It takes a little practice to make a perfect set of bellows. The material has to be 100% lightproof and of just the right weight to provide the necessary level of flexibility and support. The supporting ribs must also be sufficiently rigid, but not too thick, since there is also a third layer of liner to add. The three layers together have to compress comfortably so that they will bed down easily when the camera is closed.
The Agfa Isolette range is famous for the high quality of its Agnar, Apotar, and Solinar lenses. Even the cheapest of them provides phenomenally sharp images with a good level of contrast. Unfortunately they are also infamous for the poor materials used to make the original bellows. They suffer particularly badly in the corners where constant opening and closing over the years leave tiny pinholes that eventually widen into slits. This is equally true of the Ansco Speedex cameras since these were rebranded Agfas made for export. The bellows are easy to remove and replace, and given the quality of the lenses this is a worthwhile option.
Isolette I, II, or III or Ansco Speedex 6x6 bellows cost GBP £38.00. Agfa Record I, II, or III or Ansco Viking 6x9 bellows cost £48.00. Postage is an extra £10.00 for Royal Mail International Tracked in Europe, £11.00 for the rest of the world, or £4.00 for Tracked 24 within the UK - (May 2024).
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Isolette bellows are available in (from left to right) Black, Bronze, Brown, Blue, Burgundy, Green, and Red. The Agfa Record, the Mamiya Six, and some other classic MF folding cameras can have Black, Bronze, or Brown bellows.
For the Isolette and the Record, I include instructions on removing and fitting the bellows.
You can contact me here for further details ... sandehalynch AT yahoo DOT com
| Other bellows completed in the past: | ||
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| Carlton, 10x12 Star Camera, 10x12 Watson, 10x12 Agfa Ansco, 8x10 Deardorff Precision Studio, 8x10 Seneca, 8x10 Seroco, 8x10 Houghton Triple Victo, Whole Plate Asunama, Half Plate Agfa Ansco, 5x7 Conley, 5x7 Eastman Kodak 2D, 5x7 Eastman Kodak 33A, 5x7 Graflex Portrait, 5x7 Korona, 5x7 Rochester ROC, 5×7 Seneca, 5×7 Thornton Pickard, 5x7 Watson, 5x7 Linhof Technika III, 4x5 Plaubel Peko, 4x5 Toyo, 4x5 |
Meagher Tailboard, Quarter Plate |
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| Toyo 4x5 Long | Linhof Technika III |
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| Certo Dolly Super Sport | Hapo 66-E |
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| Rochester 5x7 | Conley, 3.25×5.25 |
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| Agfa-Ansco 8x10 | Asunama Half Plate |