Camera bellows are what most people think of as the “accordion” that adorns the typical large-format camera from centuries past. Although simple in theory, the construction of bellows plagues the modern photographic community due to the complexity of their construction. Creating a set of bellows for a camera requires dozens of hours of measuring, planning, cutting, gluing… and sometimes having to do it all over again because of one small detail.

Shown here are some examples of my process for constructing bellows, utilizing InDesign to digitally prepare the shape. Since the inner material is completely light-tight, the outer layer can be customized to match the photographer’s preferences.

A set of completed bellows installed on an 8x10 Kodak 2D. Fabric is ‘Duo’ from Talas.
A detail shot of the Kodak 2D’s folds. Each corner is shaped by the carefully designed stiffeners, or “ribs”, which are cut from cardstock.
Shown here is the installation of the interior fabric, a light-light photographic nylon.
“Duo” bookcloth from Talas changes color based on lighting conditions.
One consideration with each set of bellows is how tightly they must be able to compress when the camera is in it’s ‘closed’ position.
The Kodak 2D’s original bellows, before being replaced. As is often the case with 19th and 20th-century cameras, the original leather that was used hasn’t withstood the test of time.
The interior ‘ribs’ are meticulously designed in Illustrator, before being cut from cardstock. Because the front and rear of the bellows are different widths, (called ‘tapered’ bellows), extra math must be done to ensure everything will work properl…