Western Bellows Phone Number

[Scott Sharp]

I just picked up my completed bellows from Western Bellows for my Seneca Whole Plate camera and Jim did a beautiful job. Very professionally done. A new bellows really gives an old view camera a new lease on life. My Seneca WP should be good for another 80 years of service.

My experience with Western Bellows. Communication was a little hit and miss at times but Jim eventually got back to me. Jim is perhaps working somewhat slower, but definitely completing orders. The quality of his work is well worth the wait. See attached pics.

[David Karp]

Looks great Scott. From experience, I think you will be very happy with it.

I see you did not have him try to connect the metal "supports" for use when the bellows is extended. Good choice.

Enjoy.

[Scott Sharp]

Thanks for your post Dave. As you know Seneca was very proud of their (Bellows Retainer patented Nov. 2, 1905.) These bellows support arms are supposed to keep the bellows from sagging. I have them attached on my 8 x 10 Seneca and they don’t really help anything. Best advice is to disengage them if an when you have new bellows made for your vintage Seneca. These support arms do mark the difference between the earlier Seneca View Camera (without the support hardware) and the Improved Seneca View (with the support hardware). I left the support arm hardware on the camera and simply wired them out of the way.

The whole plate (6 ½ x 8 ½ ) Seneca has a whopping 26 inches of bellows extension with the second bed in place. And the camera is reasonably rigid at full extension. I’m still looking at replacing some of the 3/8 inch screws in the rear standard hardware with ½ inch or longer screws for increased rigidity. The camera is very lightweight at
7 ½ pounds for the format size.

Here are the specs for the four Improved Seneca View Cameras from the
1918 Seneca Catalog.
Size of camera: 5 x 7 Length of draw: 23 ½ inches Weight: 6 ½ lbs.
Size of camera: 6 ½ x 8 1/2 Length of draw: 26 inches Weight: 7 ½ lbs.
Size of camera: 8 x 10 Length of draw: 30 inches Weight: 10 ½ lbs.
Size of camera: 11 x 14 Length of draw: 39 ½ inches Weight: 18 ½ pounds

[David Karp]

Here is some more information: www.fiberq.com/cam/seneca/sennew.htm

It is really cool that you have the extension rail. I was disappointed because I come close to picking one up once and missed it (assuming that it would work with my camera). I had Jim make the bellows assuming I might find a rail one day.

In the meantime, I made an extension lensboard for it that allows me to use a 450mm Fuji C (see below).

[Scott Sharp]

Dave, that website you gave the link to is one of the best sources on vintage American view cameras out there. I don't know how that guy managed to assemble that wealth of information, but he did a great job.

I can sympathize with your wanting an extension rail. I am missing the rear rail on my
5 x 7 Seneca. Last December I purchased a parts camera on that auction site advertised as a 5 x 7 Seneca with the extension rail. Much to my surprise when I opended up the package out came a WP Seneca camera instead. With cleaning and a new bellows I think it will be a good camera.

The extension rail for the WP Seneca body almost fits the 5 x 7 body but not quite. Things don't quite line up right. So I am still searching for that 5 x 7 rear rail.

Your solution for a telephoto lens looks great. And your camera looks to be in nice shape. Good looking set of bellows by the way.

[David Karp]

Yes, it is in nice shape. I bought it from Jim Galli. As advertised, it needed a lube and cleanup, and the old bellows were a bit stiff but usable so long as you covered them with a darkcloth to be safe. The new bellows are much nicer, and allow the camera to easily compress for folding up. I used some spray dry lube on the gears and tracks, and they move very easily.

Funny thing about my extension. If you visit the Yosemite visitors center, they have a photo of someone making a photo in Yosemite with an old camera. It has a gizmo on the end of it that looks just like my extension lensboard.

[Michael Carter]

Hello Scott,
Did you send your complete camera to have the bellows installed or did you install them yourself? Thanks.
Michael

[Scott Sharp]

Michael,

I took the bellows off the camera and took them up to Western Bellows. When I got the bellows back, mounted on the wooden frames, I temporarily put the bellows back on the camera to take the photos and to see how they fit. I've subsequently taken the bellows back off to finish more work on the camera. There are eight screws front and back holding the wooden bellows frames to the camera body.

You can do it both ways. Either send just the bellows in and specify to have the new bellows mounted on the wooden frames which Jiim does for a small fee. Then mount the new bellows unit back on the camera yourself.

Or you can send the whole camera in and have Jim make the new bellows, mount them onto the wooden frames and re-install the whole bellows unit back into your camera. There is a small labor charge for that also.

[David Karp]

Michael,

As Scott said, you can go either way. I brought the entire camera to Jim, and he removed the old bellows and installed the new ones. He did a very nice job.

[Mike Herring]

Jim did an excellent job on the bellows for my Sinar P 8x10.
I believe he had experienced some health issues and it took a while for him to finish the work.
We should do our best to support people like Jim. We live in an age where there are very few craftsmen anymore. Especially people that will repair large format "film cameras".
I wish you Good Light,
Mike