Camera Bellows from England ceased trading

[GPS]

Yesterday I have received information from the Managing Director of the well known English firm Camera Bellows. Camera Bellows will cease trading after November 28th, 2008 and cannot take any further inquiries.

"Over the past few years, Camera Bellows has not produced an acceptable level of financial results and there are no market indications that demand for our product will change in the foreseeable future. Our customer service will remain fully operational until 5:30 pm on our last day of business, which will be on November, 28th, 2008."

A pity, one more excellent resource for those of us who construct their own cameras or just make camera repairs by themselves, is gone...

[Ash]

That sucks

[wfwhitaker]

This morning I spoke with a gentleman named Tony Eaton at Camera Bellows. I don't know Tony's capacity with the company, but he was the person I was directed to when I first asked about what was going on. Apparently there is a great deal of legal wrangling and for whatever reasons Camera Bellows is ceasing business. Why this has been so secretive is beyond me. But Tony was very quick to say that there are plans to have Camera Bellows back up and running in early 2009. At this point about all we can do is hope for the best. But at least there are people involved with the company who are interested in its continuation.

[GPS]

This morning I spoke with a gentleman named Tony Eaton at Camera Bellows. I don't know Tony's capacity with the company, but he was the person I was directed to when I first asked about what was going on. Apparently there is a great deal of legal wrangling and for whatever reasons Camera Bellows is ceasing business. Why this has been so secretive is beyond me. But Tony was very quick to say that there are plans to have Camera Bellows back up and running in early 2009. At this point about all we can do is hope for the best. But at least there are people involved with the company who are interested in its continuation.

Tony Eaton from Camera Bellows is also the person to contact if you want to know about alternative sources.

[Ole Tjugen]

Bad news, but tempered by good news.

I have finally managed to wrangle the bellows off my old 24x30cm plate camera, and intended to send it to Camera Bellows after the christmas madness in the post is over. Now I'll just have to wait a little longer - which isn't too bad considering it's more than a year since I got a price estimate for the job. :)

[Michael Graves]

That is a bummer. They made me a brand new bellows for my Toyo 810M that was half the price of a new one from Toyo, much better made and completed in three weeks from the day I shipped out my old frame and bellows to the day my new one arrived. That kind of service will be greatly missed. I hope they DO get back up and running. My 5x7 Toyo hasn't started to leak any light yet, but I was planning on getting a new one for it as a preemptive measure.

[GPS]

Bad news, but tempered by good news.
...
Now I'll just have to wait a little longer - which isn't too bad considering it's more than a year since I got a price estimate for the job. :)

Wait a moment! I have two orders in line before you! This is the British line, don't forget that!:)

[arca andy]

Tony Eaton from Camera Bellows is also the person to contact if you want to know about alternative sources.

Oh what a shame they where very good. My Arca bellows need sorting, I hope they start up again.
GPS did you rate the alternatives that Tony Eaton mentioned?

[GPS]

Oh what a shame they where very good. My Arca bellows need sorting, I hope they start up again.
GPS did you rate the alternatives that Tony Eaton mentioned?

Nope. But like all of you, I'm waiting for the resurrection...:) Heck, I have too important projects...

[Tracy Storer]

I would also like to speak to the excellent quality and outstanding service at CB, they are worth waiting for if they can restructure. I've had several bellows made there from 8x10 to 20x24, all are perfect.
Stay tuned...

[Pete Watkins]

This is just part of the general scene in The U.K. Companies are closing, good reliable companies. The Midlands is really being hit hard (sorry Ash I know about Honda and the rest of your area as well). Can't see it getting any better in the near future, the government has bailed out the banks but they just won't co-operate. I hope that the company rises from the ashes, I've never had to use them but I see them as a sort of insurance deal. Friends who have used them have only praise for the company.
Pete.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I just hope my 7x17" Korona patch job holds up until they reorganize.

[Tracy Storer]

It is that CameraBellows is owned by another bigger company, so the decision was from high up the food chain. My contact Keith L. at CB has said the same as Tony E. They are looking at continuing on a smaller scale on their own. Over 100 years in the business...would be nice to have that continuity. I have an old "British Journal Photographic Almanac" from the 1930s that has an advert for bellows makers at their same address.

