Arca-Swiss wide angle bellows question

Besides the difference in price (which is staggering) can any of you

Arca-Swiss owners comment further on the leather versus synthetic

wide angle bellows? I've read a lot of history discussing the

difference in range of lenses each will accommodate, and the

differences in range of movement. The main question I have is can

the synthetic remain on the camera as the primary bellows as easily

as the leather? What I'd really like to do is keep the wide angle

bellow on the camera for most uses, and carry only an additional long

bellows, leaving the standard at home. Does the synthetic work will

for such a use? Does the synthetic pack down as small as the

leather? From the look of the pictures I've seen it seems as it

might not.

The leather bellows is luxurious to feel and look at probably otherwise no better than the synthetic. I have used the leather wide angle for lenses up to 210mm.

If you want to use a single bellows for most situations, then the leather bellows are the way to go. As the previous poster mentioned they can handle lenses up to 210mm (the bellows are actually about 240mm long). That's the primary advantage of the leather bellows- that and the fact that they are pleated means you won't get bellows sag. But to me be able use virtually all of my lenses from a 65mm to 360mm telephoto with a single bellows is worth it. As luck would have it however, my favorite lens is now a 250mm normal lens which I can't use with the leather bellows- so it's back to carrying two bellow again.

Hi, I use synthetic ones (unexpectedly) even with 240mm lens in infinity even with movements no problem whatsover. Thay don't sag, no problem here and I'd bet they are more durable than leather ones, however I'd expect leather would be tad longer. Yes - synthetic packs very good.<br>

Bottom line - I don't regret to go with synthetic.

I can't tell reading the replies -- are you guys saying the leather w/a bellows is longer than the synthetic? I am considering getting one or the other, too.

Brian, It�s my understanding from the specs shown at The F STOPs Here (http://thefstop.com/equipment/new/arca/csds.html) that the synthetic is longer.

Unless I'm reading it wrong, on The F-Stops Here site (<A HREF="http://thefstop.com/equipment/new/arca/csds.html">http://thefstop.com/equipment/new/arca/csds.html</A>), the 4x5 sythetic and leather wide angle bellows are both listed as 20cm long, which may be a conservative figure based on what you guys are saying about using a 240mm lens with them.

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F-Stops Here shows the synthetic model as appropriate for 35-180mm lenses, and the leather for 47-180mm lenses -- obviously, that's very conservative on the long end even if the bellows are only 20cm long, and its perhaps very ambitious on the short end (35mm?!). Also, B&H lists them both as 20cm long (<A HREF="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/links/66.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/links/66.html</A>).

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I'm not trying to create an argument :-), I may just be missing something where it says the synthetic bellows are longer.

Brian, no worries about arguments here! ;-) This dialogue is good for me as I try and sort out which option to go with.

 

I've been looking at the B&H specs too and I think our understanding is the same. My comment that the synthetic bellows is longer is based on the point that it covers lenses from 35 to 180 (a delta of 145) versus the leather's 47 to 180 (a delta of 133). I missed the point that B&H makes about both being 20cm long. I'm betting the reason the synthetic is listed as covering a shorter lens is because the material compresses more.

I think you're right about the reason the sythetic is listed as working for shorter lenses. Let me know what you end up doing and how it works out for you; I'd be interested to hear. I'm still sort of in the "window shopping" phase -- I don't necessarily *need* a wide angle bellows, but I would *like* one -- so it may be a while before I actually get it.

I measured the synthetic bellows that came with my camera at 230mm fully stretched I think (but it was hard to make sue the bellows stayed supported and did sag/get pushed in to the view. Yes, they will scrunch up to nothing so you can use extremely short focal lenght lenses dow to 35mm or something, and also use tones of movements. (why you would want to is another question?)

 

I swapped for the leather bellows and much prefer them for various reasons. I have used down to 65mm with no problem at all, pleanty of room for movements. Widest I use these days is 75mm. They will actually streth to about 260mm (maybe push it to 270...) and keep their shape much esier. I like them because I can go from 75mm to 210mm easily with the one bellows.

I've got the leather bellows. I heard somewhere (probably here) that the synthetic one has lower internal reflectivity, thereby helping to preserve more contrast than the leather bellows. While it's certainly understandable that this would be easier to do with a synthetic material over the leather, I don't know if it is a significant enough difference to worry with.

 

BTW, the Arca catalog lists the following for 4x5 wide angle bellows:

 

Leather

-----------

Bellows extension = 20 cm

focus = 35-210 mm

 

Synthetic

-----------

Bellows extension = 20 cm

Focus = 35-180

 

Frankly, I don't know how they claim 35mm on the leather unless using a recessed lens board since the pleats in the leather get in the way. My shortest lens is 75mm and it works fine for that but I would think it might pinch at shorter focal lengths.

I leave the synthetic bellows on my Arca Discovery all the time and have had no problems using lenses up to 210 (my longest lens).

I can confirm that the leather bellows works fine with a 210mm Sironar S, though it is stretched quite tightly if e.g. the lens is rised fully.<br>My question is, is anybody using a Schneider 72mm XL together with the leather WA bellows, and does the bellows allow to really exploit the large image circle of this lens?

I don't have the lens, but am contemplating about getting it some day... and if I place the standards around the 7cm focal length, applying large movements feels rather stiff due to the bellows. So I'm afraid a real bag bellows might be necessary to accomplish WA lenses with really large image circles. I'd be happy to be proven wrong :)!

The pleasure of being able to answer one's own questions :)...<br>

After aquiring a SA 72 XL, it turns out that I can apply almost the full 10cm of rise with the leather W/A bellows and the lens focussed on infinity.<br>

Tilt and swing is a bit stiffer, but I don't think it's a problem (I can fully exploit the ca. 20 degrees of tilt the MicroOrbix allows).<br>

Standard alignment with significantly rised standard, however, is a different beast - the leather bellows (though very flexible) tends to exert quite a bit of stress on the IMHO rather thin standard posts... I guess that's the price for the relatively low weight of the camera.

If you apply a lot of rise to an F-line with a W/A lens, be sure to check for sharpness thoroughly in all corners of the groundglass!