Eastman View No. 1 Acquired & Looking to Refurbish it but I'm A Newbie to Lg Format

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Originally Posted by HoopsMcGee

I'm in the midst of taking it apart and the bellows definitely need replacing. I'll do some searching but anyone have any resources for bellows? I have the wooden frames that were attached to but do new ones come with the frames? Thanks!

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Custom Bellows in England. Contact them then send the bellows and frames. You will be happy, even amazed at the quality of their work. Many use cheap Chinese firms but not the experienced ones among us.

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Originally Posted by HoopsMcGee

Thanks for that tip. Is 6.5x8.5 a common size for large format? In my admittedly small lack of research I don't remember seeing this measurement as a standard as often as others?

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Nice restoration project! how are things going?
If you search for an original barrel lens, then look for 7x9 lenses since 5x7 is too small for whole/full plate camera's.
But you should know that whole/full plate film is not easy to acquire - afaik Ilford is the only company still producing that film in HP4 and HP5 but only once a year; and I'm not sure you can get it in small quantities - price will be high.
Further to be able to use that film you need film sheats - I think you already have them - the Eastman/Kodak (from what I see in the first picture in this thread).

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Originally Posted by Ron (Netherlands)

Nice restoration project! how are things going?
If you search for an original barrel lens, then look for 7x9 lenses since 5x7 is too small for whole/full plate camera's.
But you should know that whole/full plate film is not easy to acquire - afaik Ilford is the only company still producing that film in HP4 and HP5 but only once a year; and I'm not sure you can get it in small quantities - price will be high.
Further to be able to use that film you need film sheats - I think you already have them - the Eastman/Kodak (from what I see in the first picture in this thread).

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It’s going well. I was almost able to drop the bellows off in person but they closed at 12pm and we’re scheduled to drive through Birmingham a bit after that. Ah well. At least I saved on overseas shipping by mailing it in the UK. Looking forward to getting it all back together.

Cutting down film from 8X10 film is easy and may be cheaper than Special Order.

For the old time film look try X-Ray film. I buy this https://www.zzmedical.com/analog-x-r...ideo-film.html

There is also a fellow making new Glass Plates in any size. Look up https://www.pictoriographica.com/about.html He is a member here.

A huge thread here about X-Ray film usage.

Smaller threads about Glass plates both old and new.

My hat avatar was shot with a NOS 100 year old glass plate. Greatly enhanced in PS.

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Originally Posted by Tin Can

Cutting down film from 8X10 film is easy and may be cheaper than Special Order.

For the old time film look try X-Ray film. I buy this https://www.zzmedical.com/analog-x-r...ideo-film.html

There is also a fellow making new Glass Plates in any size. Look up https://www.pictoriographica.com/about.html He is a member here.

A huge thread here about X-Ray film usage.

Smaller threads about Glass plates both old and new.

My hat avatar was shot with a NOS 100 year old glass plate. Greatly enhanced in PS.

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Yeah after being informed this was a glass plate camera i definitely want to try it.

Whelp, back from my UK trip. The bellows were delivered so now it's on to the restore and reassembly. The next thing I'd like to do is clean the metal. Any tips on that process? I guess based on the original images is the burnished look better or keep the metal as darkened and worn? There's plating and elements of copper so I'm not sure how to proceed...

Got the new bellows. They look great.

https://i.imgur.com/RyzDsIO.jpg

They even returned the garbage, mold infested original ones which is considerate, lol. Now that it's been a few weeks, I've forgotten how to reassemble so the detailed pics I took will come in handy.

One rule of restoration is never throw out any part, no matter how bad it is. Just in case you need to make a few.

Bellows look great!

I get it, but in the case of the old ones, the mold is an issue. No need to keep it around. They were kind enough to vacuuim seal it for the return though so it'll all go into the trash.

You asked about the lens. That's a fine old lens and should work very well, and it's correct for the camera (same era) although that doesn't matter much. It is a triple convertible. How that works is it focus's about 13" or so with front and rear groups on it together how it is now. If you unscrew the front group and just use the rear by itself it becomes a 20" + or - lens. Then if you take the back group off and put the front one on the back it becomes something about 26". It's written on the aperture scale. You have all 3 scales there for you. Rapid Symmetricals were a bit weak in the corners, but by using the next bigger size, (which the previous owner did) that gets minimized. It's a great lens to start out with. Don't take the shutter apart. Those Regno's usually end up in a pile of parts on the floor . . . on their way to the trash can. Try to work within it's limits. The Xray film is pretty slow so when you stop down, most times, you'll be up around 1/2 second to 1 second which you can do with a hat.

The difference between the Kodak #1 and the slightly later #2 is huge. Like going from Model T to Model A. In Vaughn's picture of his 2 you see a third slot at the bottom of the much larger stronger rails. That was for a sliding tripod block that balances the weight of the camera over the tripod. Huge benefit. Plus the #1 is a bit spindly. Everything got bigger (and a bit heavier) with the #2, and they didn't have to change again for about 55 years.

6.5X8.5 is a wonderful size. Contact prints that size on a sheet of 11X14 paper with a clean white rebate are lovely. Keep going. You'll get there.