How To: Camera Bellows

[@chrisgriffith1573]

Making a bellows larger or tapered, is easy when you use the sectional method you described, but, glue the flat spaces of the paper together with elmers or wood glue. Do not glue into the seams where the corners (or edges) are, as they need to stay mobile. One dot of glue into the middle of each stripe on the overlaps will do. That makes the tapered bellows easy to produce with multiple sheets of paper. You can also stiffen the bellows by spraying on Krylon Crystal Clear, making it much more resistant to water, too.

[@BboyGraphicx]

Thank you, here we go, it's bellows time!

[@maxbennedbk7085]

man! i know i havent watched 100% of the video maybe like 70% but im already making my own bellow. i hope more people like you aper on the internet in soon future :D'

[@ImperfectPhotography]

Thank you, that was really interesting and very informative. I can’t wait to try it out. Here comes my first home build large format camera :-)

[@alejandroroman3354]

Excelente muchisimas gracias, ha sido de gran utilidad ver su video!!!!! voy a intentar fabricarme una !!!!!! hacía tiempo que tenía ganas de encarar un proyecto de este tipo,, nuevamente vuelvo a agradecer por las aclaraciones que hace!!!!!

[@dariuszradej1077]

thank you very much!. Thanks to this inspiration, I've made myself do my own bellow to the camera I have just engineered! :-)

[@lucas3417]

Hey from your last video your negatives look different from regular film and I was wondering what paper you were using

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I think this was Arista RC grade 2, from Freestyle Photo.

[@marksamson7058]

I am tempted to try making a bellows using spray-on Flex Seal rubber sealant to coat the paper bellows instead of using tape. It would be easier. Of course, one wonders how flexible and long-lasting it will be.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

That's a really good idea. Although in my paper bellows the gaffer tape holds the paper together.

[@theedorbs]

You're a maniac, Joe!

[@lawrencedanso-amoako]

Oh. I like this. You have made my day. Rather my night.

[@andre1k28]

Thank You! Well Explained, Great info!

[@japboon310]

For the love of creating . . . . RESPECT!

[@gregfeneis609]

Thanks, JVC. Very interesting!

[@rachelhouldridge9191]

This was perfect, thanks!

[@chrisgriffith1573]

Well, that is a lot easier than I anticipated. I thought I'd be glueing canvas to shims, then overlapping them into a final position, having to get each section right... wheh, this is a breeze!

[@Karvillesanti]

Very helpful, thanks so much!!

[@BobSmith-dx9bj]

That is a very tedious job! I think I would buy a bellows before going through that.

[@realtidydesign]

I've made several bellows now but always find that the connecting edges always want to bend inward, making a distorted edge, how do you get around this?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

My bellows use a single layer of material (in this case black paper) plus tape, so there's less material to bend.

[@realtidydesign]

@@Joe_VanCleave - im only using paper card. but when i bend the open ends they for want of a better worrd over bend when the folds are compressed. Im guessing its beeter to stick them in place when flat then when compressed. ( i was using glue rather than tape

[@leonardlambshead4586]

I bought a bellows to do macro Photography Hooked up to my Nikon D3100 and my 18-55 DX Nikkor lens and it said lens not connected to CPU can you help me.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Your D3100 needs electrical connections to autofocus lenses to operate properly. If your bellows doesn't have those connections built in, you can only use it with manual focus Nikkor film camera lenses.

[@pedromeza2398]

Original bellows of old were made from Seal skin, due to its flexibility and natural color..

Great explained!

[@entity9742]

Imitation leather, cardstock paper, spray adhesive, and poly cotton double layered makes a decent set of bellows

[@Joe_VanCleave]

The challenge with a bellows for a 20" x 24" camera is the stiffeners need to be much stiffer than cardboard, due to the size. Stay tuned!

[@entity9742]

@@Joe_VanCleave sorry for the long response but for a 20x24 camera you could use a very thin wood framing for making the bellows more sturdy and as for the material ive found that layering 2 sets of craft wrapping paper and some permanent vynil mask it does make it light tight and super sturdy Now as for keeping the bellows from folding downward from the weight the only real way to keep that from happening is a support for the bellows every few segments you see it sag Ive not done much repair on bellows but ive repaired a few 122 cameras using paper bellows with a vynil mask to keep them more sturdy as i do take these out in the feild and it does sometimes rain and it holds up quite well provided you dry them afterwards

[@oyw.nipawan8477]

Super cool!!

[@urbanimage]

Interesting video.

[@kaleyhepp8078]

Thank you sir!

[@monmioamio]

Respect!

[@edgeblending4015]

thank's