Having tackled the base and the front standard, next in line is the back standard and that means attacking the bellows first! Having already detached them from the front standard, and made the decision that, although they seemed light tight, they were going, I proceeded to cut them off with scissors as close to the back as I could. Seems sacrilegious but it saved having them flopping about while I was trying to detach them fully.
From the back you may just make out a couple of tiny screws, these hold what is commonally known as the bellows frame in place. In this camera there are two on each side, 8 in total. Removed, the frame came out with reasonable ease, and that’s a good thing as it’s much easier to re-use one than it is to make a new one!
With the frame out, and most of the old bellows cut away it was reasonably easy to remove the last bit. The previous owner had tack nailed them in place, some came away easy, some needed a little more pursuation, but eventually I got them all out and could lightly sand down the frame. This I’ll paint matt black, as I re-install it.
So that’s it – bellows gone! The back standard is now free for me to clean up. Now the first major question! I have a set of 5×4 bellows sat doing nothing, so do I use those and turn this into a working 5×4, or do I splurge some cash and buy a new set of 5×7 bellows??
S.H.O.U.T. 