[LargeFormat] Dealing with Bellows Sag

[Jim Hemenway]

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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