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Shout out to Sorin at diycamerakit.com

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Sully75

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Hi All,

This is an unsolicited endorsement of Sorin at DIYcamerakit.com. I had the opportunity to beta test Sorin's bellow making kit and it was a great success.

I restored this old Kodak camera. The bellows were beyond trashed. I had covered them with gaffers tape (about 1/2 a roll) and they could fold enough to fold the camera up. One of the reasons I liked the camera so much was that it folds up so small.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmcevoy/4554900437/

Along the way, I also realized that the camera was not really a 5x7 but a 3.5x5, taking two pictures on a 5x7 sheet (there was a septum divider on the back that I pulled out). So I was concerned that the bellows were going to be in the way of the film plane.

Sorin designed a new set of bellows that were thicker in the front and thinner in the back, to accommodate 5x7 film. He puts together a really great kit and the materials are super classy. The outer cover material is a heavy duty matte fabric, and it looks really awesome. But also folds down nicely. His instructions are really good, and he provides videos on a CD to help you out.

It was a relatively easy task. The instructions make sense and the kit is really well put together. Sorin has also been really helpful about explaining things.

I think Sorin is providing a really great service here. There's a lot of nice old cameras out there that need a set of bellows, and it's really hard/expensive to replace them. He's making a really inexpensive solution and it could save a bunch of cameras from being too expensive to repair. I got this camera for $100 and probably have another $100 into it now, but I really love it and really enjoyed this project.

Anyway, that's my $.02. I hope that people support Sorin and that he's able to keep doing this because no one else is. I thought that I could make the bellows myself, but honestly, I don't think I would have, and I couldn't have afforded new ones.

Again, this was unsolicited.

All the best
Paul

DIYcamerakit.com
 

donocelotl

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Sorin is a great guy!
 

Steve Smith

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I had covered them with gaffers tape (about 1/2 a roll) and they could fold enough to fold the camera up

I assume you mean couldn't fold enough.

I hope that people support Sorin and that he's able to keep doing this because no one else is.

I will probably order a 5x4 bellows kit from him soon. I have made my own bellows before but his kit looks like good value for money so it's definitely worth a try.


Steve.
 
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