Building a 7x17

I've come into a 5x7 Agfa. The bellows are shot but the wood and all metal parts are in fine shape. I already have a good 5x7 so I'm thing of restoring the bottom and front and making a 7x17 upper back section. Has anyone converted an old Agfa? Problems?

The track is 16.5 inches with a real draw of 14.5 and 13" bellows. Two questions for you 7x17 shooters. I can squeeze a max of a 14" lens out of it. I'm thinking of only using one lens a 12". What is your typical standard lens. Where do I go for the cheapest bellows 7x17x13"?

That's a pretty short bellows draw for a 7x17. You might get a longer bellows made (won't cost much more) with the goal of eventually making an extension track for your 7x17 Agfa.

As far as 12" lenses go, the 305mm G Claron would be a good choice for 7x17.

I had my bellows made by Camera Bellows in England. While I would not call their products cheap, they are extremely well made and offer an excellent value for the money. One nice thing about their bellows is how small they collapse. I needed my bellows to fold down fairly small when the camera is collapsed for transport. I told them I needed at least 27" of extension, but would prefer 30" and it needed to collapse down to at most 2" for transport, and 1½" - 1¾" would be better. They exceeded my wildest dreams - they made me a bellows with 30" of maximum extension that collapses down to an amazing ¾". This deluxe bellows cost about $350 (200 British Pounds) and is worth every penny (pence).

Kerry

"Simpler" bellows can be cheaper. I got a quote of £165 for a bellows for a 9.5x12" camera, which needs to collapse to 33mm and extend to 770mm. It's got a strange kind of "internal taper" too. I'll just have to find out how to dismantle my old plate camera first...

My winter project #3?

Ole said:

"Simpler" bellows can be cheaper.

Click to expand...

Definitely. The bellows I got was their ultralight, ultraflexible type (similar to the bellows used on the Canham DLC). Even for this deluxe bellows, I thought £200 was a pretty reasonable price for a 7x17 bellows with 30" of extension. A shorter, simpler bellows will cost less.

Kerry