Regular bellows as viewing bellows

[Mike Mahoney]

Anyone have any experience rigging up a regular bellows for use as a viewing bel lows? Do I recall that Arca Swiss has a kit of some kind for conversion?

[Simon_1319]

Don't know about Arca Swiss, but with any recent Sinar, any Sinar bellows (bag or regular) easily clips onto the back standard for viewing purposes. It works fine, although obviously there's no magnification (as there is with most clip-on monocular and binocular viewers) and it's harder to put a loupe to the groundglass (as can be done with a darkcloth).

What brand of camera are you using?

.,.,., .,.,., .

[Mike Mahoney]

I am currently shopping for a camera which I will be using with a 90 lens, and have to purchase a bag bellows as an extra. I like the idea of a viewing bellows, and thought as long as I have to pay for a regular bellows which I won't use, I may as well put it to work somewhere else. I've pretty much narrowed my choices to a Wisner Traditional and the Arca Swiss Discovery.

[Cesar Barreto]

Mike, Sinar, Toyo, Linhof, etc, all of them sell binocular viewers, some with loupes, that can be home adapted to fit regular bellows or home- made either. Velcro, rubber bands, cardboard ... and some imagination can do it. Good luck.

Cesar B.

[Brian Ellis]

There are several 4x5 cameras that don't require a bag bellows in order to use a 90 mm (or wider in some cases) lens. Tachiharas can be used with a 65 mm lens without a bag bellows. I use my Linnof Technika V with a 90 mm lens and no bag bellows and I understand it will accept a 75 mm lens also (wider than 75 mm requires a wide angle focusing device). I believe at least one of the Canham models can accept a lens wider than 90 mm without a bag bellows. I'm sure there are others that I don't know about. So you might consider a camera that doesn't require a bag bellows with your 90 mm lens.