Hi, its me again. Somehow, I managed to buy 2 used 4x5 cameras, both TODAY! I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess. This one was on eBay, listed as condition 9 (it was more like a 7), with a light tight bellows. Guess what? Bellows is totally rotten. The leaks are in the folding corners, so tape ain't gonna fix it. Camera guy says its got to go into Toyo for factory repair. Any body suffered through that? Any guesses as to cost?

Thanks

-- Douglas Gould (assistdelrey@earthlink.net), January 31, 2002

Answers

If you can take the bellows off of the camera, I would recommend Camera Bellows in England. They have a web site. They produce a fantastic bellows at a reasonable cost. I had them make me a Linhof Technikardan 45S bellows identical to the Linhof product (double taper) and I also had them make me a single taper bellows out of the synthetic material they use to produce bellows for Canham cameras.

Good Luck

-- Michael Kadillak (m.kadillak@attbi.net), January 31, 2002.

Douglas:

I second Michaels recommendation of Camera Bellows... but you should also be able to order the replacement from Toyo (Mamiya America Corp in the US) and install them yourself.

-- Glenn C. Kroeger (gkroeger@trinity.edu), January 31, 2002.

I thought I could just order a replacement too. But according to the local Toyo dealer, it is not even a part number. Toyo says in their parts book, "send to Toyo for repair".

I guess the bellows is glued into the camera frame. I did see 4 screws on the indide of the back frame, but the front appears to be glued. I would do it myself if I could get Toyo to send me on.

Already have a request in to Camera Bellows in UK for quote.

Thanks for the answers.

-- Douglas Gould (assistdelrey@earthlink.net), January 31, 2002.

I third the Camera Bellows. There is a guy in VT that uses their bellows as replacement that will do the work. Either way you have to send the old bellows and the front standard... I will send you the address when I get home if you want. Cheers

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), February 01, 2002.

Why not ask Toyo so you have some idea of a cost to judge from?

914 347 3300

-- Bob Salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), February 01, 2002.

Here is the email of the guy from VT if you don't want to send it to England. rrlg4mat@sover.net

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), February 01, 2002.

OK, here is my updates.

Camera Bellows quoted 75 Pounds for a new one, but required that I send parts to them. However, I'm not sure I gave complete information to them for an accurate quote. They did get back to me via e-mail in 24 hours, which is good.

Then I called Mamiya at the number Bob gave above. I talked with Julio, who went to the stock room and actually put his hands on one (because his computer showed they didn't have one.) Sending it UPS today for a total of $166. He even opened the box to confirm that Toyo's bellows comes with new mounting frame attached. Great service!!! Thanks Bob for that number.

Now, Maybe I'll attemp repair of the old one, to have a spare...The problem is the corners. The outside material has delaminated from the inside. What one sees is an open weave or net like material, and small flaps of the skin material detactched from that, in almost every corner.

Elmers glue? Latex? Wet-suit cement? Ideas, links, suggestions?

Thanks everyone for replys

-- Douglas Gould (assistdelrey@earthlink.net), February 01, 2002.

As you described the situation with how poor the bellows are on the camera that required replacement, there is no way I would try to fix them. That is why you decided to get a new one. I have tried all of the options (tape, glue and various black materials). In my opinion, you have two options. Remove the bellows from the standards and keep them as parts and go with your new bellows only.

For the second option, you can send the standards to England and have them make you a new one out of their new synthetic material they use to make Canham bellows. Personally, I would spend the $106 for new bellows because 1) the parts are only as good as the bellows they are to support and when you do use the parts, a new bellows will cost more in the future than they do now, 2) I would not trust them in the state they are in with a repair on anything worth photographing because it is not worth the risk that they could leak.

I have several cameras for which I have replicate bellows when I was able to acquire a set of empty bellows standards. Having a set of bellows that need to be put down or bellows standards that are sitting in my desk for who know how long is a difficult situation.

-- Michael Kadillak (m.kadillak@attbi.net), February 02, 2002.