Deardorff Bellows Replacement

[Smitty]

I placed an order and paid for an 8x10 bellows with Deardorff in TN over a year ago. I sent my bellows to them for the frames. No bellows, no returned phone calls, avoids my calls, no reply to my emails. When I do reach them (Barry) Excuses,excuses,excuses.
Beware

[Smitty]

Look in the UK for a good bellows solution.
S

[LabRat]

On several different cameras I have restored, when removing bellows, I have noticed where different designs will have had a contact point somewhere touching the bellows, where something has long been making contact somewhere for a long time...

Putting a strip of photo tape over these bellows wear areas makes the spot slide better over the obstruction, and saves wear... And once in a (great) while, replace the tape...

If there is too much wear on the tape, go to plan B... (Reducing the profile of the obstruction, smaller/smoother knobs, etc...

Happy New Year!!!!

Steve K

[Duolab123]

I placed an order and paid for an 8x10 bellows with Deardorff in TN over a year ago. I sent my bellows to them for the frames. No bellows, no returned phone calls, avoids my calls, no reply to my emails. When I do reach them (Barry) Excuses,excuses,excuses.
Beware

This is an important bit of information. Thanks for the heads up. I've bought a couple bits of hardware from these folks on ebay. Never had any problems, still I don't want to get into a mess.
Looks like I do need to make sure before I do anything, the British solution sounds like a pretty sure thing. I have talked to a company in Rochester, can't remember their name right now. This company made bellows for Polaroid, they seemed reputable, I just want to make sure it is done nice.
Best Regards, Mike

[Duolab123]

Mike,

Whomever you choose to get the work done or purchase a bellows from, you might want to do a search on the potential vendor's name, as there are considerable resources on the site to research, including a whole Advisory section.

Unless you are the adventurous type and like to experience a well-travelled road without any bias, and learn on your own...

Just a caution,

Len

I just looked at the advisory section thanks. Very grateful for the note.
Mike

[Duolab123]

I just finished reading 17 pages in the advisory section, very good information. It's a darn shame.

OKAY I Have another question, the vendor I couldn't remember before is Turner Bellows, Rochester NY. Has anyone had experience dealing with these folks?

[Michael Kadillak]

Although several have had good experience with a couple different asian bellows vendors, my one foray was disappointing, and I still give Custom Bellows UK my vote every time. I re-rebellow'ed several 8x10s, Deardorffs and others, as well as custom sizes from 5"x8" up to 20"x24".........
Tell them what you want, what you expect, as what your options are.....have a dialog, and you should get a great result. Turnaround times are not bad either.They do mount bellows to frames for an additional fee, which is worth it in my mind.
http://www.custombellows.co.uk/

Completely concur with Tracy as he speaks from experience.

I probably have heard of at least three busts recently when buying cheap foreign bellows from which many sheets of film were fogged within a most unfortunate short amount of time between the purchase and the failure of these bellows. All because of the lure of being "cheap". Custom Bellows in the UK reins supreme in delivering a product that lasts and above all - remains light tight for the appropriate number of many years past the purchase. You get what you pay for. The same lesson can be stated for the sellers of the crap one piece lens boards that are absolutely worthless. Ever ask yourself why Deardorff milled three pieces of hardwood cross grain in their lens boards? Because they have structural stability and *$#& WORK. You want to be cheap and put a $750 + lens at risk each time you use it, by all means have at it.

[Lachlan 717]

Michael,

For the sake of others here, can you name names in relation to these crappy bellows suppliers, please?

[Michael Kadillak]

Michael,

For the sake of others here, can you name names in relation to these crappy bellows suppliers, please?

Most of them were online sellers from China or Hong Kong with online sellers names that I do not know. I will have to ask for the details specifically. One of the victims was a very experienced guy in our LF group that only had owned the bellows for four months and had used them twice before taking a two week trip to Death Valley and Yosemite before ascertaining that all of his photographs were fogged. He claimed that the first "test " shots with the bellows looked OK and then they somehow "fell apart" at the pleats as he could see pin holes on a post trip materials analysis. Needless to say he was devastated and at that point even a full refund is immaterial.

To be quite honest with you as far as I am concerned Custom Bellows is the quality standard in this regard because they have a reputation that they want to promote in maintaining a high quality standard whereas the fly by night sellers use low costs as their sales pitch. Unless you are making them yourself from materials you know and trust, why would any photographer risk this issue and have to replace their bellows a second time when the seller disappears into the night?

I would rather pay a reasonable fair price and know that I can get 10 years out of worry free use from my camera's bellows from a reputable company.

[Jonathan Barlow]

The bellows from China aren't exactly inexpensive at $200 shipped. Although, $450 + shipping from Custom Bellows in the UK is considerably more expensive.