Wista DX III Bellows Repair

Trail Images · Sep 16, 2023

I've used this Wista unit for many years on at least twice a month outings. With no surprise after all this time the bellows has holes and is looking ragged too. Although the camera is in excellent working order otherwise.
Any links to a reliable repair shop and or a decent video on changing the unit myself would be of help. I see a few bellows providers on line for Wista DXI & DXII wood frame field cameras I assume the DXIII is the same bellows? Also, it appears to be glued with a special glue????

Thank you in advance for the help.

_T_ · Sep 18, 2023

There are ways to repair holes in a damaged bellows. They don’t always work very well but they’re generally inexpensive and easy to try yourself.

I have personally tried liquid electrical tape and it works pretty well up to a point. I have heard of people using black acrylic paint with some success. Black bookbinding tape is good for larger holes but can be tricky to apply to the folded surface. All of these types of repairs are only viable on bellows that have minimal damage. If the damage is significant there’s no way that you can paint or tape or glue it back into shape.

In my case my bellows was too damaged to repair and I had to buy a replacement. I went with a custom job from a popular ebay seller that does such jobs. Surprisingly quick and affordable. There are other options out there that many people have spoken highly of but I can’t personally recommend one.

My camera has bellows that are designed to be interchangeable which makes the process of installing the new ones trivial. In your case it sounds like you will have a to put in a bit more effort.

The damaged bellows will likely peel off of the standards without too much trouble but some cameras have screws or something like that as well that need to be removed first.

Then the old adhesive needs to be removed from the standards. This can sometimes be easy with the right solvent carefully applied but sometimes you end up doing a lot of tedious scraping. It’s important that you remove all the adhesive to ensure a good bond with the new bellows.

As for what adhesive to use I can’t recommend a specific one but I know you’re looking for contact cement. You have to apply it to the surface of the standard and the bellows, allow it to set up until both surfaces are tacky and carefully press the two together. You only get one shot with contact cement so you need to be precise. Once the surfaces stick together they are stuck. The bellows may be removed in the same manner as the original but the adhesive will likely never come off of the bellows once it’s on there short of cutting the bellows down.

There is plenty of information about what you’re trying to do on this forum and over on the large format photography forums. I’m only able to provide a brief rundown. A little searching should pull up everything you need to know from here.

AnselMortensen · Sep 19, 2023

Custom Bellows in the UK is a great resource.
They've made 4 replacement bellows for me, all excellent.
Keith is great to work with.

Trail Images · Sep 19, 2023

_T_ said:
There are ways to repair holes in a damaged bellows. They don’t always work very well but they’re generally inexpensive and easy to try yourself.

I have personally tried liquid electrical tape and it works pretty well up to a point. I have heard of people using black acrylic paint with some success. Black bookbinding tape is good for larger holes but can be tricky to apply to the folded surface. All of these types of repairs are only viable on bellows that have minimal damage. If the damage is significant there’s no way that you can paint or tape or glue it back into shape.

In my case my bellows was too damaged to repair and I had to buy a replacement. I went with a custom job from a popular ebay seller that does such jobs. Surprisingly quick and affordable. There are other options out there that many people have spoken highly of but I can’t personally recommend one.

My camera has bellows that are designed to be interchangeable which makes the process of installing the new ones trivial. In your case it sounds like you will have a to put in a bit more effort.

The damaged bellows will likely peel off of the standards without too much trouble but some cameras have screws or something like that as well that need to be removed first.

Then the old adhesive needs to be removed from the standards. This can sometimes be easy with the right solvent carefully applied but sometimes you end up doing a lot of tedious scraping. It’s important that you remove all the adhesive to ensure a good bond with the new bellows.

As for what adhesive to use I can’t recommend a specific one but I know you’re looking for contact cement. You have to apply it to the surface of the standard and the bellows, allow it to set up until both surfaces are tacky and carefully press the two together. You only get one shot with contact cement so you need to be precise. Once the surfaces stick together they are stuck. The bellows may be removed in the same manner as the original but the adhesive will likely never come off of the bellows once it’s on there short of cutting the bellows down.

There is plenty of information about what you’re trying to do on this forum and over on the large format photography forums. I’m only able to provide a brief rundown. A little searching should pull up everything you need to know from here.

Thank you for this in-depth response. I was surprised at the lack of specific information I've found so far for this model Wista. Not anything to write home about on Youtube at all. I sent emails to 3 different "bellows" repair shops and to date not one has even replied.
Again, I sincerely appreciate your response and I will also, as you've recommended, look into the Large Format Forum here as well.

Kino · Sep 19, 2023

I bought replacement bellows for a Pre-Anniversary 4x5 Speed Graphic from eTone and they were of good quality and the price was very good.

They state they make custom bellow, so it might be worth a try.

Bellows: Custom made & Standard

Accept custom made bellows for ALL formats. Allow color selecting. Normal and standard bellows on sale.

www.etonephoto.com

Trail Images · Sep 19, 2023

Kino said:
I bought replacement bellows for a Pre-Anniversary 4x5 Speed Graphic from eTone and they were of good quality and the price was very good.

They state they make custom bellow, so it might be worth a try.

Bellows: Custom made & Standard

Accept custom made bellows for ALL formats. Allow color selecting. Normal and standard bellows on sale.

www.etonephoto.com

Hello Kino, thank you for reassuring the eTone bellows quality. I was in communication with them over the weekend and they have the needed bellows. As this looks like a bit complex in any disassembly of this Wista bellows I've reached out to CatLabs to see if they do a complete service. They were recommended by KEH. Just waiting to hear back from them.
So, I'm getting some decent updates like yours going forward here......thanks again !

Trail Images · Oct 14, 2023

I found Richard Ritter on line and communicated with him about my bellows repair. I'm happy to say I already have the unit back and it looks excellent. Including the shipments back and forth from So Cal to Vermont the work was completed in about 2 weeks total. Fortunately for me Richard had the needed bellows in stock and there was no delay as a result.

RICHARD RITTER

Kino · Oct 14, 2023

Ah, good! Thanks for the contact information. I tend to try to do it myself, but not always and another good repair technician is always nice to know about.

Trail Images · Oct 14, 2023

Kino said:
Ah, good! Thanks for the contact information. I tend to try to do it myself, but not always and another good repair technician is always nice to know about.

You're welcome, Kino. I too do much of my own services. I have a life time mechanical & electrical background. However, I just felt it was too delicate for my aging eyes and lacking dexterity.

Wista DX III Bellows Repair

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency