Using a Nikon bellows on a digital camera

[@oldfilmguy9413]

Excellent presentation!

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@oldfilmguy9413 Thank you.

[@ronaldsand3000]

Thanks so much for the brief tutorial on the use of bellows and accessories

[@robertfrederico6405]

Great video. I have used my bellows attachment with D7100 and Fuji xt2 to digitize old slides and stereo images dating back into the 50s.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you

[@jean-claudemuller3199]

The PB4 can also be automatic when mounting the BR-4 special Nikon aperture control ring between the front of the bellows and the lens. This ring has a remote release thread for the Nikon double cable remote release. One model Nikon remote release AR-7 has two mechanical cables, one for the cameras with a mechanical remote release and one for the aperture control ring Another model Nikon remote release AR-10 has one mechanical release for the aperture control ring and another 2 pins electrical release cable for older film cameras with motor drives. A Nikon adapter MC-25 changes the 23 pins connector to a modern 10 pins Nikon connector that is compatible with Nikon DSLR's thats how I use the PB6 in automatic on the D850

[@blackrichard1029]

Nicely described. Thank you!

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@blackrichard1029 Thank you.

[@khanscombe619]

@ 14:40 for installing w/ a grip in the way, at least on a PB-6 I know of w/ F4 (MB-20 grip). Position the bellows in is vertical (portrait) position then mount body and rotate back to horizontal if the PB-4 has that option. I want 1 now for the tilt shift. D3/4 will need extension PK ring for batter base.

[@m.ellingson1421]

Thanks for the tips, Jules. I've been meaning to try my D750 on my PB-6, and i think i'll probably have to use the extension tube trick to get it mounted. Cheers!

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you. Let me know how it works out.

[@chrisegonmusic]

Did you end up trying this? Also wanting to try it on a d750

[@Narsuitus]

How well does the PB-4 bellows work for focus stacking?

[@DavidBrown-if8vn]

The scheimpflug principle. I haven't heard that since large format classes in college. This video says it more times than I've heard it mentioned in class. It would make it a challenge if playing a drinking game where the cue is saying scheimpflug principle. 📷 🍺

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Yes, not the easiest word to pronounce. Thanks for watching,

[@khanscombe619]

This looks fun. I have a set gifted to me I wanna try. What's your take on a Novoflex 105mm f4 bellows F? is it enough area for good tilt or infinity focus likes its Nikon version? What are some examples of the wide center area enlarger lenses you used? I may have some. I realized I have PB-6 w/o shift/tilt. Wasn't there an extension tilt piece for PB-6?

[@Eyeofdajjal]

Is it advisable to use the PB-4 in vertical position, to be able to use the tilt/shift function for product photography?

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Excellent question. I've never tried it that way, but I think it will work. I'll try to get around to testing that over the next few weeks. Thanks for watching.

[@Eyeofdajjal]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 that would be fantastic! I‘ve got my eye on a used one, I just want to make sure buying it makes sense and the lateral stress won’t damage the rails. Thanks for creating!

[@ernie5229]

If your grip hits the bellows to prevent mounting but you don't want to add extension tubes, try rotating the bellows mount 90 degrees before mounting the camera. It worked for my Nikon D5300.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you. Good advice.

[@oscarlopez2052]

Hello sir, thanks for sharing this information, it's very good. I have a question, I can't connect Nikon PB5 bellows to my Nikon D810 because of the camera grip which is very thick. My question is, can I use a Nikkor M2 extension tube directly on the camera to gain some space between the bellows mount or do you think the mirror will be damaged? Because the M2 tube seems to be a bit long on the rear part and I'm a bit scared that the mirror might be damaged by touching the part that goes inside the camera. Thanks for your help. I await your response.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@oscarlopez2052 The M2 will mount fine. However it will give you 27.5 mm of extension. A shorter tube will also give you enough clearance to mount the bellows.

[@oscarlopez2052]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 thankyou sir i dont have another tube and i want to use the bello es to scan negatives do you think it will be ok this wey . Thanks again .

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@oscarlopez2052 Yes. What lens will you be using.

[@oscarlopez2052]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 I am looking to purchase an enlarger lens probably the Nikkor 50mm 2.8 or Rodagon 50mm 2.8 and I will attach it to the end of the bellows and so I will get a plane to plane surface scan thankyou so much

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@oscarlopez2052 You may want to consider a longer focal length enlarger lens. Because of the longer extension tube you may be too close to what you are shooting.

[@Owenwithee]

When you say that the 105mm Short Mount lens that was made for this bellows, can focus to infinity, does this mean I can use it as a non-macro lens? What are the potential drawbacks of that lens before I decide to purchase one.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

It can only be used with the bellows and it has a pre set manual diaphragm. It is designed for best performance at close distances. Also it’s not very convenient to hand hold a lens on a bellows so it should be used on a tripod.

