source for folder bellows?

I have a neat old welti 6X4.5 range finder with a tessar. It has an
interesting "bed focus" rather than front cell focusing and the first
images look promising but... the bellows has some pinholes and basically
are shot. They are too brittle to bother with patching. I already did some
patching and got about 4 good images then new holes appeared!

So my question, where is a good source for small bellows? This camera seems
worthy of spending some money on but of course not worth spending $300 on
either. The camera seems well made but the bellows aren't as good as say
the ikonta's bellows. Unfortunatly the 6X4.5 ikonta bellows is too small on
the lens end so I can't pirate one from a dead one of those. TIA for any
advice.
--

Stacey

Stacey
source for folder bellows?

Unfortunatly the 6X4.5 ikonta bellows is too small on the lens end so I can't
pirate one from a dead one of those. TIA for any
advice.

Try a bellows from a polaroid land ca mera. The 100-200 series. They are
usually cheap at thrift stores and the like.
Bob AZ

Second the Polaroid bellows - but try for one from a series 80 or 80a
Polaroid.

Regards,

Marv

RWatson767 wrote:
Stacey

source for folder bellows?


Unfortunatly the 6X4.5 ikonta bellows is too small on the lens end so I can't
pirate one from a dead one of those. TIA for any
advice.

Try a bellows from a polaroid land ca mera. The 100-200 series. They are
usually cheap at thrift stores and the like.
Bob AZ

Stacey wrote:

I have a neat old welti 6X4.5 range finder with a tessar. It has an
interesting "bed focus" rather than front cell focusing and the first
images look promising but... the bellows has some pinholes and basically
are shot. They are too brittle to bother with patching. I already did some
patching and got about 4 good images then new holes appeared!

So my question, where is a good source for small bellows? This camera seems
worthy of spending some money on but of course not worth spending $300 on
either. The camera seems well made but the bellows aren't as good as say
the ikonta's bellows. Unfortunatly the 6X4.5 ikonta bellows is too small on
the lens end so I can't pirate one from a dead one of those. TIA for any
advice.
--

Some of the older roll film Polaroid folder cameras have very good bellows
materials. Unfortunately, some trimming would be needed to fit it into a
smaller folder camera. The material is slightly thinner than the older bellows
materials of other cameras. You could cut on two sides, then glue it to a
smaller size, then install, and still have it close. With cutting down other
bellows, often it could be too large, and not allow the folder camera to
close.

The really small bellows are very tough to find. The one source I sent you I
think sold out of the smallest bellows very quickly. I find it much easier to
repair the larger cameras. I have done one 6x9 repair using a cut down
Polaroid bellows off one of the old pack film cameras. One issue is that
larger pleats in the replacement bellows might make the final frame even
smaller.

Anyway, I wish you luck with your bellows repair/replacement. Hopefully, you
will get your folder camera working well, and enjoy using that camera.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
http://www.allgstudio.com

Stacey, can you post the actual dimensions of the bellows you need? I have a
couple that I can check. If they fit, they are yours for postage.

jjs wrote:


Stacey, can you post the actual dimensions of the bellows you need? I have
a couple that I can check. If they fit, they are yours for postage.


The outside dimensions in mm: the small end is 45mm X 43mm, the big end is
55mm X 65mm and it's 70mm long extended. Thanx for checking!
--

Stacey

In article , Stacey
wrote:


The outside dimensions in mm: the small end is 45mm X 43mm, the big end is
55mm X 65mm and it's 70mm long extended. Thanx for checking!

Excellent. I'll look in the Big Box tonight.

In article ,
(jjs) wrote:

In article , Stacey
wrote:


The outside dimensions in mm: the small end is 45mm X 43mm, the big end is
55mm X 65mm and it's 70mm long extended. Thanx for checking!

Excellent. I'll look in the Big Box tonight.

You are right, Stacey. It is a difficult size. I have two (front) 37x43mm
by (rear) 70x90. Sorry.

jjs wrote:

In article , Stacey
wrote:


The outside dimensions in mm: the small end is 45mm X 43mm, the big end
is 55mm X 65mm and it's 70mm long extended. Thanx for checking!

Excellent. I'll look in the Big Box tonight.

Thanx to microsoft worms, the e-mail connected to this account fills up
every 15 minutes. You'll have to respond here....
--

Stacey

Gordon Moat wrote in message ...

The really small bellows are very tough to find.

Some months ago I bought a bag full of bellows of various dimensions.
I found two bellows (out of 50 pcs) which seem to have dimensions
similar to 6x4.5 (one of these in bad shape) but I have to check this
in detail on a 6x4.5 folder.

One issue is that
larger pleats in the replacement bellows might make the final frame even
smaller.

ACK. I found that there are at least three or four slightly different
dimensions for the rear end of bellows designed for 6x9 format, and
depending on the shape of the last pleat and the shapes of the edges
of the camera to glue it on (on most cameras you would have to destroy
quite a few rivets and folded seams of sheet metal parts to remove the
film screen) they will reduce the effective image size.

In the bag full of bellows I also found some designed for 6.5x11
format but I am everything but sure whether their rear end will fit a
6x9 film screen when cutting down the last two or three pleats.

Winfried