Cleaning Bellows Internally

In the process of cleaning up the camera I just received. There is a

noticeable amount of debris on the inside of the bellows. I blew it

out with air but there's still stuff that clings lightly to the

surfaces, stuff that remains from years of use. I know this can

possibly degrade the image, but with no prior LF experience, I

cannot judge how clean the bellows should be. Do I need to clean

this out? If so, any recommendations for doing it?

You need the bellows totally clean or you'll have a nightmare of dust

on your negatives. Worse, the debris may mean that the material is

disintegrating. Extend the bellows, vacuum out all the particles, and

then check the bellows for light leaks. Good luck.

Alex, it's a good idea to have a clean bellows on the interior surface, so as not to attract dust and debris onto the film when the slide is pulled. It's not necessary to remove the bellows from the camera. Merely remove the lensboard, and the back of the camera, to gain access to the interior of the bellows. Stretch the bellows by racking the camera all the way out. Use a brush (like a paintbrush) to brush the particles off of the interior surface. Then, carefully remove the particles with the crevice tool of a vacuum cleaner. Be careful not to use too much suction, to avoid damaging the bellows material.

Cool! This is what I suspected but I wanted to make sure before I took the time to do it. Thanks for the quick answers.

Just to add onto the vacuuming: you can get an attachment set made for computer clean-up. This is basically a few small size brushes and a reducer so you can hook it up to any vacuum cleaner. It makes it a lot easier while working inside the small space within bellows.

 

As mentioned earlier, be a bit carefull with the amount of suction. It really depends on the shape the bellows are in. Most vacuum hoses have a built-in bleeder , usually around the handle area, which you can slide open to lessen the suction.