I am a large format film shooter, Custom Bellows in the UK manufacture for some of the most important names in the modern mass production photographic world, and also offer a service providing individual custom-made new and replacement bellows, particularly for antique and "collectable" cameras. Thanks for the informative video
Excellent introduction to the PB-6 Allan. I have had the same unit since 1985 and it has held up remarkably. I’ll typically mount it to a copy stand, in a vertical orientation. Then, one must consider weight and avoid sudden drops while adjusting the height using the lowermost adjustment knob. So, yes, keep the stops in place at the end of the rail. And if mounted vertically, use two hands to maintain control of the rig. One hand at the base of the rail to keep from dropping while the other hand adjusts and locks back down. It will also reduce wear and tear on the gears. The locking knobs are strong but made of plastic, so do not over-tighten to avoid cracks.
Legend! Just discovered your content yesterday... love the informative and extremely nerdy insight to this. As we are also camera nerds, Made me and a friend mega excited to use the bellows. Thanks for taking the time to create these videos! Greetings from Norway!
Thanks for this fantastically detailed video. The PB-6 bellow is a nice piece of gear. The takeaway for me is that if I were to buy a bellows, it would be this one, but a bellow is more than I need as an occasional close-up photographer. My 60mm and 105mm Micro-Nikkors are enough for me; I'll leave the larger than life size work to the folks like you with patience and experience.
Allan, you can use one telephoto lens for macro, the 105mm 2.8; but Yes, not with bellows, that was kitted to the PN-11 extension tube and was ONLY a macro lens with this accessory attached, and the focus wheel became the extension adjustment, courtesy of a magnification scale below the focus scale, the focus as such wasn't adjusted in the normal fashion, but utilising a focus rail, which connected the PN-11 to the tripod head, as using the ring would inevitably adjust the magnification ratio concurrently.
Thanks! I was unaware of the reversing feature. I also realize when I was shopping for my used bellows that any full frame bellows was adaptable. I like the model with front tilt board photographing watches. etc
Re: Reversing the front standard as omitted in Nikon's PB-6 instructions. In one of your earlier videos where you demonstrated this technique, you made no mention of working distance. I am pleased to see in your current video that you have identified this potential problem, and it is likely why Nikon never recommended it. Back in the good old film days, I took several thousand photos of live zooplankton swimming in a single drop of water, by using a PB-6 bellows and a reversed 28mm Nikkor, with dual flash. The working distance from the rear lens element to the water droplet was less than 1 cm. Needless to say there was a lot of wasted film, just to generate a few good images. I often reflect on how much easier it would be to repeat this project using a digital body with 'Live View", especially being able to see the result immediately, rather than having to wait several days while film was being developed to see if I needed to alter the setup!
We were certainly dedicated in those days - don't see myself doing that today, though. I was shocked to discover that the technique for reversing the front standard actually is described, with a photograph, in a recently discovered version of the user manual. The manual is readable at the link above, in the notes. A great read and full of fascinating information.
