I noticed a few negatives from my Tachihara Hope 4x5 had what looked like light leaks but were off somehow. The "leaks" were never in the same places, they moved around.
Tachihara Hope old bellows by Richard Hendrix, on Flickr
When I first received the camera (ebay purchase) I did shine a bright flashlight into the bellows while in the darkroom. It looked fine to me. But after about 50 sheets of film I noticed several shots with light leaks, never in the same place though.
A few weeks ago I took the Tachi back into the darkroom and this time I racked the focus all the way out. The upper part of the bellows at the folds were loaded with pinholes, dozens and dozens of pinholes. There were so many pinholes I'm surprised it took so long to see the leaks. I suppose that it would depend on how far I racked the focus out for the pinholes to be exposed to the sun.
Of course the fault is all mine I should have racked out the focus all the way on the very first day I received it but I know I didn't. I'll mark this up as a lesson learned and wait for my Tachi to return home with a new green bellows. So I sent my Tachihara Hope 4x5 off to Richard Ritter June 11th to have the bellows replaced.
Tachihara Hope green bellows by Richard Hendrix, on Flickr
As a side note, I did search Google and a couple of LF forums for recommendations on replacement bellows for the Tachi and Custom Bellows in the UK was mentioned many times.
I did send an email to Custom Bellows for an estimate on replacing the bellows for me. He advised that sending the camera to him, the import was a real pain and there were many places in the States that could replace the bellows if I was not comfortable with doing it myself. He was super nice and very helpful.
Mr. Ritter emailed me July 11th that the camera had a new bellows and was ready. He sent an invoice and packed and mailed it via USPS.
Tachihara Hope new bellows by Richard Hendrix, on Flickr
I haven't had a chance to test it out with film but I can't wait to shoot it. Thanks for reading,
Tachihara Hope old bellows by Richard Hendrix, on Flickr
When I first received the camera (ebay purchase) I did shine a bright flashlight into the bellows while in the darkroom. It looked fine to me. But after about 50 sheets of film I noticed several shots with light leaks, never in the same place though.
A few weeks ago I took the Tachi back into the darkroom and this time I racked the focus all the way out. The upper part of the bellows at the folds were loaded with pinholes, dozens and dozens of pinholes. There were so many pinholes I'm surprised it took so long to see the leaks. I suppose that it would depend on how far I racked the focus out for the pinholes to be exposed to the sun.
Of course the fault is all mine I should have racked out the focus all the way on the very first day I received it but I know I didn't. I'll mark this up as a lesson learned and wait for my Tachi to return home with a new green bellows. So I sent my Tachihara Hope 4x5 off to Richard Ritter June 11th to have the bellows replaced.
Tachihara Hope green bellows by Richard Hendrix, on Flickr
As a side note, I did search Google and a couple of LF forums for recommendations on replacement bellows for the Tachi and Custom Bellows in the UK was mentioned many times.
I did send an email to Custom Bellows for an estimate on replacing the bellows for me. He advised that sending the camera to him, the import was a real pain and there were many places in the States that could replace the bellows if I was not comfortable with doing it myself. He was super nice and very helpful.
Mr. Ritter emailed me July 11th that the camera had a new bellows and was ready. He sent an invoice and packed and mailed it via USPS.
Tachihara Hope new bellows by Richard Hendrix, on Flickr
I haven't had a chance to test it out with film but I can't wait to shoot it. Thanks for reading,
