Sinar Norma parts

[Paul Feyling]

Any suggestions for locating Sinar Norma parts, is particular the metal bellows lens shade clips? One reply on this forum mentioned that there were European sources for Sinar Norma parts. Any leads on that?

[Stan. Laurenson-Batten]

Hi Paul.

The supplier you are looking for in the UK is:

Teamwork Photo. of 41/42 Foley Street London WIW 7JN. Tel # for spares 44/020 7323 6455
Web Site: www.teamworkphoto.co.uk.

They have recently taken over the Sinar supplies in the UK. I have had excellent service from them in the past year.

[Struan Gray]

MXV almost always have at least one rod-and-clips set in their listings, at much more reasonable prices than official Sinar kit. www.mxvphotographic.com

Robert White were selling the current resin clips at a very low price recently as part of a clearance of Sinar stock. The listing has gone from their secondhand page, but it might be worth giving them a ring to see if there are any left.

Another source might be Bill Orford in Swindon who repairs Sinars and took a lot of stock off Sinar when they cleared out their parts bins a while back. Tel 01793 695025

[Frank Petronio]

The Norma era clips at a different angle than the F and P series clips so be careful. The rods are the same. I found a wide desparity in prices, up to $50 each - then I found them for only $3 at MXV I think... (lots of internet searches)

[Struan Gray]

On my Norma a modern resin clip is usable, although it does look a bit funky and the twist (about ten-fifteen degrees off square by eyeball) makes it hard to use a standard to hold the front of the bellows. I wouldn't turn down a pair of modern clips if you get them for a low price - or free - but agree with Frank that the older clips are a much better match.

A lot of older clips I have seen and handled have very stiff locking sleeves, either because some fool greased them and the grease has gummed up, or because the aluminium threads have corroded. Reckon on some disassembly and cleaning.

I used the clips and extra bellows for a while because my camera came with the kit to do so when I bought it. However, for field use it was a royal pain in the backside. The Norma clips don't hold the bellows very positively (the new resin ones are much better) and the system had a fair bit of unnecessary bulk. I now use a Lee filter hood: I found that the Lee 105 mm adapter screws into the old Norma filter holder, so I stripped off all the other metalwork from mine and use that. It saves having to have Lee adapters on all my lenses, and the Lee self-supporting hood is much more compact to carry and simple to use than the full Sinar compendium. I keep intending to make a black fleece tube to seal the gap between the adapter ring and the shutter, but it's not caused any problems to date.

[Ellis Vener]

Jeff Wheeeler at Quality Camera Company in Atlanta seems to have a lot of Sinar and in particular Sinar Norma cameras and components in stock right now. I was there on Friday. The URL is http://www.qualitycamera.com