Altview@aol.com
Tue, 23 Feb 1999 12:04:18 -0500 (EST)
I would like to weigh in on this ongoing thread re: bellows repair. A caveat
concerning different methodologies of bellows repair to consider, the first
being that any repair should be considered a short term solution at best.
Unless the light leak is caused by a physical accident such as a tree branch
skewering your camera while trekking through the woods, pinholes caused by
aging and drying out of the material will continue to appear the more it is
used. Meaning that new holes may develop during a critical moment and be
unbeknowst to you until you process your negatives. Many of my clients who
send me cameras to restore often state that their bellows appear to be in good
condition until a light is placed inside and the bellows looks like a
planetarium. You cannot tell how bad a bellow is by visual inspection. A light
check in the dark is the only way to ascertain the materials condition. I
learned this personally many years ago when I acquired my 12 X 20 camera,
which was full of pinholes. I used black artists acrylic paint, another
effective short term fix, to stop up the holes. But my negatives continued to
be troubled and since in my mind I had fixed this one particular problem, I
wrangled with what else was causing my negatives to look so bad. I finally
arrived at the solution in conversations with other large camera photographers
who had similiar problems. Replacing the bellows solved all of the problems
and my negatives have been perfect ever since. So, if your bellows are
starting to leak at the corners, it is time to replace them. Newer bellows use
better materials then the originals, certainly with older wood cameras and
will often weigh less. I use Western bellows exclusively for both my clients
cameras and for the cameras I manufacture. I feel they are the finest quality
available at a competitive price. If any of you have questions about bellows
and their replacement, please fell free to contact me directly.
Patrick Alt
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sat Nov 06 1999 - 10:06:53