Joe Smigiel
13-Aug-2011, 23:28
I have 2 Agfa (Universal?) 8x10 cameras that lack bellows. I'm going to attempt to make some replacement bellows for the cameras, but I don't have a complete set of frames or old bellows to pattern from. I'm hoping someone on the forum could take a look at their camera and answer a couple questions for me or perhaps post some quick digisnaps to clarify some things.
First, I'd like to know where the bellows are attached to the frames. I assume the front of the bellows is attached to the outside surfaces of a front frame rather than the inside or back surfaces. I assume the rear of the bellows attaches to the inside of the frame rather than the surface facing the lens.
Second, could someone please relate if their bellows has stiffeners/folds that are different sizes, are the folds offset between the top/bottom & sides, and what are the widths of the stiffeners? If different widths, I'd also like to know which size begins and ends the bellows on the top vs. sides. IOW does the front top begin with the smaller stiffener or wider one? Does the rear at the top end with a wider or narrower stiffener?
Does anyone see a reason or know why the front frame appears square while the rear is rectangular? The backs are reversible on these cameras and so, square. Assuming a symmetrically tapering bellows would be easier to construct than one with two different tapers (i.e., the sides differ from top/bottom), why wouldn't the rear bellows frame also be a square (especially if the bellows attaches to the inside of the frame)? Anyone know?
I could probably figure some of this out by trial and error, but making a bellows by hand is rather tedious and time intensive so any pics or descriptions would help. Thanks in advance.
FWIW, I just made a new tapering bellows for a Rochester Universal whole-plate camera. I used some Porter's blackout cloth I had stashed for the liner and a iridescent burgundy fabric for the outer layer. I drew the stiffener pattern in Photoshop and printed it out on cover stock. (My plan is to do the same for the AGfas.) I've uploaded pics of the results as well as the stiffener pattern files at 100% (http://smieglitz.tumblr.com/) to my Tumblr account if anyone wants to grab them for a similar restoration project.
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpsv8zm2JC1qmnn9io4_500.jpghttp://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpsv8zm2JC1qmnn9io2_250.jpg
The DIY bellows extends to the full 20" extension of the camera and collapses to fit within the 2.5" folded camera.
Joe
First, I'd like to know where the bellows are attached to the frames. I assume the front of the bellows is attached to the outside surfaces of a front frame rather than the inside or back surfaces. I assume the rear of the bellows attaches to the inside of the frame rather than the surface facing the lens.
Second, could someone please relate if their bellows has stiffeners/folds that are different sizes, are the folds offset between the top/bottom & sides, and what are the widths of the stiffeners? If different widths, I'd also like to know which size begins and ends the bellows on the top vs. sides. IOW does the front top begin with the smaller stiffener or wider one? Does the rear at the top end with a wider or narrower stiffener?
Does anyone see a reason or know why the front frame appears square while the rear is rectangular? The backs are reversible on these cameras and so, square. Assuming a symmetrically tapering bellows would be easier to construct than one with two different tapers (i.e., the sides differ from top/bottom), why wouldn't the rear bellows frame also be a square (especially if the bellows attaches to the inside of the frame)? Anyone know?
I could probably figure some of this out by trial and error, but making a bellows by hand is rather tedious and time intensive so any pics or descriptions would help. Thanks in advance.
FWIW, I just made a new tapering bellows for a Rochester Universal whole-plate camera. I used some Porter's blackout cloth I had stashed for the liner and a iridescent burgundy fabric for the outer layer. I drew the stiffener pattern in Photoshop and printed it out on cover stock. (My plan is to do the same for the AGfas.) I've uploaded pics of the results as well as the stiffener pattern files at 100% (http://smieglitz.tumblr.com/) to my Tumblr account if anyone wants to grab them for a similar restoration project.
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpsv8zm2JC1qmnn9io4_500.jpghttp://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpsv8zm2JC1qmnn9io2_250.jpg
The DIY bellows extends to the full 20" extension of the camera and collapses to fit within the 2.5" folded camera.
Joe