Bellows for 8x10 Gundlach Criterion

[campy51]

Any idea for a cost and where to buy? Also is $400 a decent price for this camera with bad bellows?

 

[Tel]

$400 is a decent price for an 8x10 Gundlach view camera. I have five Gundlachs (none is 8x10) and I've found them to be well-engineered and well made. I have gotten new bellows from Rudy in Hong Kong; he does excellent work and a set of 8x10 bellows should set you back about $200. Here's a link to some he's got on ebay right now: https://www.ebay.com/itm/271381085022?hash=item3f2f92bb5e:g:aDoAAOSw7NpZvzwb though I would strongly recommend that you contact him with measurements before placing the order. He has been making bellows for many years and probably has a template on hand for every Gundlach camera.

 

[Don_ih]

I have a Gundlach 8x10. Whether or not the one you're looking at is worth $400 depends on a number of factors. The gears for focus adjust can strip. The tracks the gears drive in can be broken. The focus and lock knobs can be impossibly stiff or completely missing. The front standard can be rickety or possibly cracked. The glue in the entire thing may be failing by now.
Mine was in many pieces when I got it. I think someone dropped it down a flight of stairs.
I fixed the bellows, which had 10000 pinholes at every fold, by painting them completely with rubberized sealant. Then I painted that with acrylic paint (because the sealant stayed sticky, even after two weeks). I haven't used it in the sun (I use it to take pictures of my kids) but I think it's light tight,
Mine came with a big lens in a No. 5 shutter. The shutter was also smashed apart. The lens was undamaged. I had to find some screws to use in it and had to get a spring from a (also smashed) Polaroid SX70. The shutter works perfectly. It's amazing how little there is in a Betax No. 5 shutter.

 

[jimjm]

Contact Custom Bellows UK. They did an excellent job on the replacement bellows for my Deardorff V8 and I received it about 2 weeks after sending in the old bellows / frames. Keith was a pleasure to deal with.
Cost was about $300 including shipping, but the quality of the workmanship and bellows material is worth it. Much more supple than the original bellows.

 

[campy51]

It also comes with this lens..

 

[Tel]

Have you got a photo of the camera?

 

[campy51]

 

[abruzzi]

I don't know that lens at all, but does it cover 8x10? 135mm is wide for 8x10, which makes me think its more for a 4x5 or smaller format.

EDIT: looked it up, and the 5 1/4 in Rodenstock Eurynar is listed as covering 3 1/4 x 4 inches at wide open, and 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 at ƒ31.

Here is the document with the info: https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/00718/00718.pdf

 

[Tel]

Wow--sweet looking camera. Does it have an 8x10 back on it? (From what I can see it looks like it does.) As abruzzi noted, that lens won't cover 8x10, so it must have been used with a reducing back. Still looks like a good buy, though you'll need to get a different lens to use it with 8x10 film.