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Make an Isolette Bellows

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Bellows do not last for ever but Agfa Isolette ones are particularly prone to failing as they are generally made of a synthetic material with cracks and ‘pinholes’ now that they are around 50-60 years old.

There are a few places you can buy new bellows - but it is great fun to make your own. I so far have only made the bellows for my 4x5” homemade camera - but John Fyfe of Virginia, USA has very kindly allowed us to host the following PDF file which covers how to make tapered ones suitable for the Isolette:

Making_Bellows_for_Isolette.pdf

John has also pointed me in the direction of Daniel R. Mitchell’s website which has many interesting pages on camera repair including detailed descriptions of bellows manufacture for cameras in general. Well worth a read and complements John’s PDF file very well.

 

Having uploaded the above PDF, Adrian Pemsel very kindly emailed and offered 2 more PDF files which complement it. To quote Adrian:

I needed 2 tries (those  materials need to be really thin *g*) and because my hand drawn  templates were not accurate enough. Thus, for my second try I have  created nice templates as PDF files that can be printed directly to  thin cardboard in case of the stiffeners. I have attached the files to this mail, you may publish them on your website if you find them useful.”

Agfa Isolette Replacement Bellows L&C.pdf

Agfa Isolette Replacement Bellows Ribs.pdf

Thanks Adrian :-)

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