Wrinkled bellows on Tachihara - how bad is it?

[Marko Vrabec]

The used Tachihara camera I purchased from an online dealer has wrinkled bellows (pictures are here (http://www.ntfgeo.uni-lj.si/marko/tachi/)). It doesn't look nice, but to my inexperienced eye it doesn't interfere with camera functionality. I also didn't notice any pinholes in the wrinkles. I don't mind the cosmetical implications, but am kinda worried about how this will behave in the long term. Is there something to be done to correct the problem? Or should I rather return the camera?

[Leonard Evens]

You should check that it doesn't have any light leaks. One way is to put a small light inside it in a dark room and see if any light shines through.

Of course, if the bellows is worn, it may fail earlier than otherwise might be the case.

The only other problem I can envision is that the bellows will sag in some situations and interfere with the light path, particularly if you use movements. You should be able to see that on the gg.

You can probably replace the bellows, but it may cost you a significant part of your purchase price.

[Mark_3709]

I had a Tachihara with the same problem once. It looks like the same camera. It never had any effect on its use or images it produced. I never did like that camera however, It always seemed too delicate to me.

[Brian Ellis]

As long as you don't add to the wrinkles there shouldn't be a problem if everything is fine now. However, if you keep wrinkling it then eventually the bellows will start sagging and get in between the film and the lens, at which point you'll have to replace the bellows. That happened to me with a Linhof Technikardan. I had a Tachihara and didn't have any problem with wrinkled bellows so I'm not sure what the fact that yours has them says about the former owner's treatment of the camera. I'd just try to be careful from here on out and close the camera carefully.

I really liked the Tachihara, I thought it was an excellent camera for landscape and most other kinds of photography. Good luck with it, there's a review of the Tachihara on my web site if you're interested. www.ellisgalleries.com.

[Alan Davenport]

The wrinkles are of course caused by the camera having been folded clumsily and left stored with bellows in a wad. As noted, if you don't make it worse it probably won't get worse. In fact, if you carefully work the pleats into the proper configuration while folding, it might get a bit better over time. I don't know if it makes any difference, but IIRC, the Tachihara's bellows are lambskin. I think...

[Mark Sampson]

If the bellows don't have pinholes, treat them with Lexol (I did this once yearly with my Tachi) and then the bellows should be good for decades.

[Ed Candland]

I'd agree that it will most likely not cause a problem. But if it was me and I wasn't told before I purchased that the bellows were wrinkled and the price didn't reflect this, I'd return it and look for another dealer. But that's just me.

Good luck, Ed