Please Help - Specific Light-Sealing brush wanted

[John13554]

Dear All,

Does anyone know where I can buy the brush-like light and dust seal in this photograph? I’ve tried Microtools.com and they have nothing, all I can find anywhere is foam or velvet – this is neither, this is similar to what’s used to seal a 135 cassette (35mm roll), I suspect that it may be called ‘flocking’, but I’m unsure.

I’d be very grateful if anyone can offer any suggestions for where I can find a strip of this specific material.

Many Thanks

John

[Jim C.]

Flocking is a process to electrostatically <sp?> coat short fibers on end onto foam or fabric.
You might try looking for 'flocked fabric' .
Why wouldn't a very short knap thin velvet work ?

You might also try Edmund Optics or Thor labs, they may also have light absorbing/blocking fabric.

[Claude Sapp]

It looks a lot like what velvet wrapped around a thin cord would look like. I have velvet that I use for backdrop, and it has similar nap to the light seal you picture.

[Bert Hillebrand]

Hi,
You could try using "Silastic" which is a flexable rubbery paste-like sealant made by Dow Chemical GMBH in Germany and available in most countries. I have repaired bellows with it - it can be applied with a brush or small spatula, dries quickly and is very easy to use.
Good luck,
Bert Hillebrand








Bert Hillebrand

[al olson]

The seal on my Linhof Color was worn out and leaking light. I replaced it with strips that I cut from suede purchased from my nearest Tandy dealer. The film holder seats okay and the light leak has disappeared.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

The light seals I have seen on older LF cameras have been all velvet ribbon, nothing as special as what you found on your camera. For example, I recently replaced the light seals on the sliding rise of a 1940s Deardorff. These were clearly velvet ribbon, which is easily sourced and replaced.

[BetterSense]

My Speed Graphic had stuff similar to that in the little grooves in the Graflok back. It's long gone, and I've been wondering what to replace it with. I don't really have light leaks, but I'm fixing to start a project and don't want to risk it.

[John13554B]

Dear All,

This is John13554. I forgot my login details and e-mail for my original account, so I’ll be using the username John13554B from now on.

Unfortunately I’ve had no luck finding the specific light seal that I was after, I’ve investigated all the suggestions posted but the only option that remained was to compromise by using closed-cell foam, I don’t know if it has worked yet because I’m waiting for a sunny day to test it.

By the way, my camera is a Wista DX Rosewood, when I bought it new in London it was not sufficiently light sealed resulting in fogging. I took it back to the shop but after they tested it themselves they wouldn’t acknowledge a fault with the camera, and as I then attempted to modify the camera myself I couldn’t return it under the Sale of Goods Act – big mistake! Also, Wista didn’t respond to my e-mails, and technically they don’t have to do anything because by law it’s the distributor’s responsibility (which was the shop!). At this point, you might be thinking to yourself “well maybe this guy [me] is wrong and the camera is fine, only he’s made some kind of mistake” – wrong! After 11 years practicing photography, 6 of which were spent formally studying the subject, I know what I’m doing. It’s as if there’s a strip of light seal missing from the back of the camera, as Wista won’t respond and the shop doesn’t see anything wrong with it, I have no way of confirming this – I don’t know anyone with the same camera – please let me know if any of you do.

I didn’t really come on here to write this, I’ve kind of wandered off topic here. I just wanted to post this message to say thank you very much to everyone for your time and energy – I appreciate you posts.

If any of you are ever in need of advise/help with any photographic subject, then don’t hesitate to ask. Most of my technical experience involves 35mm, Large format, flashguns, Canon, Sigma, Adobe, EPSON, Metz, Kodak, Lowepro, Slik and more.

Thanks again.

Yours Faithfully

John

[E. von Hoegh]

I wonder if you could wrap a thin cord with velvet and get a useable replacement?