[George Hart]

That's bad news. I was saving up to ask them to make a standard and a WA bellows for my 5x7. If they do bounce back, I'll be placing an order…

[Ash]

I was waiting for the ideal time (abundant money - so obviously not now!) to order some bellows for the Korona 5x4, as the bellows are sieved and are only good in a dark studio. Maybe if they bounce back. Too late now anyway.

[walter23]

I've been waiting to have enough surplus cash to buy a custom 8x10 bellows myself.

Better get on with it before all these companies go under or something.

[Gem Singer]

Keith Canham has the bellows for his cameras fabricated by Camera Bellows.

I wonder how this situation is going to effect his business.

[Gordon Moat]

It seems there are several camera makers using bellows from Camera Bellows. If they do re-surface in some form, either former employees, or a similar talent pool under a new name, then there is some hope that this will be a blip in supply. After investigating Western Bellows and Camera Bellows, I had hoped to go with the latter to make bellows for my camera project. I hope there will be such a choice in the near future.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[IanG]

It is that CameraBellows is owned by another bigger company, so the decision was from high up the food chain. My contact Keith L. at CB has said the same as Tony E. They are looking at continuing on a smaller scale on their own. Over 100 years in the business...would be nice to have that continuity. I have an old "British Journal Photographic Almanac" from the 1930s that has an advert for bellows makers at their same address.

Camera Bellows were previously known as H Glanvill until 1934, they moved a few times and by 1954 were at 27a Balsall Heath Road, Birmingham, In think they moved again before setting up the current factory is at 3-5, St Paul's Road, Balsall Heath, this is in the same area.

It's good news to hear that there are plans to continue trading outside the group that currently owns them & Lee Filters.

Unlike any other Bellows maker if you asked Camera Bellows for a new set they knew what & how to make them, you didn't need to provide a pattern or specifications. When I needed bag bellows for a De Vere monorail they told me what to provide for the frames and I ended up with a perfect new set, which are still excellent 32 years later.

So like others I look forward to the emergence of the new operation next year.

Ian

[Bill_1856]

Don't they make the OEM bellows for Linhof?

[IanG]

They make the OEM bellows for all European manufacturers and most US as well, so there's business out there for them still.

Ian

[Pete Watkins]

The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1955 ( the adverts are worth the price, £6-50) "Camera Bellows" makers to the trade. Finest Mass Production Plant In Europe.Formerly H. Glanville, 287A, Balsall Heath Road, Birmingham, 12. No prices, that would have been really interesting!
Pete.

[Michael Kadillak]

All it takes is a few craftsmen that know the materials sources and have an interest in sequestering the need in this nich market. Companies come and companies go - nothing new there. Camera Bellows made a good product and it was completely their own making that facilitated these current events.

If Camera Bellows does not run with this ball someone else likely will or there will be a market for seminars or kits to make your own bellows. No big deal.

Life goes on....

[GPS]

All it takes is a few craftsmen that know the materials sources and have an interest in sequestering the need in this nich market. Companies come and companies go - nothing new there. Camera Bellows made a good product and it was completely their own making that facilitated these current events.

If Camera Bellows does not run with this ball someone else likely will or there will be a market for seminars or kits to make your own bellows. No big deal.

Life goes on....

Seminar or kits to make your own bellows - just wishful thinking light years away from the reality. Who would do these seminars? Where? Near you? Who would pay them for it?..etc. Kits? Who would do them? If bellows making is not profitable, making bellows kits is? I made many of my bellows myself and I was happy to pay 70£ for made bellows just to have more time for other things.
The truth is that without the correct tooling it's a time consuming pita if you know how to make them or not. And I still make them on my own for parts that are too specialized! Nothing could beat CB for the ease of making them. Just a few clicks on your keyboard and there they were, in your next package...

".. it was completely their own making that facilitated these current events". Oh! Can you enlighten us more about it?

Nevertheless, I'm confident that CB could bounce back as the restructuring should be made easier just by the separation from Lee Filters...

[IanG]

All it takes is a few craftsmen that know the materials sources and have an interest in sequestering the need in this nich market. Companies come and companies go - nothing new there. Camera Bellows made a good product and it was completely their own making that facilitated these current events.

