RZ67 Pro II: Bellows Replacement and Bellows Construction
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
The question of bellows replacement on RB67/RZ67 comes up often. In this post I will explain a little bit about the bellows construction.
This RZ67II came in with damaged bellows and while a small amount of damage still makes the camera usable, photo two shows the damage on this camera and it is a bit much and needs replacement. Long 1.7mm crosspoint screwdriver tips work well to access the bellows screws (tight fitting tips make the job a little easier).
The last photo show the three parts of the bellows assembly: the bellows, front frame (left foreground) and rear frame (right foreground). When the bellows were available new from the parts department of Mamiya, these were all assembled together. These days bellows are only available from companies in China and India and are sold as bellows only, no frames. So, the old rear frame needs to be carefully glued to the new bellows.
The biggest issue now is finding a replacement bellows that is made properly. Some are made from a thicker material and actually don’t allow the camera to focus to infinity! I suppose if there was a big enough market for replacement bellows there would be better manufacturing methods and quality control.
