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The dust on my bellows made me a believer in proper storage
After fixing a 1978 Mamiya RB67 that sat in a garage for 15 years, I noticed the leather bellows had cracked and leaked light, but a $25 replacement and a 2-hour cleaning job brought it back to perfect sealing, has anyone else seen worse damage from long-term humidity exposure?
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joseph482mo ago
Heard a repair guy on a podcast say old bellows are basically paper made of leather, so humidity just eats them alive. Glad yours held up after that garage stint though, that's a win for the $25.
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anna7172mo ago
Honestly, that "paper made of leather" thing is spot on, @joseph48. The glue in those old bellows breaks down way faster than people think, too. Ngl, I’ve seen some where the leather looks fine on the outside but the inside layers are basically dust. Humidity just speeds up that whole rotting process, so it’s not even about how careful you are, it’s about where you store it. My garage gets crazy damp in the summer, so I’m honestly surprised mine didn’t crumble after a year out there. That $25 was a lucky grab, but I’d never risk it with a nicer set again.
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