Mamiya Six Folder

[Andrew O'Neill]

I sure hope my 6's bellows is ok. I won't know until I can get over to Japan. Hopefully that'll happen by this time next year.

 

[Wayne]

In a year I might have a bellows to sell. It will be covered in scraps of hockey tape, electrical tape with dangling tatters of gaffers tape, leather, polyester tape, all covered in a satiny coat of spray on rubber. If you order now I can give you a reduced price on this "Hobo's Special" because demand and value will only increase with its glorious patina.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Did you close the bellows too soon, before it completely dried?

The stuff never did completely dry. I didn't even attempt to close the bellows for 24 hours, but after a week they were still sticky. Talcum powder fixed that, but that doesn't come in black, and then the stuff was still too thick.

Bookbinding tape is probably a very good in-between for black masking tape and gaffer tape. Thin enough, but strong and with a strong adhesive.

 

[xya]

Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!!
DO NOT use Plastidip, liquid electrical tape, or similar on a bellows. I did it once, on a Wirgin Auta with a lot of leaks at the corner folds. Good news is, it stopped the light leaks. Bad news was, the first time I tried to close the bed, the bellows stuck together and it took me a half hour or more to get it open, and even after dusting it with talcum powder (which looked great on the black bellows) it wouldn't fully close due to the extra thickness. I wound up stealing a good bellows off another Auta that had a less desirable lens (i still have and use the repaired camera, and can see the slight misalignment of the new bellows when I shoot without the format masks).

I've had much better results with black masking tape (applied both inside and outside) or the thinnest latigo leather, dyed black, and applied outside only (both of my Zeiss Ideals have a number of leather patches; they're almost invisible, not so thick, in reasonable numbers, as to affect folding, and even though they're only stuck on with rubber cement, they've now held for fifteen years or so).

I would not agree. I used plastidip several times and it dried perfecly. I use it on corner cracks of thick bellow material. it has to be applied in thin layers, several layers if necessary, and let it dry a day between each layer. then wait for a week. it has never ever been sticky then.

in all other cases, especially on thin bellows like the agfa ones, I use 3 M Scotch Tape 235. it sticks well, but can be removed if necessary. it's very thin, so it folds without a problem. it comes in different sizes, it's not cheap, but it is really worth its price.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I suspect the Plastidip you used is a better quality product than the Liquid Electrical Tape I had.

For the Scotch 235, I'm inclined to compare the price to a new bellows, and then remember how many repairs a single roll will make.

I consider myself fortunate to currently have no folders with leaky bellows. [knocks wood]

 

[Wayne]

I found some gaffers tape for 13 bucks but I'll have to drive 25 miles to get it. I hope it eliminates all of my leaks, because I don't want my camera unavailable for days while plastic/rubber dries

 

[Wayne]

Got me a 13 lifetime supply of gaffers tape for $13, and man, that's the stuff! Thin, flexible, sticky and it just looks like bellows cloth not hideous at all. If my bellows aren't sealed now they never will be. I should know in 3 hours...

Now how to get those other 12 lives...

 

[Wayne]

Gaffer's tape. My new best friend, No leaks on this roll.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Gaffer's tape. My new best friend, No leaks on this roll.

Hurrah!! Now you can properly enjoy your Mamiya 6!

 

[Wayne]

I still should clean the rangefinger, a tedious job I'm not looking forward to. But it works ok in bright light so that job will wait. Possibly forever.

Don't know about other versions but I don't even see why my late KII version of the camera needs light seals, other than perhaps at the hinge and closure, and I used it in bright sun yesterday without a seal at the closure end and it didn't leak. I don't see how light could bounce around the black slit that the black edge of the back slides into. Light would have to get into that slit, hit the bottom of the slit, then bounce back into the camera, then bounce off the inside of the camera back at which point it would still be in back of the paper backing.

 

[alexanderjmarkow]

I had one of these once but forget how focus worked. Is it just zone focusing?

 

[Donald Qualls]

I had one of these once but forget how focus worked. Is it just zone focusing?

Single window coupled RF, but focus is by moving the film plane rather than the lens.