I'm replacing the bellows on a really beat up 2D and was thinking about these:
https://www.etonephoto.com/products/...39743331565724
Has anyone one used these?
It comes in two sizes, Standard (500mm) which seems short.
Or the long option which is 800mm to 850mm or so. The rails are around 740mm on the 2D. What length have you guys ordered for a 2D, was there sagging issues?
I recommend Custom Bellows in the UK.
You send them your old bellows & frames, Keith performs magic, and you get a beautiful bellows back, ready to bolt into your camera.
The Asian bellows are cheaper, but you get the fun of attaching them to your frames, and hoping.
Yes I am aware of custombellows in the UK - this is not at all a nice camera and will not be getting bellows from them. I am aware of what is involved gluing the bellows onto the frames. When my Agfa Commercial View needs new bellows I will certainly get them from CustomBellows!
I am asking about etone specifically if anyone has any insight.
When I made bellows for my 8x10 Century, I re-drew the bellows to make it about 600mm, which is shorter than it was originally. This was because I only had a single rail and I don't own any lenses longer than 300mm.
Those bellows in your link would have cost me $110 back in 2006 when I restored my camera. I certainly would have bought them rather than making them back then.
It is a good price! - and unless anyone has more info than I do, evidence I've seen on the internet points to this company being tied to Shen Hao. For example, when you look up official Shen Hao accessories on Amazon, and you click on the 'Visit The Shen Hao Store' Link at the top it takes you to eTone. I'm not saying eTone makes Shen Hao, but there is some sort of tie there.Originally Posted by ic-racer
Maybe the short "standard" version is for folks who don't have(or need) the extension rail?
The distance from the ground glass to the face of the lens board with the extension rail on my 8x10 2D is 740mm (28 7/8 inches). Without the extension rail, it is 420mm (16 3/8 inches). These were not precision measurements.
One thing to check is to measure old bellows single pleats (3/4"???) times all the entire length of existing bellows... Then extend camera + old bellows fully and measure the extension distance between inside standards where bellows would mount... Then compress comera fully and measure the distance when fully compressed and note how much "safe area" you have + or - when camera is closed... Sometimes bellows would have been replaced in the past, and longer or shorter bellows might have been installed then, not giving you proper full extension or compression... And the old bellows might have gotten thicker as it absorbed moisture and dried many times since when they were new and maybe a bit crunchy internally by now...
I was impressed that the new Custom Bellows for the early 8X10 Ansco Universal had tapering pleats from front to back that allowed better compression and movement, and it was a dream to communicate with Keith that I wanted the max extension available (for more flexibility fully extended) without stretching the folds flatter, and still compress well into the folded space for storage (he managed to gain me a couple of extra pleats)...
Keith knew exactly what I wanted with his great communications, and the 2nd bellows he made for me (The first was for a Linhof Tek Iii, which is a tight fit, but fit perfectly!!!
That's my vote, price was only slightly higher, but shipping old bellows to the UK wasn't cheap, but overall worth it!!! And I believe that if you sell camera eventually, the premium bellows will be a $$$ selling point... And with some nice restoration of the camera, you will be glad you sprung for the nice bellows!!!
Steve K
I don't know about this Chinese bellows seller. Even though the camera is in bad condition, if you think it's good enough for a new bellows, I suggest getting good quality bellows once and for all, based on my experience:
A few years ago I bought an 8x10 2D bellows from Tokyophoto. The bellows looked good, but came up 5cm shy of full extension with the back rail. I pointed this out to them, and they offered a replacement if I sent the bellows back. They sent a new bellows, which they'd rushed to design. After that point they started mentioning "long version", and "short version". They had an 8x10 2D on hand, but it didn't have the extension rail so they were unaware (until I sent photos of their bellows installed on my camera) that their design was a little shorter than the original. The replacement bellows they sent were much longer, and looked ok at first but later lost shape badly. By the stage they'd lost shape in the big folds at the back I didn't want to pay to ship another set of bellow back to Japan but now wish I had. I felt like I was paying to be a product tester for them, and feel a bit fed up each time I look at that bellows. I should have....gone to Custom Bellows.
Long story short, don't buy a 2D bellows from Tokyophoto on eBay! I emailed them a while back pointing out my disappointment that they never made this situation right. No reply. This is the one time I've been let down by a Japanese vendor.
I hope the Chinese seller is good.
Custom Bellows are good, you get what you pay for. Keith understands the camera designs. A couple of years ago he pointed out a flaw in an idea I'd had (about a bag bellows), which saved me wasting money on something that might not have worked out. I recently got an 8x10 Plaubel bellows and a 5x7 Ansco bellows from them, they worked with me to get the bellows out in a short time frame while I was in the UK.
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