[LargeFormat] Dealing with Bellows Sag

[Les Newcomer]

Yeah but then you can't close the bellows for an hour.


On Friday, April 4, 2003, at 01:55  PM, Jim Hemenway wrote:

>
> There's a special spray-on Viagra for bellows available at
> UpWithCameras.com
>
> -- 
> Jim - http://www.hemenway.com
>
>
>
> Tim Atherton wrote:
>>
>> You can, of course, always stuff something underneath in most cases - 
>> either
>> "custom made" or an old Tupperware box or something that you carry 
>> gizmos in
>> in your camera bag.
>>
>> Also depending on the amount of extension, a good old fashioned piece 
>> of
>> string around the bellow, and another from there going back to the 
>> top of
>> the rear frame (to the handle or a suitable screw) will often provide 
>> enough
>> tension to raise the bellows (on the front of my copy of Westons 
>> Daybooks -
>> he's doing this, but ties the string to the front standard instead - 
>> low
>> tech, but it works). A hi-tech version of this that I made for the old
>> bellows on my Deardorff (no need with the brand new ones it has now) 
>> was a
>> little rectangle of the soft fuzzy side of some velcro glued in a 
>> couple of
>> spots along the bellows (sort of over the top of the fold of one of 
>> the
>> creases) then a long strip of the hooky side of the bellows fixed to 
>> the top
>> of the rear standard (there was a suitably placed screw that could be
>> removed and rescrewed to hold the Velcro in place). Then you just 
>> pull the
>> long trip of velcro taught and "stick" it to whichever velcro patch 
>> work
>> best - again, enough tension to stop the sag. I think if you look at 
>> the
>> Canham website, he uses this idea built into his cameras.
>>
>> Obviously doesn't work well for really floppy old bellows or really 
>> long
>> extensions...
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: largeformat-admin@f32.net [mailto:largeformat-admin@f32.net]On
>>> Behalf Of Les Newcomer
>>> Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 10:51 AM
>>> To: largeformat@f32.net
>>> Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Dealing with Bellows Sag
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Friday, April 4, 2003, at 01:23  AM, Clive Warren wrote:
>>>
>>>> Most larger cameras have hooks at the top of the bellows to allow 
>>>> some
>>>> solution to be put in place to deal with bellows sag when using 
>>>> lenses
>>>> that require a middle extension of the bellows.
>>>>
>>>> Now, I have never seen the gizmos that are supposed to be used to
>>>> support the bellows when sag is an issue. I am assuming that the
>>>> manufacturers originally supplied rods to be used in conjunction 
>>>> with
>>>> the hooks. The rods would presumably be balanced across the rear and
>>>> front standards.
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone have the original solution (rods?) or have any advice on
>>>> the best ways of dealing with the sag that would otherwise cause
>>>> vignetting?
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>            Clive
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> I use a coat hanger for the rod.   Now on my RB cycle graphic the 
>>> eyes
>>> were on the side and hooked to the front standard to limit the 
>>> bellows
>>> movement to the rear when using short lenses. I've seen triple
>>> extension plate cameras without this feature and most of the time the
>>> front part of the bellows is shot from the weight.
>>>
>>> Les
>>>
>>>
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>>
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