So my bellows are definitely not IR-proof, my negs are coming out almost completely black and are not printable.

The film edges are clear and an unexposed sheet also develops fully clear, so my changing tent, holders and developing tank are not at fault. My exposure method is also the same as in the past where I used a camera with leather bellows and had no problems at all.

So the search begins for a new set of IR proof bellows – there’s plenty of resources out there, but I thought a set of bag bellows might be good for me as I mainly use wides (this is on 4x10” by the way).

Having successes in the past with the leather bellows of the Ebony, I thought this would be a good starting point for making some IR-proof bag bellows. But I've found a few extra materials - like the BKF black aluminium foil toward the bottom of this page

Is this likely to be too thin and tear? Perhaps it would be good to line a sheet of leather with this stuff?

The vendor shows a wavelength and percentage reflectance chart (attached), with spikes in the high 800nm range – does this mean it does a good job of blocking out IR, or does it mean the exact opposite and it is no good?


I’d be keen to hear other people’s successes with IR-proof materials for bellows….


Thanks in advance