Bellows creep into frame on Horseman 45FA when using 120mm lens – repair or replace?

[Jack_Luke]

I used to have a Horseman FA and found that with wider lenses I needed to pull the bellows forward to make sure they were not compressed inside the camera body or I had problems like yours—it quickly became second nature to do this and I considered this a quirk in an otherwise lovely camera. I also replaced the bellows for an unrelated issue and used one from ecbuyonline on ebay. It worked out very well. I had first talked to Camera Bellows in the UK, but they cannot make the proper bellows for this camera.

Thank you Richard, this is very helpful. Beyond glueing them in place on the rear standard, was the process of fitting the new bellows at all complex?

I hope re-shaping, perhaps gentle ironing and regluing will be enough to keep the original bellows going for a bit longer, but we shall wait and see.

The camera is indeed lovely. I bought mine (ours, technically – my partner is also a photographer) four or five years ago after university for a good price. It sat rarely used as I stopped shooting LF as my career moved away from photography. However, I have resolved to shoot more in 2023, and I'm off to a good start. Our recent acquisition of an Epson 10000XL for the price of a taxi home (!) feels too much like fate to ignore the call of the darkcloth.

[Sal Santamaura]

...I had first talked to Camera Bellows in the UK, but they cannot make the proper bellows for this camera.

Why not? Of course, the FA doesn't have user-interchangeable bellows, so Camera Bellows can't get you to send them an old one with frames to which they can attach a replacement. However, I find nothing special on my FA's bellows that Camera Bellows couldn't replicate.

[ic-racer]

The bellows on my FA were buggered near the lens stage by improper handling from prior owner. This did not show well in the ebay ad, but it has been 12 years and they just look bad but don't interfere with taking pictures. In your case, looks like unfortunately the bellows are causing issues. I tried re-folding mine and letting it sit for months, but they went back the way the were (punched in on the sides).

I think new bellows are impossible to find. All replacements I have seen have pleats about twice the size of the originals. I'd try whatever it takes to get the original bellows to fold better.

[Richard Wasserman]

The bellows I bought were very similar in pleat size to the original. Camera Bellows as I remember either didn't have thin enough material or couldn't do the small pleats—it was a number of years ago and I'm not quite sure.

The replacement bellows were installed by Bob Watkins at Precision Camera Works.

[Jack_Luke]

...All replacements I have seen have pleats about twice the size of the originals. I'd try whatever it takes to get the original bellows to fold better.

I assume this is because the larger pleats may interfere with my ability to use the full range of movements?

[ic-racer]

The bellows I bought were very similar in pleat size to the original. Camera Bellows as I remember either didn't have thin enough material or couldn't do the small pleats—it was a number of years ago and I'm not quite sure.

The replacement bellows were installed by Bob Watkins at Precision Camera Works.

Can you post a picture of the replacement bellows.

[Tin Can]

https://dynatect.com/product/protect...ustom-bellows/

[smigol]

I replaced the one on my 45FA with the bellows from etone photo.

Tricky part was removing the inserts that hold the back standard. There are little springs inside them and lucky I did not lose them.

Best trick found on the internet was to use a set of right angle ring clip pliers to get into the inserts.

New Bellows by Stephen Migol, on Flickr


Also, don't be like me and install them upside down.

[Vaughan]

The b+w image in the original post shows the vignetting at the bottom, so it must be the TOP of the bellows interfering.

[Jim Noel]

That is plain old bellows sag. The top of the bellows is in this image, not the bottom.
Simple, cheap solution - place a sponge under the bellows to hold it up. I've had todo this for at least half of the 8x10's I've owned.