Mamiya 6 (not the old folder) bellows replacement

radialMelt · Dec 9, 2024

Hi all,

Recently acquired a Mamiya 6 - not the old folder, but the predecessor to the Mamiya 7 - as a replacement to my ill-fated Plaubel Makina 670. Unfortunately, the camera came with a couple of significant holes in the bellows. I mistakenly assumed the bellows could be replaced, but as it turns out a replacement part is hard to find, and a technician to do the work is even harder. Bill Rogers at Mamiya Repair - my contact thusfar - is not willing to do this work.

Anyone out there replaced the bellows in their Mamiya 6 (it bears repeating, not the old folder)? Where did you get the part and who did the work?

Cheers!

P.S. never a dull moment with these medium format film cameras...

Michael Mutmansky · Dec 9, 2024

ok, I'm no expert on this, but how bad is the damage? Is it something you can repair without replacing? I.E., are they pinholes or is the bellows trashed?

If you have no way to return the camera, I think your only options (short of finding a person to do it for you) is to attempt a repair on your own or to sell it on at a loss and buy a different body.

I ask about the condition because it's relatively easy to use liquid plastic to repair a couple of pinholes in a bellows. I once made a 120 year old bellows on a camera useable by doing this and it required extensive patches, so it is viable and fairly easily accomplished from the inside if you can figure out where the damage is.

https://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-07315001126-LTB-400-Electrical/dp/B000FPAN2K?th=1

There's lots of products out there, you just need to make sure it will be flexible when dry, black, and that it will dry so that it is not tacky/sticky and won't stick to itself when the bellows folds back on it self while closed. I'd probably test it carefully to determine proper drying time before folding the bellows closed.

Second, again, I don't know what the part for this looks like (whether there are frames on it or not, etc.), but it isn't outside the realm of possibility to fabricate a new bellows or maybe see if one of the companies that still make them will do a custom. Clearly, it's a challenge and will require some research and understanding for camera repair but there's lots of information out there for this and for someone who has the sunk cost of a damaged camera, it may be worth it to attempt.

radialMelt · Dec 9, 2024

Michael Mutmansky said:
ok, I'm no expert on this, but how bad is the damage? Is it something you can repair without replacing? I.E., are they pinholes or is the bellows trashed?

If you have no way to return the camera, I think your only options (short of finding a person to do it for you) is to attempt a repair on your own or to sell it on at a loss and buy a different body.

I ask about the condition because it's relatively easy to use liquid plastic to repair a couple of pinholes in a bellows. I once made a 120 year old bellows on a camera useable by doing this and it required extensive patches, so it is viable and fairly easily accomplished from the inside if you can figure out where the damage is.

https://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-07315001126-LTB-400-Electrical/dp/B000FPAN2K?th=1

There's lots of products out there, you just need to make sure it will be flexible when dry, black, and that it will dry so that it is not tacky/sticky and won't stick to itself when the bellows folds back on it self while closed. I'd probably test it carefully to determine proper drying time before folding the bellows closed.

Second, again, I don't know what the part for this looks like (whether there are frames on it or not, etc.), but it isn't outside the realm of possibility to fabricate a new bellows or maybe see if one of the companies that still make them will do a custom. Clearly, it's a challenge and will require some research and understanding for camera repair but there's lots of information out there for this and for someone who has the sunk cost of a damaged camera, it may be worth it to attempt.

Ah, sorry, I should have mentioned that yes, I will likely just patch this and continue using it. I'm just researching more long-term solutions at the moment.

I have been googling to try and find a custom made replacement but no luck so far. Pretty surprising as a replacement for the more obscure, aforementioned Plaubel Makina was a breeze to source. Was hoping perhaps someone here on the forums had an idea.

Thanks for the input!

Melvin J Bramley · Dec 9, 2024

Try this they do custom work.