If Camera Bellows does not run with this ball someone else likely will or there will be a market for seminars or kits to make your own bellows. No big deal.

Life goes on....

I'm rather puzzled that you blame Camera Bellows themselves for the massive downturn inn the Analog market place, fewer Digial cameras/backs use bellows. Is that their fault ?

Let's see what happens, it's not the people making bellows at Camera Bellows that should be blamed, perhaps the company that owns them should be receiving your venom which needs pointing in the correct direction.

There is a market for Camear Bellows.or rather what rises from the ashes, taking a business out of a larger group is not easy. They need support not your bvitriol.

Ian

[Tracy Storer]

I'm with Ian, WTF Michael? Do you know something we don't? I've done a couple thousand dollars of business with CB in the last couple years and have been in direct communication with them a couple times in the last week.
Keith Lowe of CB accepted my offer to post info.
In spite of CB being closed down by their parent company (PANAVISION) He and Tony will be trying to get back up and running in a couple months. They were in the black, just not making enough for the guys in suits how many layers up the food chain.
TS


All it takes is a few craftsmen that know the materials sources and have an interest in sequestering the need in this nich market. Companies come and companies go - nothing new there. Camera Bellows made a good product and it was completely their own making that facilitated these current events.

If Camera Bellows does not run with this ball someone else likely will or there will be a market for seminars or kits to make your own bellows. No big deal.

Life goes on....

[Michael Kadillak]

Whoa guys. Relax a bit. I have ordered more than my share of bellows from them and was pleased to do so as they were a great company.

But need I remind you all that this is not personal - it is BUSINESS and it is completely out of our hands from beginning to the end. All of the hope and expectations in the world are not going to fill this niche market unless everything lines up perfectly and a new entity arises from the debris to fill this void. None of us are privy to the details so we are completely in the dark in this regard. As a businessman I have seen some really goofy decisions caused by greed and corporate wranglings and voids left in lucrative markets because of a whole host of things that defy logic.

I hope that somehow a new entity including some of the existing expertise comes forward to make bellows with the same quality and price point that we have become familiar with but only time will tell if this will in fact happen.

I am very confident that sufficient market demand for bellows will be met by naturally entrepreneurial people that clearly see the opportunity. One would want to believe that it should be the folks from Camera Bellows, but we shall see if they can get a business plan together with company financing (which is the Achilles heel currently) and make it work. Let's give this subject a few months and see what happens.

[Tracy Storer]

Whoa guys. Relax a bit. .....
Well said Michael, I just wanted people to know that an effort will be made to "rise again"
If I hadn't been so pleasantly surprised with the quality of product and service every time I wouldn't care so much. We've all had good and bad business dealings with people
we either like or don't like, and there's just nothing not to like about the CB folks, I'd love to be able to keep working with them.
Cheers,
TS

[GPS]

...
All of the hope and expectations in the world are not going to fill this niche market unless everything lines up perfectly and a new entity arises from the debris to fill this void.

I am very confident that sufficient market demand for bellows will be met by naturally entrepreneurial people that clearly see the opportunity...

Oh man, you could be a politician! Just to remind you of the nonsense you say - your confidence is not going to fill this niche market but the sufficient market demand will be met...:)

[GPS]

...
Camera Bellows made a good product and it was completely their own making that facilitated these current events.

....



... None of us are privy to the details so we are completely in the dark in this regard. ...

Wow, one must wonder over this logic too, indeed.

[Peter De Smidt]

What a shame. I do hope they come back, as they are my favorite bellows makers by a long shot.

[Michael Kadillak]

Wow, one must wonder over this logic too, indeed.

Not that difficult to grasp really. Camera Bellows was in business to produce bellows. A decision was made to cease operations by someone that had the legal authority to do so - ie. the owners. We do not know not does it really matter who did it or why they did it. At the end of the day it is old news.

The only thing that matters is six months from now is a succeeding entity going to be in a position to produce new bellows?

[GPS]

...

Camera Bellows was in business to produce bellows. A decision was made to cease operations by someone that had the legal authority to do so - ie. the owners. We do not know not does it really matter who did it or why they did it. At the end of the day it is old news.

...
After the great logic comes the great wisdom?:confused:
By the way, it does matter who did it or why they did it because on these facts can also depend the survival...

