I have a question. I see people making bellows for their cameras.

Correct me if I am wrong,but it seems like a bit of work and hassle to make them.

I notice the Daguerreotype Camera is a box-in-box design, totaly eliminating the use of bellows.

I was wondering why the Daguerreotype Camera was replaced with the bellows style camera ?

Was it easier to focus with a bellows camera?

Did it make the camera less bulky and easy to handle?

Just wondering

Delta

less focal length range
fewer lens choices

www.guillorycameras.com

Bellows aren't that hard to make...you just have to choose the right materials and be very detail oriented or they won't fold right and will look bad. If you've got access to an old set that are trashed, take them apart and pay some attention to the thickness of the materials used to construct them. They weren't very complicated back then.

Having made a few bellows myself, I'd agree that it is a pain. Not really hard to do, but tedious. Unless you have a good reason for doing so (e.g., want to DIY at least one time, period correctness, etc.), I'd suggest just ordering one from someplace like Custom Bellows in the UK. They will cost more than materials you'd need for a personal project but then again, "time is money."

The use of Bellows in cameras started with the Lewis camera in 1856. It gave an added extension, and allowed a photographer to do one to one copies of a same sized dag plate. That was, after all, the only way to make a copy. Unless you plan to do macro, or one to one still life photography, the bellows just isnt needed with a camera of moderate format, the sliding box works just fine.

bellows can be a monster to make. there are many MANY wacky ways to make them...but the way I learned from my Father, who made his first in 1951, I feel is the best. but sorry, this is a 'trade secret'.

E and HT Anthony were total supporters of child labor. Most of the cases you see, the CDV and Stereo cards, were made by kids under 12. Theres no reason to doubt they were not also laying up bellows strips......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2012 04:56PM by Ray Morgenweck.

Here's a good overview:

[www.youtube.com]

trade secret?

you can make your own bellows better, than any of the manufactures
I have owned bellows from every company you could think of.

The best way to start is to make a 3/4 inch plywood project box, I did this without owning even a table saw.
I got home depot to cut the needed plywood, join with the corners inside
(this will be important later)
I bought card stock from dick blick for the staves. cover project box in plastic wrap.
next, I use Duvetyne cloth and a t-square with a fabric marker to make the template.
next glue the staves onto the cloth, when dry tack the covering on the project box, glue one side and wrap like a christmas present. when dry take the project box apart from the inside, fold bellows
Turner bellows quoted me $750 for the two bellows , My material costs for the two bellows was less than $100.















Edited 14 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2012 03:56PM by Richard Mellor.

yes, trade secret. But, Im in business making these things for nearly 15 years. Probably done at least 300 bellows.

Both sliding box and bellows cameras have their place for the reenacting photographer, itinerant photographers of the 1860 weren't lugging round 10"x 8" bellows cameras. Small sliding boxes were cheap, rugged and all that was need for a market demanding sixth and ninth plate tins or ambros.

I have both a half plate (US size) sliding box and a 10"x 8" Anthony style bellows camera and both have their uses.

My biggest gripe is with hardcore reenactors who will spend hours happyily discussing the minutest details of Union or Confederate gear but still insist on quarter or half plate tins when sixth and ninth plate or even gem size would be more "authentic".

Some dozen years ago I was inspired to attempt the black fingered art after being shown a beautiful gem size tin mounted in a CDV mat made by Claude Levet, although I have never come close to equaling the quality of that gem.



My sliding box with an 1862 Dallmeyer 2B.

Sean you are so correct regarding reenactors/vs. image size. You do have to keep in mind though that likenesses were done with the intent on sending them home. Just like today, and even more so if society did not demand photo IDs...who really ever carries a photograph of themselves? Certainly not troops in battle. I do think most of the sixth plate and ninth plate tins were taken and then sent home. Larger images could have been taken while on leave, or in a city. Anything larger than half plate would always be framed. CDVs were the rage during the CW and made sense for a soldier to do this since one sitting he could have cards to send to a lot of friends and relatives. CDV size tins were very very popular, but as far as I know, Im the only one who ever offered them (unless others took my advice on offering this size). The ends are clipped to let them slide into a folder or album. Very handy for sending....Gems, ahhh.....I have a really sweet four lens tiny lens setup that nests back into the camera, and makes four 3/4 inch round images. It has a septum. this is the size for the little potter patent mats, little fingernail size oval opening, embossed paper to border it...they are really nice....So I had Mike Stienle sit one day in his reb uniform and made up a dandy sample and trucked that around for the season and had NO takers on gems. Really weird.

