Home  1: Introduction and research  2: Basic parts and materials 
3: Initial test box  4: Framework mockup  5: Designing lens and aperture mount 
6: Designing camera back and film holder  7: Design tweaks  8: Film holder construction 
9: Camera back construction  10: Camera aperture failure  11: Camera aperture success 
12: Camera back framework  13: Camera shutter  14: Ground glass 
15: Camera front framework  16: Bellow test 

CHAPTER 16: BELLOW TEST

I have made quick attempt on the bellow and constructed a simple mount for the whole camera out of lego. I will iterate the bellow to start with and then the mount. But it´s fun to see all the parts arranged and working together now.

Camera temporary mount.

The problem with my bellow is that it dont fold or bend as i want it to. The ends of the bellow was made by the same cardboard as the rest of the camera and slides into the back slot of the front element and the front slot in the back. Although it foldes alright horizontally its pretty stiff and pushes the front back out when the focusing ocntrol is released and the bellow is compressed to much. The materials used for the bellow are a thinner type of cardboard for the internal support structure which i will paint black in the end probably. The outer layer is lightproof cloth normally used for curtains.

The problems with bending and folding probably comes from the fact that the bellow ended up being pretty short. As i´m using a 100mm lens it cant be longer. I´m thinking of getting a 200mm lens element instead. That way i can make a slightly longer bellow and if built from slightly thinner materials it should work as i want it to. I need to look at how the support structure is made as well to make sure the bellow ends can be shifted from each other.

Camera bellow.

Camera bellow closeup.

Stay tuned for the next part!

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