Topic: Very happy Large format novice, questions

[Aksel]

Ended up with my first ever LF camera last night, Linhof Kardan Color 45s with Super Angulon 90/5.6 and Sironar 150/5.6.
The lenses needed a clean, can really recommend http://www.ror.net/ but turned out to have perfect glass and the shutter speeds sounds accurate.
The camera itself has seen better days and certainly need a new bellow and some tlc, but I can live with that - payed £110 for the lot, inc. pola back and 5x film holders.
The gent happened to have a nice Rolleiflex 3.5b "mx-evs"  and a mint pola 190 kit as well that he threw in for and extra £60.  Needless to say I walked away with a big grin on my face 

Now, to my point for this posting, not knowing anything about LF I need to gather knowledge. I know I could have googled it, but my trust in filmwasters knowledge is far greater. Could anyone advice me of where and what to read to gather the basic knowledge I need to get going?
Where do I buy a new a bellow and are bellows pretty much standard stuff, mainly differing in length, depending on what lenses one wants to use? 

Many thanks!

[KevinAllan]

I haven't used this company myself but there is a company called Custom Bellows, http://www.custombellows.co.uk/ , who supply, you've guessed it, custom bellows.

[LT]

Comgrats on your new camera(s).

 Our very own Sandeha Lynch makes bellows .... hopefully he'll chip in to the thread.

I've bought bellows on ebay from a chinese company before. I cant remember the sellers ID, but worth an ebay trawl I should think.

[Chalky]

I have some cambo 5x4 bellow that I might sell - would they fit? I bought them for a project but never needed them - they arej in fantastioc condition. I'm not a 5x4 user so not sure if they would be any good for you or not. happy to supply dimensions or pics if it helps. no problem if not.

can't believe you got a pola 190 for £60!! great find. wanna swop for the bellows? 

[sapata]

All that for £170.00?? What a bargain!...

As Leon mentioned before, Sandeha makes nice bellows Regarding advices please feel free to ask, my knoledge in LF is very basic but there's loads os experienced guys around here. My advice is that you start playing with the camera before shooting... like checking the focus system and camera movements. Also, find yourself a dummy 4x5 sheet film to practice loading in the darkslides

Few links might give you a more visual idea:

http://www.toyoview.com/LargeFrmtTech/lgformat.html
http://zo-d.com/stuff/photography/how-to-load-4x5-sheet-film-holders.html
http://manvision.blogspot.com.br/2009/01/loading-4x5-film-into-film-holder.html

[Paul Mitchell]

Nice haul! We're not jealous in the LEAST BIT!!!!

Hopefully Sandeha will be able help regarding the bellows but have heard good things about Custom Bellows.

There's quite a few of us that use LF so please ask away! When I first started I found "Using the View Camera" by Steve Simmons very helpful and a workshop with Joe Cornish and David Ward even more helpful!!

Paul

[Sandeha Lynch]

Nice haul, indeed.   

Evidently your bellows are a teensy bit beyond any reasonable use or repair.  A swap with an original branded bellows is an excellent idea, if, if you can be certain that the frame dimensions are identical and that the bellows are removable without damage to those frames.

Custom bellows do good work; I once bought from them ... note that they do charge VAT.  And on eBay you will surely find a cheaper Chinese copy that should work fine if you can fit them.  Accurate dimensions again, of course.

On the other hand, should you want screaming red, or polka dot, or bronze taffeta, or simple black, just mail me ... www.sandehalynch.com/isolette.htm  4x5 is £100 plus pp.   

[Francois]

What's important are the front and back sizes. This looks like a tapered bellow so both are different.

I have a few cheat sheets for the movements and lens selection.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/choosingalens.png
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/specialpurposelenses.png
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/27/viewcamera.png

These came out of the 1992 Calumet catalog

[Aksel]

I knew it! Many thanks to all of you.
Learned more here based on your kind input than the whole last week of lectures 

Turned out that the old gent I bought the lot from had another wide angle bellow. Have not seen it yet but he told me it was in good shape so I`ll wait and see how it is, if not I`ll have a plain black one pleas, Sandeha.
Also got the story on the Pola 190.  He used to take pictures for local car dealerships, and the pola was bought to be able to rush the pictures to the papers, but only used on very few occasions. The Rolleiflex was his first proper camera, bought new by him in the mid 50´s - he closed his buissniss in the mid 90´s and non of the equipment had seen any use since then.
Still got a big smile on my face, cant wait to try them out   

[Sandeha Lynch]

The wide angle bellows is probably a bag bellows - fantastically useful for short lenses, and they don't tend to suffer from pinholes too much.  It should be great for the 90mm, but you'll probably need a long bellows for the 150mm and for any close up work. 

Must be the season or something, but what you've paid for this little lot is exactly what I recently paid for a complete Hasselblad rig, or rather, what I paid for a complete overhaul since the camera was free.   

[Aksel]

Ahh,
I see. Will drop by the gent during the week to pick up the bellow. If I will be needing a bellow, are there bellows that work both for wide and up to let´s say short tele, in the region of 85-100mm 135 film  equivalent?

Hasse for free and cheap cool cameras, love this season! 

[Sandeha Lynch]

Mostly you'd look first at the full extension of your rail, and then consider how 'fat' the bellows are when compressed.  The bag bellows should see you good for anything shorter than that.  They will extend some way, but there's always a limit.

If you only have one pair of frames, you might as well go for the full length of your rail when you replace the bellows.

[Terry]

Aksel, you have scored in a big way.  I predict you will love shooting it.

[Aksel]

Aksel, you have scored in a big way.  I predict you will love shooting it.

Yea, once in a lifetime I suppose. Got a dog of an 195 and a Rolleiflex FX already so after testing the 190 and the 3.5b I intend to lend them out to friends.
The Linhof will stay with me 
Had a long walk with the 3.5b tonight, it feels way better than the FX in use, might just sell the FX and keep the old beater