[neil poulsen]

Keith Lowe of CB accepted my offer to post info. In spite of CB being closed down by their parent company (PANAVISION) He and Tony will be trying to get back up and running in a couple months. They were in the black, just not making enough for the guys in suits how many layers up the food chain.

Tracy, I'm interested. Does he have an email, so that we can track his progress? I'll send him encouragement and an order. He was the person who did such a great job on a bag bellows for an older Arca 6x9 that I have.

[IanG]

The position of Camera Bellows is similar in many ways to that of Taylor, Taylor Hobson a few years ago when they were owned by Rank. A large company with little understanding of the subsidiaries quite different market.

Luckily for Cooke Optics, Rank sold off Taylor,Taylor Hobson and they in turn let Cooke separate.

Camera Bellows have not been so lucky, but the UK has a tradition of new businesses rising from the ashes of closurers.

No camera bellows company is ever going to be as profitable as Glanvill/Camera Bellows in it's heyday, but that was also Kodak's heyday as a camera manufacturer, and both are well in the past. But there's still a good profitable business making the worlds best camera bellows as long as the company is small & flexible.

Comparing other Manufacturers to Camera Bellows is like comparing an Argus Brick to a Leica, both make images :D

Ian

[Vivid-Vision]

This morning I spoke with a gentleman named Tony Eaton at Camera Bellows. I don't know Tony's capacity with the company, but he was the person I was directed to when I first asked about what was going on. Apparently there is a great deal of legal wrangling and for whatever reasons Camera Bellows is ceasing business. Why this has been so secretive is beyond me. But Tony was very quick to say that there are plans to have Camera Bellows back up and running in early 2009. At this point about all we can do is hope for the best. But at least there are people involved with the company who are interested in its continuation.

Hi. Tony Eaton will continue to trade under the new name "Custom Bellows" Please visit www.custombellows.co.uk for more info. James. :)

[GPS]

Hi. Tony Eaton will continue to trade under the new name "Custom Bellows" Please visit www.custombellows.co.uk for more info. James. :)

Great and good news. The Custom Bellows seems like a genetic clone of the Camera Bellows...:)

[wfwhitaker]

I love it when a post of mine gets quoted in the context of good news and man, that's GOOD news!

[Michael Kadillak]

When you make specialty products for small markets and do make a profit from them you should stay in business or sell to someone who will do so. Doesn't matter if it is pencils, bellows, photo paper or condoms. You have a built in customer base and a steady profit in that area. Cutting it is wrong.

You can call it wrong or a green or anything you want but in a free market it is precisely what makes this country great. Every day business capital is constantly pursuing the optimal place for it to go to work. Very simplistically when those that are taking the business risk realize a return less than the expectation they solely placed upon the business, they have the right at any time to throw the cards into the center of the table and walk away. If the business was started with the expectation that they could make a return of 40% and are only making 20%, irrespective of what you may derive as your position as a Monday morning quarterback they have a failed business plan. Anyone that says that it is wrong that the business owners "screwed" the customer by closing and should be more than happy with a more "reasonable" return of investment needs to have their economic valves adjusted. From an academically perspective that is not how business in a free market economy has worked from day one.

You may not like it but here is the beauty of the system. When a product leaves the market it presents a fabulous opportunity for someone to fill this void in the market should they not have as high an expectation as the initial party that is leaving said business.

But when the void in the market remains market forces deductively tell us that it is highly likely that there is not longer a viable market for this product.

Before you get all worked up over this remember a couple of things. One. Nobody has access to the corporate balance sheet for any business so saying that they are "making a reasonable" profit is complete speculation. Fact is you do not have a clue as to real monetary viability let along profit. Second. Market participants in the private or public sector need to have the ability to enter and exit as they see fit for any reason or no reason at all. That is their unalieable legal right. I own my own business and this is something that I take very seriously. Can you imagine a business owner being told that they need to accept an 8% ROR because closing their doors is wrong. You will be quickly told to either purchase the enterprise or shut the &#%@ up.

I stand by my earlier position to not take it personal - it is just business. And as we all know sometimes business SUCKS. If you want to feel warm and cuddly - buy a puppy.

Cheers!

[neil poulsen]

Thread is closed.