Taking the bellows off the standards?

[E S]

Hi all,

I'm headed to Scotland for a two-week vacation -- ah, bliss!!! -- and working on how best to pack the camera body in my suitcase. I have a CC-400 monorail, and although it will fit in my suitcase I am wondering about taking the bellows off of the standards. Is that considered to be major surgery, or just an outpatient procedure that will have few if any consequences? Obviously I take it off the rail to pack it, and the rail goes in my tripod bag along with the tripod and the black bath towel I use as a high-tech dark cloth :)

Thanks for any input!

[Jon Shiu]

If you take the end caps off the rail, you can then run the standards off the ends and take them off. You don't really want to detach the bellows from the standards.

Jon

[E S]

If you take the end caps off the rail, you can then run the standards off the ends and take them off. You don't really want to detach the bellows from the standards.

Jon

Yes, thank you, I break it down that far already -- the rail travels in my tripod bag, wrapped up in the towel I use as a dark cloth. In fact it arrived broken down that far, so unpacking it from the shipping box and setting it up was a good education.

Why do you say that I don't want to remove the bellows? Is there a risk of misalignment when I re-assemble the camera, or some other problem?

[djdister]

From what I've read about the CC-400, there is nothing that says the bellows are removable - are there sliding latches to detach the bellows?

[E S]

From what I've read about the CC-400, there is nothing that says the bellows are removable - are there sliding latches to detach the bellows?

You know, I haven't even looked, I just assumed it could be done! Will have to look tonight when I get home... that might answer the question right then and there. Thanks for pointing out that little possibility.

[Jmarmck]

From what I can see on my CC-401 is that it would take the removal of the 12 Phillips head screws on the front and back standards. I would be afraid of loosing one in transit.

[Jon Shiu]

The bellows comes off easy enough by removing the 12 screws in front and back, so it is no big deal. It just doesn't seem to save any space packing to do so. Probably takes about 10 min. to take apart and a bit longer to re-assemble. So, yes you can do it without any problems if it helps your packing. However, note where the longer and shorter screws go.

Jon

Yes, thank you, I break it down that far already -- the rail travels in my tripod bag, wrapped up in the towel I use as a dark cloth. In fact it arrived broken down that far, so unpacking it from the shipping box and setting it up was a good education.

Why do you say that I don't want to remove the bellows? Is there a risk of misalignment when I re-assemble the camera, or some other problem?

[E S]

Thanks for that -- especially the fact that there are different-length screws. Good to know, I might have not paid as much attention as needed otherwise ;)

It will save me a couple of inches, and will make the whole thing easier to pack. My largest suitcase is just barely wide enough if I leave the bellows attached, and really I think one of the little "clips" on the bottom of one of the standards got bent in transit the last time we went anywhere. So, taking the body as a whole down to three pieces will let me lay them in side by side and better padded. It's just to get it from home to the hotel in my luggage, once I've arrived it won't be broken down again quite that far until I'm ready to come home.

Many thanks to all!