Dave,
I have made several bag bellows with "naugahide" available through
reupholstering shops. They come in a variety of thicknesses and
colors. I have no idea if they will pass your flash test, but they
are certainly light-proof enough for general use. They are also much
more stiff and will hold their shape better than the usual bellows
material. By the way, I get my bellows material as "darkroom cloth"
from Porter's Camera Store, not Freestyle.
Sam Wang
>Thought I would post my experience to the list and perhaps get some
>feedback. I wnated to make a bag style bellows that would handle all my
>shooting from 90mm lens up to a 210 (4x5 format). I bought lightproof cloth
>from FreeStyle Sales and had a go. First, the fabric was not really light
>proof, a small shoe mounted flash behind the fabric in the darkroom and I
>could clearly see light through the fabric. So I doubled the cloth by
>contact cementing 2 layers together. Then I cut four pieces that could be
>described as diamond shapes with the points cut off. I glued these four
>together at the edges and glued them to the frames and what I created is a
>free standing self supporting structure. I was concerned initally that it
>would collapse when fully extended. The opposite has happened, it's almost
>too stiff to collapse.
>
>Back to the drawing board. I'm going to try a design that does not have
>seams runing parallel to the lens axis, thinking this would allow it to
>collapse better. I also need to find a fabric that is really light proof in
>a single layer that is more flexible. On the subject of light tight, was my
>flash inside the fabric to severe a test? Would the fabric from FreeStyle
>have worked just fine in outdoor sunshine even though the flash was visible
>through it?
>
>Thanks for any input.
>
>Dave Schneider
>Minneapolis
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