Astragon 360mm f/4.5: What do I have here?

[Bernice Loui]

Camera appears to be a Sinar P with Sinar shutter..

The standard Sinar rail is about 12" long. Add on Sinar rails come in 6", 12" 18" as the most common varieties. To make this 8x10 outfit more compact to transport, use the standard 12" rail for the complete camera then add 6" rails as many as needed, or a single 12" rail, or again as many 6" with 12" rails in combo as needed. The 18" rail is a hassle to travel with unless there is a real need for a single rail that long.

Shorter bellows is often a liability instead of any advantage as the bellows simply packs down compressed. Often the need for more bellows length appears forcing and resulting in frustration with not enought..... bellows lenght.


Bernice

I'd like to find some shorter bellows/rails as well.

[Vaughn]

That's a bit of bellows for a portrait with a 35" lens!

[gordi]

It does have quite a bit of extension (and I think two of the 18” rails, too lazy to find a tape measure now) and I’ve played with the 35” RDA on it, unfortunately my lighting wasn’t good enough for a subject to sit still long enough at f/22 at night but thankfully I’m mostly shooting Fuji HR-U xray film so a couple wasted sheets isn’t a big deal. (OM-1 for scale for friends of mine who haven’t seen even a 4x5 speed before)

Also, the friend who inherited the kit stored it poorly and the bellows are creased real bad, but still light tight. I’ve had trouble locating Sinar P bellows that extend this much, even aftermarket ones. Is this the normal amount of draw on one of these or am I going to need something a bit more custom when I inevitably replace these?

[Mark Sampson]

For long extensions with a Sinar it's common to use an "intermediate standard" which attaches to the rail, and two sets of bellows. This method also helps to eliminate the "sagging bellows vignetting" problem.
That's quite a setup you have already- best of luck!

[Bob Salomon]

For long extensions with a Sinar it's common to use an "intermediate standard" which attaches to the rail, and two sets of bellows. This method also helps to eliminate the "sagging bellows vignetting" problem.
That's quite a setup you have already- best of luck!

And also a second tripod block to eliminate rail flexing.

[Bernice Loui]

Another way..

Sinar being a modular system, use one to as many aux or sinar standards (front or rear), bellows and rail as needed to produce camera and bellows extension as needed. This will stop the belllows sag from using two camera standards with a long bellows. Saggy bellows can produce problems of their own. Example below with a 30" APO ronar on a 5x7 Sinar.. Move the rig as needed to balance the weight of the rig over the Sinar rail clamp, this will significatly aid in camera stability and reduction in vibration sensitivity.



Some long Sinar humor..







As for replacement bellows, Sinar made several varaints for their 8x10 camera backs, Norma, meter back, non-meter back and... They are not interchangable as they are for 4x5 and 5x7. The 4x5 and 5x7 bellows are interchangable between Norma to the last version of P2 with no sensitivity to meter or non-meter back. If a replacement bellows is needed and the bellows frames are in good condition, have Custom Bellows in the UK make a replacement as needed. They can customize the bellows as needed.
http://www.custombellows.co.uk


Might consider strobe lighting to achieve an exposure aperture of f22 instead of constant lighting. This will likely require a few kilowatt/seconds (set up and light modifier dependent) of strobe power. Don't forget to add belows factor to the actual exposure aperture.. If the 360mm Astragon is used at an exposure aperture of say f8, the lighting requirements will change significantly. This is where the Sinar shutter's top speed of 1/60 could become an issue and where netrual density filters can be a really helpful friend..


Bernice

It does have quite a bit of extension (and I think two of the 18” rails, too lazy to find a tape measure now) and I’ve played with the 35” RDA on it, unfortunately my lighting wasn’t good enough for a subject to sit still long enough at f/22 at night but thankfully I’m mostly shooting Fuji HR-U xray film so a couple wasted sheets isn’t a big deal. (OM-1 for scale for friends of mine who haven’t seen even a 4x5 speed before)

Also, the friend who inherited the kit stored it poorly and the bellows are creased real bad, but still light tight. I’ve had trouble locating Sinar P bellows that extend this much, even aftermarket ones. Is this the normal amount of draw on one of these or am I going to need something a bit more custom when I inevitably replace these?