Sagging bellows

[Ian Leake]

Does anyone know if it's possible to fix sagging bellows? After about 12 years of service my Ebony SV810 bellows need propping up. I guess they'll need to be replaced?

 

[removed account4]

ian

do you have one of those rings on a tab / a peg on your camera ?
not sure if it is an option, but seems like a ez solution rather than spending the $$ on new bellows ..

 

[Ian Leake]

No, sadly there's no tab for a hanger. Perhaps I could attach one somehow, but I don't want to damage them

 

[removed account4]

No, sadly there's no tab for a hanger. Perhaps I could attach one somehow, but I don't want to damage them

yeah, i don't blame you, the ebony is a real work of art !

 

[shutterfinger]

Looking at pictures available online there is a socket of some type top center of the front standard. It should be easy to make a base with a post that slides/fits into that socket. Another option would be a piece of dowel rod that rests on the front and rear standards and goes through D rings on the bellows.
D ring is a common hardware item that can be attached to the bellows with a strip of leather and contact cement.
https://www.google.com/search?q=D+r...BvqfUAhUX7WMKHd2tAZMQsAQIzAE&biw=1920&bih=971

 

[Ian Leake]

Thanks, that's a good idea. The socket at the front is a standard flash cold shoe

 

[Richard T Ritter]

Repeal the laws of gravity.

When I am out in the field photographing I store the camera in the open position and upside down. This cause the bellow to sag down. When turned right side up the sag is going up and takes longer to sag down into the image area.

 

[ced]

First get a ring and leather tab and fix it to the centre of the bellows.
With a movable slip knot in some string attach to front and rear standards, (via a gadget in the flash shoe) tighten up once the bellows are at the correct extension.
Use your inventiveness to concoct a method best for you

 

[Ian Leake]

Thanks again for such good suggestions

 

[grahamp]

A cord loop around the middile of the bellows will also work in place of a D ring. It also is orientation agnostic. If you get some elastic cord from a fabric store (do they still have haberdashers anywhere?) and a cord grip, and run that front to back through the loop, you have an adjustable support that will allow some focus movement.

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

Some folks just carry a hand towel and fold/roll/wad it to the shape needed to support their bellows from underneath. This solution is cheap, easy, effective... and no modification to the bellows or camera. The towel can double as equipment padding.

 

[removed account4]

ian

you might have to get a 2nd camera and a pair of bathtubs to fix your camera's problem.
i've been getting emails for years that i could forward to you if you want...

john

 

[Ian Grant]

There are ways to stiffen bellows so they don't sag, or as least nowhere near as much.

A lot is down to the way the original bellows were made, I have British field cameras over 100 years old and they don't sag or it's barely noticeable. With some cameras though bellows sag starts unbelievably early, in fact from new with one small manufacturer.

I've seen plenty of images of post WWII US cameras and apart from Graflex (and a few re-badged Japanese cameras) most sag badly from new, and yet I have two pre-WWII 10x8 Agfa Ansco's with no sag and my Commercial view has 36"+ bellows extension, I also have 2 Seneca's with no sag and they are triple extension.

And then I have an 18x24 (cm) German Reisekamera, again despite being well over 100 years old only slight sag, but has the tabs to help prevent this when not fully extended (again triple extension)..

The bellows sag Ian Leake is seeing is due to the way they were made, and some of those skills have been lost or forgotten by some bellows makers, but there are ways to make bellows that don't (or barely) sag.

Ian

 

[Alan Barton]

That's what the loupe is for after you have finished focusing!

 

[AgX]

The bellows sag Ian Leake is seeing is due to the way they were made, and some of those skills have been lost or forgotten by some bellows makers, but there are ways to make bellows that don't (or barely) sag.

That skill must have been lost long ago... I got a german textbook from 1931, where it is stated that from 5x7 onwards bellows will sag.

 

[Ian Grant]

That skill must have been lost long ago... I got a german textbook from 1931, where it is stated that from 5x7 onwards bellows will sag.

That's not my experience and I have other cameras not mentioned above 2 or 3 half plate and 2 whole plate with no or just very slight bellows sag. I also have a back log of cameras and an early enlarger where the bellows have just disintegrated and are in the queue waiting until I make some new ones.

I'd add I had a whole plate/half plate/5x4 De Vere which I bought in 1977 and the bellows didn't sag but they were starting to coming apart. I used it with bag bellows and sold it about 2 years ago. I nearly bought an early post WWII 13x18/7x5 Linhof earlier this year and no bellows sag

Ilford had a 14x11 Deardorff on their stand at Focus on Imaging in birmingham about 3 or 4 years ago and there was no bellows sag, the company who made them (or rather the family) have made millions of sets of bellows over the years and haven't lost the skills. It's interesting that some bellows though do sag from new.

Ian

 

[eddie]

In a pinch, I once used cloth tape, folded over, and applied to each side of a central pleat. I poked a hole through the tape and used a straightened hanger through it. The hanger ends just sat on the front and rear. Not an elegant solution, but it did the trick.

 

[aeronaut63]

Does anyone know if it's possible to fix sagging bellows?

An extreme (to the point of comedy) option would be to fill the bellows with helium. The buoyancy of the gas would hold them up - the problem you would have then is the opposite of sag, they would rise up too much. So just put enough in to 'float' the bellows. And with what large format gear weighs, lugging around a helium cylinder with all of it won't be a problem, ....

Seriously, it's not hard to attach D ring or two to the top center of the bellows - match the material, and use contact cement. Any kind of rod or dowel can hold the D rings and bellows up.

Good luck,
Martin

 

[Ian Leake]

Thanks again, everyone. Lots of really good ideas, although I'm not too sure about the helium filled bellows... Perhaps a helium balloon attached to a d-ring would be better... I'll let you know what I do.

 

[mark]

Kodak Viagra in the misting spray bottle. Spray it on your sagging bellows and give it a few minutes to correct the sag. If it lasts more than four hours consider yourself one of the lucky ones and keep shooting.

On a serious note, I keep a block of closed cell foam in my camera bag to prop my 2d bellows up.

 

[AgX]

An extreme (to the point of comedy) option would be to fill the bellows with helium.

One then should consider its effect on the optica path.
Well, I checked it: difference for the refractive index is at the 5th decimal...

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Another vote for the loupe, if the sag isn't too much, or, in the case of my 14x17, a couple of red Solo cups (the best use for those things).