Replacement Hand Made Bellows for Agfa Isolette I II III 6x6 Camera Multi-Color | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Replacement Hand Made Bellows for Agfa Isolette I II III 6x6 Camera Multi-Color at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.ca

Sorry for the long link!

radialMelt · Dec 9, 2024

Melvin J Bramley said:
Try this they do custom work.

Replacement Hand Made Bellows for Agfa Isolette I II III 6x6 Camera Multi-Color | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Replacement Hand Made Bellows for Agfa Isolette I II III 6x6 Camera Multi-Color at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.ca

Sorry for the long link!

No apologies necessary. Thanks for sharing. I will check it out!

Michael Mutmansky · Dec 9, 2024

If we can't find repair people for these, we're going to have to become more self-sufficient in time as things break on these old cameras (of which, the Mamiya 6 is one MF camera that I love the most probably).

People have had problems with gears breaking in the film advance, and other similar problems... Many of these I believe are recoverable with some small scale manufacturing/machining or even possible precision 3D printing, and the bellows is another one that can certainly be recovered. Not so sure about the shutters...

In another decade, I think there's going to need to be a lot more information on these types of topics for us film holdouts.

I was wondering about Custom Bellows from England... are they still in business? It looks like they are. They used to make a lot of custom bellows and they had some really great and thin fabric they could use to fabricate them. I wonder what it would take to find a place like that to get a new one folded for you (and 1000 spares for the rest of the planet).

My suspicion is that the cost of paying a repair place to disassemble, fabricate and then reassemble wouldn't be worth the camera body so repair places won't work on them much, especially if parts aren't available. In the case of the bellows on the M6, there could also be very tight tolerances for alignment, etc. to keep the camera focusing properly. All these things will make it more important that the knowledge is out there for the people who are interested in keeping their own fires burning.

mshchem · Dec 9, 2024

I fixed a 6mf with a tiny bit of Scotch Super 33 electrical tape. Typically there's one spot that wears thin from the telescoping retractable mount.

Why the Mamiya 7 series did away with this feature.

mshchem · Dec 9, 2024

Apply the patch to the inside of the bellows. Use a flashlight on the outside and you can see the light leak.

MTGseattle · Dec 10, 2024

Dang, another potential issue I have to be aware of.

mshchem · Dec 10, 2024

MTGseattle said:
Dang, another potential issue I have to be aware of.

It's directly related to using the retract feature. From what I've seen it is always in the same easy to reach spot. Upper part of the bellows. Took me 10 minutes to fix, a small 6-7 mm square of 3M Super 33+ tape (this stuff is amazing) black vinyl electrical tape. Ez fix.

brian steinberger · Dec 10, 2024

Did you check with Bob at precision camera works in Texas?

radialMelt · Dec 10, 2024

Thanks for the suggestions all!

brian steinberger said:
Did you check with Bob at precision camera works in Texas?

I have not. I know PCW has been held in high regard for Mamiya stuff in the past, but based on my research, I don't think I want to send it there (wait times in the years, poor communication, etc)

mshchem said:
I fixed a 6mf with a tiny bit of Scotch Super 33 electrical tape. Typically there's one spot that wears thin from the telescoping retractable mount.

Why the Mamiya 7 series did away with this feature.

It is indeed this notorious spot. There's one on the opposite side (the bottom) of the bellows as well.

bags27 · Dec 10, 2024

radialMelt said:
Thanks for the suggestions all!

I have not. I know PCW has been held in high regard for Mamiya stuff in the past, but based on my research, I don't think I want to send it there (wait times in the years, poor communication, etc)

It is indeed this notorious spot. There's one on the opposite side (the bottom) of the bellows as well.

It's my understanding that Bob bought up all the Mamiya 7 spare parts from their factory. I don't know about the 6. Communication isn't always superfast, but they are very, very reliable.

