Below is a pic of a 5x7 bellows I recently completed. I followed a pdf by JB Harlin which is very informative, however I ran into trouble. He suggests the top and bottom panels take their dimensions from the outside sizes of the two frames, and the two sides are sized from the inside dimensions of the frames. It didn't seem right to me because both frames are square and it seemed to me that the bellows would not be. I went ahead anyway because the mysteries of bellows design are beyond me and obviously the product of higher intellects than mine. I vaguely hoped that some mystery of the folding process and the different shape of ribs recommended might result in a square bellows for square frames, but the bellows came out rectangular, as I'd anticipated. Back to square one.
I was also disappointed with the flexibility - no fault of the instructions, but of the materials used. For the main light-tight material I used black Linno curtain blockout from our Spotlight stores, which specialise in fabrics. Excellent material for stopping light, as it consists of polyester fabric coated with three spray layers of acrylic. But sadly too thick. For the inner lining I used cotton lawn, also from Spotlight. The result was that the bellows will not stretch beyond 300mm, and I calculated on at least 360. And so stiff that I'd hate to use simple movements like moderate rise or shift with short-ish lenses. I'd say that for 8x10 or smaller cameras this sort of curtain blockout is too stiff, but it should be OK for ULF cameras which need stiffer bellows.
Where to from here... I've thoroughly searched the offerings from Spotlight, and also online sources. I can't find anything online that isn't available at Spotlight. Trouble is that none of the other materials they carry are opaque, even when tested with a sample of cotton lawn behind it. I'm happy with lawn as an inner lining, and have decided to next try an outer layer of ripstop nylon and spray the outside with flexible plastic paint applied after folding. Such a paint is available from auto spares stores and is specifically designed for plastic car bumpers to withstand bumps. I have a feeling that this will work. The ripstop nylon is very strong and light, and the flexible plastic spray might just work, as long as it's applied lightly enough to provide full opacity without increasing rigidity. Worth a try, I think.
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