Topic: Polaroid land camera Bellows

[Alan]

My 250 is suffering from sagging inner lining of the bellows.

It sometimes shows on some images if its really bad.

Has anyone changed the bellows of their land camera?

[Chalky]

I have changed a couple of sets, it's not too bad a job, can be a bit fiddly but should be OK.

for the lower quality pack film cameras it can be as easy to buy a new one, but for the 250 it is worth doing...

if I remember rightly the bellows are connected at the shutter end with 3 or 4 small phillips screws, and at the camera end with metal clips and a foam seal between the body and the edge of the bellows.  I think that's it if I remember correctly?

can be a bit fiddly to get the body end back on tidily with no leaks.

[Alan]

Thanks Matt,

I'll give it a go, if I can pick up a cheap lesser model as a doner.

[Chalky]

is it only bellows you need?

unfortunately I don't have any spares (only ones I have are the ones I have replaced as they are full of holes or sagging) but I am sure someone here would have...

[Alan]

Yea only the bellows Matt! thanks

i was on ETSY.com and there are tonnes of land cameras there
ranging from cheap to not so!

I actually happened across a 450 for about €50.00 + delivery.

might be better than spending €20 or so and using a couple of
hours fiddling with the 250 . . .

[Chalky]

another option is buying a cheap donor and taking the whole front off the 250 and adding to the donor, but that is also work.

changing bellows is certainly do-able and a nice little project (if you like that kind of thing) - are there no thrift stores near you with really cheap pack cameras? that would be ideal.

[Alan]

Hi matt - i have no problem doing the job and would be able

there are 'charity' shops here but never any cameras its all clothes, books and to a lesser extent household goods.

One of the problems here in ireland is our population, its too small @ 4.7million, so almost everything i need regarding film photography has to be imported. ireland has and in some cases still is a small market.

When i was rebuilding a motorbike last year, used parts were impossible to get here, but no problem getting them from the uk ... :-

Sent from my HUAWEI U8815 using Tapatalk 2

[Chalky]

ahh fair point

I just checked the spare ones I have but ended up binning them as they are totally ruined.

hopefully someone here has some they can donate

[Alan]

i had a brain-wave . . .

i made a box shaped "spring" to fit inside the bellows
to help retain the shape of the inner material to that
of the shape of the bellows or in plain english,
to stop it from sagging! 

it works great, took about 30 minutes.

The images show below how the inside of the bellows
is kept "square" both folded and in the open position
but the outside when folded does not retail its original
fold. the image #02 shows where the material had been sagging.

I taped the ends of the wire spring to prevent them
wearing the material.

It'll do for the short term.