Chinese Bellows and IR film

[Cor]

I seem to recall a thread asking if bellows from the chinese vendor: ecbuyonline are IR safe. Cannot find this thread back, so hence a new one.

Anyway recently I obtained a new bellows for my Technika Color (relative of a Tech IV), which are quite nice and function perfect, but I asked the seller about the IR properties..

Hello Cor,


Sorry, they are not IR safe, I am concentrate on this now, do you know where can buy the IR safe material?


Thank you,
Rudy


So that is a bit dissapointing since I do shoot IR film, I guess I'll have to test if my dark cloth thrown over the bellows is sufficiently blocking IR light than..sigh..

Best,

Cor

[vinny]

If your dark cloth has something other than cloth in it, then maybe yes if you seal it all the way around the camera. In my case, it did not work. Others will suggest aluminum foil which is about as practical as an aluminum cape.

[mdm]

Mine has a spongy yellow stuff between 3M black stuff, but I imagine the folds will only be cloth. I also asked him about IR, he also said they are not, but try and see. Unless they are absolutely certain they will always say no.

[David R Munson]

So is there a known source of IR-proof custom bellows presently?

[sanchi heuser]

Have a look at the site of custom bellows, maybe they provide info.
Otherwise ask them.
http://www.custombellows.co.uk/products.html

Andi

[David R Munson]

I actually corresponded with them last week, but apparently forgot that I did so(whoops!). Here's the response I got:

Dave
We use a material called Hypalon, it is a plastic coated nylon, as far as i am aware it is IR proof. My only concern is thye closed dimension of the bellows as it is slightly thicker than our other materials we use for Linhof Arca Swiss etc
regards
Keith

I'm going to get back to him with the dimensions of the Chamonix bellows to see if the Hypalon bellows would be feasible with this camera.

Beyond that, I'm looking into ways to possibly coat the existing bellows.

[Kodachrome25]

Until a professional level solution is made, I made two different sized "Bellows Coats" out of a spare Mylar emergency blanket, 4 layers thick for my Chamonix 45N-2.

One is 5" long and is for 65-135mm, the other is 10" long and is for 150-300mm lenses. I mostly shoot landscapes with IR so I did not need a lot of extension. The structure is reinforced with black gaffers and aluminum tape, pull tabs on the ground glass side to pull it snug into the rear standard. The front has a tapered snout with reinforcements on top and bottom, Velcro closures on the bottom so the front standard can pass through.

It is a pain in the rear, but it works great. In full sunlight, I can have the dark slide out for over 2 minutes and not get any base fog. Besides the look of it and the need to even put it on, the only other down side is the fact I can not fold the camera with it on, even with the reinforcement, it is still just Mylar and delicate.

I had no choice but to make it though, I shoot over half my 4x5 with IR film...

[vinny]

My wehman bellows are ir proof, whoever made those.
David, I just tested a set of shenhao PTB bellows on my chamonix which allow me to use my 450mm (even though the specs and badger graphic said otherwise). The film (konica 750) didn't fog on normal exposures but I did get a bit of fog with the slide pulled for a few minutes. It's an option.

[Kodachrome25]

Vinny, how much are they and do they compress as well as the Chamonix Universal Bellows?

[David R Munson]

Vinny - do the stock Shen Hao bellows mount on the Chamonix or do they need modification to do so?