Tokyophoto responded today to my complaint offering a full refund. Service and communication are good, no problem there. We'll see whether the bellows rolls over and plays dead (I was going to say "sits up and begs" but it's already doing that, which is the problem !) when I unclamp it tomorrow morning.
He (they?) did acknowledge the bellows are "springy" when new and take time to lose this quality.
Originally Posted by prendt
Good to know, thanks for the clarification.
I decided not to wait till morning and retry the fit........still a no-go. TokyoPhoto seems to have excellent communication and customer service, so I will be returning this bellows. I have made a suggestion that may or may not solve the problem I had with this example.
Received full refund after returning bellows. Hopefully this too-thick bellows was a one-off, communication and service are excellent, we want Tokyophoto to succeed.
Meanwhile, I ordered bellows from my old stand-by, Custom Bellows, and am awaiting delivery.
Tokyophoto is no longer offering their 200 dollar Deardorff bellows on Ebay any longer. There's Hong Kong ones, don't have frames attached. Beyond my ability.
Never used Tokyophoto so can’t comment. I’ve had Custom Bellows make one each for my V5, V8 and V11. All have been perfect and resonable considering the exchange rate. Keith mounted my frames and did not charge a separate fee. Next time I need a bellows you can be sure I’ll be using them.
Did you remove and send your old bellows and frames? What was cost for the V8? There's a bit of me that doesn't want to touch anything on my V8. It's all original as far as I know. It's a bit confusing as it has newer front standard, but no round metal base mount plate, which I believe puts it as pre-WWII. The factory offered a upgrade to the new front. I suppose I should just get in touch with Custom Bellows and get it done.
I ordered a bellows from Tokyophoto for my Toyo 45a and installed it myself. Excellent instructions were provided along with some basic items for the job; tape, bulldog clips,etc. The material is slightly heavier than on the original Toyo bellows, but no problem closing the camera.
All in all I'm very pleased with the whole deal.
I tried to order bellows for my Deardorff, they had these listed but when I ordered, tokyophoto cancelled my order. I contacted them and was told that there was no more available. I sent a message to Custom Bellows to see what they have to offer. Catlabs sells replacement bellows for the Deardorff but are 400 dollars. For that much I want to check out Custom Bellows first.
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