http://www.camerabellows.com/
kmack
do your job, then let go
How bad are the bellows?
If it a matter of a few pin holes here and there you can patch it.
If it a matter of a few pin holes here and there you can patch it.
Telewatt
Telewatt
normaly you can restorate it by your self...
Were are the "holes" ?
I bought a very thin soft leather for 5$ and glue it inside! so you can't see the resoration..
regards.
Jan
Were are the "holes" ?
I bought a very thin soft leather for 5$ and glue it inside! so you can't see the resoration..
regards.
Jan
FallisPhoto
Veteran
sbug said:
Here are your options:
1. A guy in Hawaii who makes bellows: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~mkapono/bellows.htm
2. Camera bellows, a company in England: http://www.camerabellows.com/
3. Custom made bellows from a company in Florida: Flexible Products Corp., 14504 60th St. N, Clearwater, FL 33760-2711, Ph# 726-536-3142
4. A company in California making custom bellows: Universal Bellows company -- ph# 516-378-1264.
5. Make your own:
http://my.net-link.net/~jsmigiel/bellows.html
http://www.cyberbeach.net/~dbardell/bellows.html
If you go with the 5th option, and make your own, you use either blackout curtain material or the material from an old changing bag for the liner. Material for the outer layer (vinyl leatherette or composite leather) can be supplied either by Micro Tools http://www.micro-tools.com/ or Camera Leather http://www.cameraleather.com/
If you buy bellows, take very careful measurements of the front and rear standards and the distance between them. The guy in Hawaii is probably the cheapest, but the material he uses looks like the sort of thing a dominatrix would wear. Figure on a minimum of $150, but it can easily be twice that.
As for parts, what is missing? I don't see anything obviously wrong or that isn't there.
Last edited:
FallisPhoto
Veteran
kmack said:
On a camera that old (I've redone a few), you can pretty much count on the bellows liner and the outer material being seperated. Last one I got that old (an Ansco), about a dozen stiffeners fell out when I opened the back. The outer layer is often real leather (very thin -- about 0.1mm thick) and you can pretty much count on it being dried and cracked. The inner material is usually silk, and it will certainly be very brittle. In that kind of shape, bellows are just not repairable. The only realistic option is to replace the bellows.