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  #1  
Old 8th May 2019, 02:37 PM
Martin Aislabie's Avatar
Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Default Leather Bellows

Hi guys

I was wondering how often people "feed" their cameras leather bellows.

I noticed mine were not quite as supple as they once were, so I fed the leather "mink oil" dubbin - which is what was recommended.

My camera is now 12 years old - and I probably should have done it a long time ago - its something I kept thinking about but never quite got round to.

I was wondering what were other peoples experience.

Thanks

Martin
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Old 8th May 2019, 09:33 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Hi Martin,

There was a thread on this very topic last year. Check this out:
http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...lows+treatment

Hope you find an answer there. I didn't re-read the whole thread, but there was some good advice given if I recall.
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Old 8th May 2019, 10:40 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I re-read the link provided by Svend and the jury seemed to be still out on what is best. I have an Agfa Isolette 1 folder that has bellows and it has made me wonder if (a) the bellows are leather and if not what if anything I should use (b) if the bellows are leather or some other material but are not as far as I can see showing signs of wear should I be concerned?

So first question which may narrow appropriate actions down is: Were early 1950s( not later than probably 1954-5) Agfa Isolettes using leather bellows?

Thanks

Mike
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Old 9th May 2019, 06:35 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
I re-read the link provided by Svend and the jury seemed to be still out on what is best. I have an Agfa Isolette 1 folder that has bellows and it has made me wonder if (a) the bellows are leather and if not what if anything I should use (b) if the bellows are leather or some other material but are not as far as I can see showing signs of wear should I be concerned?

So first question which may narrow appropriate actions down is: Were early 1950s( not later than probably 1954-5) Agfa Isolettes using leather bellows?

Thanks

Mike
Agfa Issolete did not use leather for their bellows, they mostly uded some sort of composite material, and pretty poor it was, even when they did use leather for their bellows it was poor leather, and it was very rare for an agfa folder to have bellows with put pin holes, normally when buying agfa folders budget for new bellows, every other maker of folders used high qualith leather for bellows and I have yet to have one with problems, as far as treatment, I believe Neatsfoot oil is a good treatment, although I have bellows cameras from 1936 to the mid fifties and don't treat the bellows, they are all still supple and no light leaks apart from my Issollete, which I repapred with artists accrylic paint and is still light tight
Richard
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Old 9th May 2019, 01:42 PM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is online now
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Lemon Pledge works well, it's what I used for the bellows on my recently acquired Kodak Specialist 2. It was recommended to me by an American restorer a few years ago.

One problem as Richard mentions is not all bellows are actually leather and treating them Pledge, Mink oil, Neatsfoot etc may actually make them worse. I've bellows made of some sort of composite imitation leather, these dry out and fall to bits. That's what's happened to the bellows of my Gandolfi half plate camera, but then they are 120+ years old as they're square cut corners.

Another problem is bellows can de-laminate where the linings come apart from the stiffening ribs and/or outer covering.

Ian
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Old 9th May 2019, 03:06 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Hi Mike,

Richard is quite correct that almost all Isolettes had a sort of plastic-y synthetic bellows, and all of them are pretty much toast after nearly 70 years. I think the only one that had leather was the Super Isolette. I have owned two Isolettes and two Agfa Record 6x9 folders, and all of them looked like the Milky Way when I shone a flashlight into the bellows in a dark room. All needed replacing....well, except one of the Billy Records which I converted to a wide-angle pinhole camera and tore the bellows out completely. I tried patching my first Isolette with Richard's method, but it lasted about a week.

Have you done the flashlight test with yours? You might be shocked at what you see . Sandeha Lynch, who I believe has posted here, sells beautiful bellows for the Isolette in the UK. http://www.sandehalynch.com/camerawork/bellows.php
His prices are very reasonable. And I think it's easy to do this yourself at home. I had mine done by Jurgen K. (Certo6) in Pennsylvania, together with a proper CLA. Great work, and also reasonable price. The cameras are well worth the small investment, so if yours is in otherwise good shape and has an Apotar or Solinar lens, then go for it! The lenses are wonderful.
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Last edited by Svend; 9th May 2019 at 03:11 PM.
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Old 9th May 2019, 04:05 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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SvendN I have never tried the torch test but have never seen what look like pinprick light leaks from the bellows on the negatives but the history of my Agfa may mean that my bellows have been used quite sparingly. I was given the camera by a friend who had found it in his deceased brother's house and it still had a partly exposed film in it. I had the film developed and the prints which were quite good were identified by the remaining brother as from the late 50s (57-59). Apart from him being able to identify the people on the film and their ages then it has a Jaguar car on one picture which could be dated accurately to the dates mentioned. So the camera had lain unused when I got it for about 40 years. It was probably only used occasionally for holidays snaps for maybe 3-4 years before being left in the drawer in which it was found.

So in short the bellows are not that old and that may be what has saved them.

Mike
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Old 9th May 2019, 05:37 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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It seems you might be one of the rare lucky ones then, Mike . The camera must be in mint shape if it's been sitting unused for that long. Nice to hear that your results are good. I've been getting great results with mine. I have one with a Solinar lens right now, and sold the one with the Apotar. That might have been a mistake, as that Apotar was a very nice lens indeed. Perhaps not quite as sharp as the Solinar, but the smooth tonality it gave was unique. I miss it, but have since bought a Record with Apotar so am happy again.

Enjoy yours!
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Last edited by Svend; 9th May 2019 at 05:47 PM.
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