as far as the bellows discussion, that video is very informative and presents a great way to make a small pyramid bellows. While the methods Mr. Mellor presented and in a similar fashion to what I do are great for making square or rectangular bellows, especially large bellows...these small ones, pyramids...they are NO fun. The manner in which the corners fold also precludes making these on a form. When done on a form there is a complex thickness/thinness thing between the stepping down dividers that makes my head hurt thinking about it. I frankly just avoid getting wrapped up in pyramid bellows...but have done that Monster that JC has and a few other big pyramids but ugh...its one of the things I shun off so I can keep my sanity.

Also, IF you have bellows on a camera and it is leaking light and has holes in it, but the cardboards are fairly stable....a lot of times the old glue can be separated and the covering removed. If you can do this, and lay it all flat, then its not too difficult to recover this using any manner of modern fabrics and either aerosol trim cement or stinky contact cement...doing it without a lot of wrinkles can be difficult, especially with the aresol. Helps to have a helper....but recovering can get you a new bellows outside, spray the inside well with flat black paint and let it all dry and you may be very happy with the results, for about $30.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2012 09:45AM by Ray Morgenweck.

Ray, the first photographic chamber with bellows known is that of Isidore Niepce in 1840.

Thanks Jacques for that clarification. But, for all practical purposes, Lewis introduced them.


[www.historiccamera.com]


In 1851, The Lewis introduced what is believed to be the first camera to incorporate a folding bellows (US patent no. 8513, 11 Nov. 1851), which was reputed to have been made from Mrs. Lewis' black taffeta dress. It was the first commercially produced bellows camera in the United States. On June 16, 1851 the daguerrian Journal described the camera improvement as :



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2012 05:42PM by Ray Morgenweck.

The Baron Pierre Armand Seguier (Montpellier, 3 juillet 1803 - Paris, 14 février 1876) presents his invention, a folding bellows camera obscura to the Academy of Sciences at Paris in 1839.

Well Jacques you certainly win the "who used the first bellows in photography" contest.



but, for all intent and purposes, the act of patenting an item in the United States of America and Mass Producing that item in a factory under patent is what I am referring to.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2012 09:10AM by Ray Morgenweck.

Turner bellows can make any bellows you want
They make bellows for modern cameras as well as antiques
they will make a bellow for deardorff cameras.
They quoted me $375 to make a tapered bellows for my 18x22 19th century mammoth plate camera.







Turner Bellows has been providing the photographic industry with re-manufactured bellows since 1935, and is also an OEM supplier for Bessler Enlargers. The material used, a black vinyl impregnated with neoprene, has a high life cycle (15-20 years). A matte finish will define the shape of the bellow. These two materials are laminated to a pattern which will define the shape of the bellows. The pattern is derived from the bellows to be replaced. If the bellows cannot easily be removed from the camera, the entire assembly may be shipped to us. Turner Bellows will provide the service of removing and installing the new bellows for an additional $50.00.

Because of the many makes and models of cameras that are being used today, bellows shapes and sizes may vary from application to application. For this reason, each bellows is custom made to fit the exact camera it was made for. Our normal lead-time is 2-3 weeks upon receipt of the bellows to be replaced.

Price is based on the size of the bellows to be replaced. General prices range from $95.00 to $375.00 (price includes shipping and handling). For specific pricing of your application please submit the form below, or e-mail us at sales@turnerbellows.com. We will respond to you with a price.

[www.turnerbellows.com]



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2012 09:51AM by Richard Mellor.

Here is a pic of Niepce's bellows camera

Best,

Dan
Antique & Classic Camera Blog



Edited 12 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2012 05:51PM by ccharrison.