[@Owenwithee]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 Right. What I was wondering is if I could use it as a traditional tilt/shift lens for portraiture. I bought a PB-4 20 years ago when I was doing a macro project and couldn't fit it to my digital camera (so thanks for clearing that up!) and the lack of information lead me to believe it could only be used with a specialty lens. So it sat in a case ever since. The thing is in absolute mint condition, and thanks to you I'm going to start using it next week!

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@Owenwithee it has very limited tilt and shift. I never heard of using tilt and shift for portraits.

[@oldpothead420Photography]

Thanks for this video. I just picked up a PB4, may I ask do you know who makes a adapter to add a Nikon Z mount lens to the Bellows? I have a Z mount 2x Macro that I want to use on the Bellows. Any help greatly appreciated.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

There is no adapter to use Z mount lenses to F mount. There is no mechanical aperture ring on Z mount lenses, so there will never be a way to use them on F mount cameras, bellows or extension tubes.

[@johnrflinn]

PB-4 Bellows has shift and swing unlike other models.

[@minarimon3106]

Can we tilt and shift instead of swinging right, left using any kind of bellows ??

[@sophietucker1255]

When using the bellows do you use the lens to refine focus or just set focus anywhere you want and then use the focusing rails on the bellows. Infinity or the closest focus or does it even matter

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

It does matter a little. If you have the lens set for its closest focus distance you have more extension. But the best way to focus when in the macron range is by moving the entire assembly back and forth using the bottom focus rail on the bellows.

[@iainb1577]

Nice video Jules. It made me wonder if Nikon have ever made a lens with the elements in an arrangement to mimic a reversed macro lens. It also made me wonder where my bellows unit is.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

I don’t think they ever made a reversed macro, but I think it’s a great idea.

[@iainb1577]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 Thanks.

[@Pierceb2]

Agree, second great video of his I watched today. I used mine for slide copying before the ES-2 came out. Also because of the small depth of field you could use focus stacking on three dimensional subjects etc. in a digital photo editor.

[@mattdyer9544]

I know they made a bellows specific 135mm lens (and possibly more for specialist applications) that was 'optimised' for macro work. What specific technical specs this optimization was I have no idea

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@mattdyer9544 there was also a 105 bellows lens.

[@arunsharma8405]

Thank you. I have the PB 4 and your suggestion for the BR 3 was great!!

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Thank you for watching

[@sparkeyjames]

I'd like to point out that using the BR-3 and a reversed 24mm is not advisable at full 10x magnification as the working distance from the lens element is right around 10mm. The BR-3 sticks out a little over that. I have both the PB-6 and the PB-4 With the PS-4 copy attachment and all the rings nikon offered.

[@jean-claudemuller3199]

No problem to mount a DSLR with grip without extentions. When I mount my D850 on the PB-4 I have just to go completely at the rear with the camera mount plate and turn the "rotating back" to vertical before mounting the camera. Once the body in place I return to a normal bellows setting. A use the bellows a lot with the slide/film copy attachment to scan 35 mm film with the D850.

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

You are correct. Thank for the clarification.

[@jean-claudemuller3199]

one important point to optimise lens sharpness performance on the bellows is to know if the lens has FLE (floating lens elements), if yes if they are manual or automatic. If the lens doesn't have FLE no problem If the lens has manual FLE (like my Sekor C 80mm Macro) the ring has to be brought to Macro position If the lens has manual FLE the focus ring has to be brought in macro position

[@jean-claudemuller3199]

I just read in a Nikon information article for the AIS 55 Micro 2.8, that its automatic FLE system flattens the field curvature at minimum focus distance, what's necessary with wide open apertures. They also say that for more closed apertures (perhaps f:8 or smaller) FLE correction no more matters. This means that for typical macro apertures of f:8 or smaller with the 55 micro, what I said in this post no more matters.

[@andreak4280]

🌟🌟🌟👍🏼👍🏼 TY!

[@bgrzesiak5996]

NOTE: You forgot to mention the setup you have here can NOT focus to infinity with a Nikon bellows lens, as you added extension tubes to mount the camera body on the PB-4!!!

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

@@bgrzesiak5996 You are correct.

[@johnrflinn]

PB-4 is the goat.

[@user-ve3gh5xg9q]

I use Pentacon gear to macro

[@julesvuottosphotofocus4696]

Is the Pentacon M42 screw mount?

[@user-ve3gh5xg9q]

@@julesvuottosphotofocus4696 Yes. Blue color