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Pitchy
14-Jan-2015, 09:09
I`ve had these billows for about 25 years, they have been out in the shed for all those years.
Now the question is what to do with them?
The only photography I have done is the big box camera we made I posted in the lense forum.
Maybe make a frame and try to make it look like a camera ?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/InTheWind/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150114_100554_348_zps5efgm2fq.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/InTheWind/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150114_100629_865_zpsgpzulfnq.jpg

Tin Can
14-Jan-2015, 09:48
It's winter, do it! Mount it on a cart. Spring is coming.

Pitchy
14-Jan-2015, 10:33
It's winter, do it! Mount it on a cart. Spring is coming.

Be a good project alright but I probably couldn`t do it justice.
Wonder what it was used for originally.
Long focal length huh.

DrTang
14-Jan-2015, 10:53
it's from a graphics stat camera


someone who builds big ol cameras here would want that maybe

or you could try to build a 16x20 camera with it

Old-N-Feeble
14-Jan-2015, 12:23
How about a 16x20 monorail? :D

Ari
14-Jan-2015, 18:46
Or a 16x20 enlarger.

Liquid Artist
14-Jan-2015, 19:33
Or a 16x20 enlarger.
That would be Sweet,
Imagine the enlargements you could do.

Old-N-Feeble
14-Jan-2015, 19:37
^^^ Has any company ever made an enlarging lens that covers 20x24? Maybe a 800-1000mm repro lens would work? Even so, one could only do 2.5x enlargements with 56 inch wide paper... assuming full-frame prints.

dsphotog
14-Jan-2015, 23:53
Or big wet plate....

Pitchy
15-Jan-2015, 06:46
Thanks for the replies, I`ll probably put it back in the shed as I don`t know enough about this stuff to construct a camera.
I could make something that looks like a camera but working is another matter, that and it will take up to much room.
Thought I`d show it as something different.

StoneNYC
18-Jan-2015, 23:20
Thanks for the replies, I`ll probably put it back in the shed as I don`t know enough about this stuff to construct a camera.
I could make something that looks like a camera but working is another matter, that and it will take up to much room.
Thought I`d show it as something different.

Could sell it to someone who could make use of it...

Pitchy
19-Jan-2015, 06:47
Could sell it to someone who could make use of it...

Wonder what it would be worth, I would sell it.

StoneNYC
19-Jan-2015, 08:33
Wonder what it would be worth, I would sell it.

Well, 25 years in a barn, probably not too much, mold, degradation, etc, but better to sell I than to let it sit unused. That's my feeling.

Liquid Artist
20-Jan-2015, 12:01
I'd love to see what you could do with it Stone,
I hardly have the time to touch my cameras these days, so I don't want a challenge like it.

Pitchy
20-Jan-2015, 12:12
Well, 25 years in a barn, probably not too much, mold, degradation, etc, but better to sell I than to let it sit unused. That's my feeling.

If there are thoughts of buying these cheap it won`t happen, there is no mold and they seem to be in pretty good shape.
I`m pretty sure old big billows are hard to find and expensive.
There is tape on one fold but I haven`t removed it to see the damage.
I wouldn`t take less than 500.00 plus shipping for them.

StoneNYC
20-Jan-2015, 13:06
I'd love to see what you could do with it Stone,
I hardly have the time to touch my cameras these days, so I don't want a challenge like it.

I know exactly what I would do with it, I'm in the process of building an 11x14-14x17-16x20 camera now, it would have a back for both sizes. I currently only shoot 11x14 but contact printing 14x17 seems to make more sense to me, the bigger image just seems more pleasant and worth the effort I think. The only reason I would add 16x20 is that it's easier to get a bellows for 16x20 than for 14x17 without making one yourself.

Someday I'll finish this, but first and foremost I'm still mostly working on my 8x10 enlarger and getting that and the darkoom all put together. But sometimes I need a break and work on other projects like the aforementioned ULF camera.


If there are thoughts of buying these cheap it won`t happen, there is no mold and they seem to be in pretty good shape.
I`m pretty sure old big billows are hard to find and expensive.
There is tape on one fold but I haven`t removed it to see the damage.
I wouldn`t take less than 500.00 plus shipping for them.

I want to start the next group of paragraphs by stating that my intention is to inform you of my perspective and my perception of the reality of the situation, and is not meant to be rude or insulting, I'm just trying to be factual here.

I believe your expectations on the value and pricing of such an old bellows might be off. I don't know the actual size of this bellows as you haven't stated what it actually is, although everyone says 16x20 I can't find where you've stated its size, or what camera system it belongs to etc which means determining that and then molding the custom made back to it, not easy.

Here are the brand new prices for bellows from a well respected company still making them today, just to give you an idea...

7X17 standard bellows: $300
16X20 standard bellows: $535
20X24 standard bellows: $635

These are brand new, and light tight, I can tell you from personal experience that they are not only visible light tight but infra-red light tight.

In no way would I personally or should anyone pay $500 for 25 year old bellows stored in a garage.

I would consider $100 a fair estate considering you can't verify (with film) pinhole issues and rot issues from age. Remember that each sheet of 16x20 film costs $30-$50 depending on film and developer and your location, so even a test sheet to check for light tightness will cost $50 plus time, then if there are leaks, investigating and fixing is more time and money.

Again this whole thing is not meant to be rude in anyway, but I wanted to throw in a little bit of reality of the situation into your cost and value analysis.

Pitchy
20-Jan-2015, 14:03
Thanks for your thoughts and I didn`t take what ya said as rude, I`ll just keep them and as I said in the first post I should make something from them.
They are neat and I`ll make something out of them someday.
Thanks for the replies.

StoneNYC
20-Jan-2015, 14:28
Thanks for your thoughts and I didn`t take what ya said as rude, I`ll just keep them and as I said in the first post I should make something from them.
They are neat and I`ll make something out of them someday.
Thanks for the replies.

I think that's a great idea, I like your box camera, maybe you can make a hybrid, add the bellows in the middle, and you can have it focus at infinity with the box closed, and then anything closer you can "unlatch" the box and extend the bellows that are in the middle, this way there's not a lot of tracking going on, just 2 tripods and moving them around, the bellows can just be free floating and so it won't take as much design work as adding tracks and bearings and all sorts of that stuff, just be careful not to drop one end while it's set up of course so you don't rip the bellows. But just throwing it out there as it's a lot simpler to do that than build a folding camera for something that big.

Tin Can
20-Jan-2015, 17:13
I think that's a great idea, I like your box camera, maybe you can make a hybrid, add the bellows in the middle, and you can have it focus at infinity with the box closed, and then anything closer you can "unlatch" the box and extend the bellows that are in the middle, this way there's not a lot of tracking going on, just 2 tripods and moving them around, the bellows can just be free floating and so it won't take as much design work as adding tracks and bearings and all sorts of that stuff, just be careful not to drop one end while it's set up of course so you don't rip the bellows. But just throwing it out there as it's a lot simpler to do that than build a folding camera for something that big.

Stone this is not allowed and you know it.

Report sales attempts outside of the classifieds!

I did.

Pitchy
20-Jan-2015, 17:35
Stone this is not allowed and you know it.

Report sales attempts outside of the classifieds!

I did.

If I broke the rules in any way my apologizes, wasn`t intentional.

StoneNYC
20-Jan-2015, 18:02
He didn't really try to sell it to anyone, and I certainly didn't try to buy it, I was just giving info, I'm not at any point ready to buy and tackle such a project, have to finish my current work first. I think he was simply asking what he should do? I think we are all on edge because of that lens thread?