I have a Sinar F1 and have ordered a 72 SA XL lens and the standard Wide Angle bellows. In reading the literature that came with the F1 it states the bellows is for lenses from 75 to 135mm. Am going to have any problems not using the extra wide bellows? Thanks Chet

-- Chet Wright (chetwr@zianet.com), January 01, 1999

Answers

Nope, none at all. I use this combo all the time (72mmXL, Sinar F2, W/A bellows) without problems. The "Superwide" bellows Sinar sells are necessary only with certain metering-probe configurations; the standard W/A bellows that you just ordered will let you pull the standards right up against each other. Note, though, that when using the 72mm you'll probably have to move the monorail collar (the ring that fits into the tripod block) from between the standards--to either in front of the front standard or behind the rear standard--so that you can get the standards closer together.

The best thing about Sinar's synthetic (not leather) W/A bellows is that they are fully functional with lenses from 50 or 60mm up to about 210mm--they expand quite far!--so I only switch to the accordion bellows when shooting 300mm or over (unless it's super closeup work with a shorter lens). Good luck; the Sinar lightweight monorail cameras are some of the best bargains out there.

-- Bill Daily (WRDaily@aol.com), January 01, 1999.