If you become committed to the camera, the other thing you might want to do is to let both Bob and Bill Rodgers (also a great guy) know that you'd be interested in purchasing a "spare parts only" 6 if it becomes available. Also look on ebay, etc. It will cost a crazy amount, like $1K+. But that's what we've come to: harvesting from dead cameras.

Why I decided against the Rollei SL66 and for the Blad. Available spare parts are a huge consideration these days.

radialMelt · Dec 10, 2024

bags27 said:
It's my understanding that Bob bought up all the Mamiya 7 spare parts from their factory. I don't know about the 6. Communication isn't always superfast, but they are very, very reliable.

If you become committed to the camera, the other thing you might want to do is to let both Bob and Bill Rodgers (also a great guy) know that you'd be interested in purchasing a "spare parts only" 6 if it becomes available. Also look on ebay, etc. It will cost a crazy amount, like $1K+. But that's what we've come to: harvesting from dead cameras.

Why I decided against the Rollei SL66 and for the Blad. Available spare parts are a huge consideration these days.

Amen to that. It's getting harder and harder to keep our old medium format cameras up and running it would seem. I thankfully have a second body that I can cannibalize if absolutely necessary.

Perhaps I will reach out to PCW regarding a bellows replacement.

GregY · Dec 10, 2024

radialMelt said:
Amen to that. It's getting harder and harder to keep our old medium format cameras up and running it would seem. I thankfully have a second body that I can cannibalize if absolutely necessary.

Perhaps I will reach out to PCW regarding a bellows replacement.

Radial, it's hard to think of the Mamiya 6 MF an 'old' camera..... considering what i typically use.
It is hands down my favourite...& i loved the collapsing feature.
BTW I was in Austin a couple of weeks ago and visited Precision Camera a couple of times.
The best personal service i've had anywhere in a long time. They hunted up some nikkor lenses and small parts...when they could have just said 'sorry.' I wouldn't hesitate to entrust my camera to them.

radialMelt · Dec 10, 2024

GregY said:
Radial, it's hard to think of the Mamiya 6 MF an 'old' camera..... considering what i typically use.
It is hands down my favourite...& i loved the collapsing feature.
BTW I was in Austin a couple of weeks ago and visited Precision Camera a couple of times.
The best personal service i've had anywhere in a long time. They hunted up some nikkor lenses and small parts...when they could have just said 'sorry.' I wouldn't hesitate to entrust my camera to them.

Out of curiosity, I reached out to PCW and they can in fact do a bellows replacement. Unsurprisingly however, it ain't cheap! Will have to weigh my options. Hopefully for the time being the patches will suffice.

brian steinberger · Dec 10, 2024

radialMelt said:
Out of curiosity, I reached out to PCW and they can in fact do a bellows replacement. Unsurprisingly however, it ain't cheap! Will have to weigh my options. Hopefully for the time being the patches will suffice.

I believe you can pay a rush fee to have the camera back to you very quick. That’s what I do when I send mine in for CLAs. I could never wait a year.

radialMelt · Dec 10, 2024

brian steinberger said:
I believe you can pay a rush fee to have the camera back to you very quick. That’s what I do when I send mine in for CLAs. I could never wait a year.

Correct, I believe PCWs is 40% (or 50%) of the total labour.

radialMelt · Dec 12, 2024

For anyone else who seeks info on this topic, Camera Revival in Belgium have also said they can do the work and, as of today, "may" have an original bellows still in stock. The price for the work is steep however, as it requires near total disassembly of the camera.

GregY · Dec 12, 2024

radialMelt said:
For anyone else who seeks info on this topic, Camera Revival in Belgium have also said they can do the work and, as of today, "may" have an original bellows still in stock. The price for the work is steep however, as it requires near total disassembly of the camera.

With the hard shell covering the bellows it's no surprise that replacement involves major disassembly....

lic4 · Dec 20, 2024

I want to note that I had a mamiya 6 MF kit repaired by Bob a couple of years ago, and the work was exceptional.

Mamiya 6 (not the old folder) bellows replacement

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