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clnfrd · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 12:25 am Post subject:

I encounter the darndest things! I recently bought my 2X3 Crown Graphic....beautiful camera in apparently excellent condition. I thought the bellows looked a little odd...like new, but the folds appeared too severe. I shot a roll of 120 with a Graphic 23 roll film holder, and after processing found that the skinny bellows are shadowing the coverage at each end. I'm only getting about 6X7cm coverage...not the full 6X9. As I want this to be my number one camera...really like the body shutter release..what should I do? Just shoot 6X7? I have an RH10...but would like to get full coverage. Fred.

[ This Message was edited by: clnfrd on 2003-03-12 16:26 ]

bertsaunders · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 9:26 am Post subject:

This is an odd one, would think that it would have to be a replacement bellows, as it would not be feasable that the factory would have installed an oddball bellows!! The bellows is easy to change on the Pace models, providing your hands arent as big as boxing gloves...Lustig is probably your best bet for a replacement!! Bert

clnfrd · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 1:30 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Bert. The bellows cannot be original. Although enough material was used to attach to the camera body, I count only 7 total folds whereas my Century has 8. This makes the folds too deep, restricting the image size. Replacement is the only cure if I want 6X9 coverage. Strangely, the top and bottom is not restricted...only the sides. I'll give Lustig a call. Fred.

clnfrd · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 3:21 pm Post subject:

Boy, do I feel stupid.

I decided to see how the bellows are installed, and, in the process, I racked them out as far as they would go..folded the stops down...pulled the lens standard as far as it would go...and heard something come unstuck. It appears the rear of the bellows were stuck together creating the masking effect on the sides. The coverage is ok now...I should have checked it more thoroughly before posting the problem. The bellows looked so new I jumped to conclusions. Fred.

bertsaunders · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 8:11 pm Post subject:

Well thats one mystery solved, just pull it out all the way, and the magic happens! haha Glad it turned out so easy for you! (and you would have really felt bad if you had it all torn down, before you discovered it was ok!) Bert

clnfrd · Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2003 10:02 pm Post subject:

I'll try to investigate a problem more thoroughly in the future. But, then, I guess there's a possibility others may encounter this problem. It pays to exercise the bellows occasionally. Fred.

alecj · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 853 Location: Alabama

" I'll try to investigate a problem more thoroughly in the future."

Hey, no fair! We LOVE to jump to conclusions here. Facts just get in the way. Man, we've got solutions here for problems NOBODY has ever had yet!

RichS · Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 2:48 am Post subject:

I'd even bet there's solutions floating around here for problems that don't even exist

I did enjoy the whole discourse though and think it will deffinitely help someone down the line. I'd have no doubt it's happend to someone before and will happen again. At least now there a place for that person to look up the answer before they pay to have their bellows replaced...

clnfrd · Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2003 10:24 pm Post subject:

Okay, Alecj, just holler "conclusions" and I'll jump. If you want weird problems, I'm your guy. Murphy's Law is my credo...and I'm stickin' to it!!

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2146 Location: New Jersey

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

"I'm only getting about 6X7cm coverage...not the full 6X9. As I want this to be my number one camera...really like the body shutter release..what should I do? Just shoot 6X7? I have an RH10...but would like to get full coverage. Fred."

Just curious. Why shoot 6x9? Do you do your own printing?

_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

clnfrd · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2003 12:56 pm Post subject:

Les...I shoot 6X9 (2-1/4"X3-1/4") because that's what I have. It's just a nostalgia thing...it's what I shot to make spending money in High School in the 50's. And I enlarge to either 5X7" or 8X10", all B&W just as a hobby in my retirement years. Actually, 6X7 is more proportionate for 8X10's...and I do shoot 6X7 with an RH10. I shoot a lot of 120 film. I always have cleaner results. It seems that no matter how hard I try to prevent it, the cut film is a magnet for dust. I think it may become charged with static electricity when the dark slide is pulled. Fred.