Shen Hao 4x5 bellows on Graphic View 4x5 Monorail Camera

[steve_mareno]

<p>I've been patching the pinholes in my Graphic View 4x5's bellows and it's going well, but I couldn't help but think a new bellows would be a better idea. I saw a new Shen Hao 4x5 bellows on the auction site and it looks very similar to the one on my camera. I understand that the Shen Hao has a Graflock type back. Does this mean I might be able to use the Shen Hao bellows on the Graphic View? I've tried to find the dimensions but no luck so far except for the bellows min and max extensions, and they look close enough. My concern is the front & rear bellows diameter sizes, but just eyeballing the two cameras they look very similar.</p>

[jerry thirsty]

<p>Caveat: I have a Graphic View II, not a Graphic View I, and I can't say whether the bellows are identical between them (although they look very similar based on the Graflex.org pictures). That having been said, I took the bellows out of my Shen and held it up to the business ends of the Graphic II and they are very close to the same size. Probably close enough that you can make it work.</p>

<p>The stock bellows on my Shen 4x5 has an aluminum ring glued to the front and back ends. The only auction I saw on the bay looked like an aftermarket of some sort, with no metal rings. But that might be better anyway; if you were trying to drill and tap screw holes into the rings on the stock Shen there's a fair risk you'd puncture the bellows while doing it. But if you buy the eBay one, you can unscrew the bellows from your Graphic, scrape the old material off the Graphic metal rings, and glue the new one on directly, with no metalwork involved.</p>

<p>One final caution: At one point I was modifying my Graphic II and I wanted to remove the bellows while I worked on it. I discovered that the bellows was not just glued to the metal ring at each end, it was also stuck to the front standard, and it was obvious that if I tried to pull it off I was going to rip it. So if you do decide to attempt this, you should assume that once you start removing the original bellows there won't be any going back.</p>

<p>Have fun!</p>