Pardon my bragging... It's taken a while, but I finally got my Folmer & Schwing 12x20 together. The old bellows was all but shot, so I had Camera Bellows make a new one. Except on these cameras it's two because there's an auxiliary bellows up front for the tilt. It didn't seem right to replace just the main bellows, so I had them make both. It was pricey, but they did an excellent job and the new bellows fits perfectly. While the bellows was out I modified the back to take S&S holders, something Folmer & Schwing cameras don't naturally do. The wood was cleaned up and waxed with Renaissance wax. A transition board was made to go between the tripod head and the camera. Even though the Ries head has a fairly large platform, the camera balances better by using the board which shifts it back a few inches. The front extension is supported by the board and the setup is solid. Small rails run the length of the board on the bottom to keep it aligned with the head. Rails along the edges keep the camera aligned so it doesn't twist. The ground glass was replaced with one from Steve Hopf (photofixation or Brilliant Ground Glass on Ebay). Steve did a great job. He got the measurements right on. The new glass is a major improvement over the old one.
The lens shown is a 405mm Kodak Portrait. Primary lens is a 450 M-Nikkor. Another lens board is set up with a lens chuck (iris lens mount) so I can use some interesting wide angles - a couple of Protar V's and a Scientific EWA. Now just to get a room with some dark in it so I can develop film...
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Originally Posted by Patrik Roseen
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