What options are there for bellows replacement?

MFstooges

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What do you guys use for bellows replacement? Using leather for the authenticity sake or some modern material for longevity.
I see new material from Chinese manufacturers, I assume they are rubber or polymer coated.

 
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loccdor

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I like leather in general. It lasts a long time if you do occasional conditioning to it.

On bellows that were not too far gone I have used neetsfoot oil to soften them after plugging any small holes with black fabric paint.

There are different kinds of rubbers and polymers and you would be trusting the manufacturer to put enough care in their selection and manufacture not to run into problems in aging later. With so many cutting costs for increased profits I wouldn't like my chances with an unknown or nameless manufacturer.
 

AnselMortensen

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If you are looking for a replacement bellows, I can recommend Custom Bellows in the UK.
They have made 4 various bellows for me, and they've all been perfect.
You would need to send them your old bellows and frames to use as a pattern.
 

Andrew O'Neill

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Custom Bellows made a bellows for my 14x17. Did a wonderful job, and price was very reasonable. I think He also does the bellows for Canham cameras. The company has a very long history.
 

markbau

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Another vote for Custom Bellows, they are a joy to work with and their bellows are first rate. I wouldn't go anywhere else.
 

ic-racer

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Leather for bellows? It would need to be mighty thin. Bellows material is hard to come by. Do you have a link to share?
 

Marcelo Paniagua

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I'm ordering one for my RB67 on Aliexpress to check quality. Mostly for spare and check quality since the bellow on my RB67 is still good.
 

loccdor

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I'm not sure which types of leather the old camera manufacturers used for their bellows, most likely those of very young animals. Leather products could be made thin enough for people to use as parchment and vellum to write on since classical times. For example, this bible took 250 calf skins to make. People are selling the raw material but I'm not aware if anyone is fashioning it specifically for cameras today. Would likely be highly custom work.

The more synthetic alternatives available that have been mentioned would meet the needs of most photographers.
 

MattKing

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Just in case someone is searching on thread titles, I've fixed the typo in the thread title and opening post.
"Bellow" is what us moderators sometimes hear from disgruntled members.
 

RalphLambrecht

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AnselMortensen said:
If you are looking for a replacement bellows, I can recommend Custom Bellows in the UK.
They have made 4 various bellows for me, and they've all been perfect.
You would need to send them your old bellows and frames to use as a pattern.
Click to expand...

I can second that recommendation but they were called 'Camera Bellows' when I used them. to replace my Linhof bellows. They did a perfect job for far less than the Linhof replacement.
 
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MFstooges

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I see that camera bellows company uses the same kind of material as on my 1st post. I wonder if it will affect resale value of the camera being easily noticeable as "not original part".
 
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