I just recently started down the macro-bellows-stacking photography trail... People don't know yet how great these old bellows are for focus stacking! That's why they are cheap. Shhhh! Just got (Nov 2022) the Canon version of this bellows which was made 20 years ago, and it is in brand new condition, for $70 on eBay. Same thing as Nikon bellows; almost identical, and made about the same time. Who copied who? Bought mine to do focus rail stacking macro pics. The $65 bellows made today are JUNK. I got the Canon because I am using a Sony a6400 with FD to e mount adapter. The Novoflex is just WAY to expensive; they even have a set of e-mount fully wired reverse rings. Who needs that? Might have gotten the PB6 had I seen your video first! The Canon has all the same features. The slide is heavy duty and excellent quality compared to the JUNK $65 focus rail slides with an Arca-Swiss that are being sold today. I have the Canon bellows mounted on a second graduated focus rail for the stacking shots. Using the Canons rail only for coarse positioning. I intended to use the bellows with the Wemacro or a similar stepper driver rail, but now using it with a Sony Bluetooth remote and bumping the + focus after each shutter release. probably don't even need the expensive graduated focus rail, but need to compare the methods; 1) physically moving the lens-bellows-camera on the rail compared to 2) moving just the focus using the remote. Which has a better final image? Oh, and using a Bluetooth remote is the way to go for triggering the shutter. Side note; discovered the other day that some of the latest cameras have focus bracketing for post processing, but NOT Sony! Kinda makes the fancy focus rail obsolete...maybe! The problem with this bellows and with the Canon version is 30 years ago mfgrs never intended it to be used for focus stacking, so the bottom rail has the knob out the side and is not graduated. However, using this in conjunction with a focus stacking rail (manual or stepper driven) is excellent! (To others, be careful selecting a manual focus rails. High price does NOT equate to high quality! Some have significant design flaws.) Good to know that trick for using a reversed lens on the bellows. However, a macro lens is better since it has correction for chromatic aberration at close focus, so won't be using a standard lens reversed. Now the trick is to find an e mount adapter for my Sony 90mm macro lens to go on the FD of the bellows! Already got a 50mm EL Nikkor lens out of Japan last week...that might be enough...might just get a dirt cheap 20 yr old Canon FD macro. Additionally, got the Helicon focus stacking software ($30 for basic version). Did you know it comes from UKRAINE. I hope the creators are safe. It's an excellent program. Just to test it I did a stack by hand, 20 images, of a 2 inch x 2 inch circuit board using lens focus and then ran it through the Helicon; wow! Blew it up to 11 x 14! Amazing! Saw same trick (focus stacking) on landscape pics when I was looking for more on stacking! Didn't even know that was being done! Your videos on macro and stacking have opened a whole new world in photography for me. Thanks!
Brilliant info. I was given mine ages ago but only really used for slide copy or coins & stamps. So I do have the little copy stand on a PB-6 Auto. I wanna try Micro now w/ my 60mm f2.8. I have the 50mm f1.4D if it's as sharp.
What a very nice primer on the PB-6 bellows, and using bellows in general 🙂 I use analog and digital Nikons, so I was thinking of buying the PB-6 on eBay to ramp up the magnification as compared to a regular macro lenses. I have the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D, so that's a nice candidate for using the bellows. However, I also have the (very resolving) Mamiya Sekor C 55mm f/2.8 S for my Mamiya M645 1000S. Would this 55mm Sekor C (medium format) be a nice candidate for bellows macro, both regular-orientation and reverse? The Sekor C 55mm also has manual aperture (next to auto), so that makes it very easy to set any aperture, however, would the medium format design of the lens be of any benefit for this bellows application (in a way that using 'full frame' lenses on 'crop frame' cameras also utilizes only the better part/ centre of the lens, and doing away with the corners that are often not optimal)?
Excellent! Q: Is ther anyway that my very old PB 3 can be adapete to use a slide copying setup? I boutght it new in the early 70s and it is still in very good condition. Thanks
Thanks for this video. I just picked up a PB4, may I ask do you know who makes a adapter to add a Nikon Z mount lens to the Bellows? I have a Z mount 90mm 2x Macro & a 25mm 2.5-5x Macro, that I want to try to use on my PB4 Bellows. Having a very hard time finding the reverse of a Nikon FTZ. Please, Any help greatly appreciated.
Picked up a PB-6 very easily almost a year ago. It took a lot longer to find the extension bellows and rail. A lot harder to find one with all the parts. Did find a new old stock. Worth tracking the good ones down.
I thought the ability to add the lens inside was to be able to photograph film negatives and use the aperture cable to focus cameras clearly on the negative.
Greetings Allan. Thank you for all the knowledge you share here. It's so selfless and noble. This is what RU-vid should be. I have a question. I'm trying to decide which rail to take for my cage. During the period of time your suggestions were NiSi NM180, Manfrotto 454, Nikon PB6 and in the list of parts for building the cage you put Velbon Super Mag Slider. In your experience, which one would you say is best to buy? Actually, you've never reviewed Velbon. Your thoughts?
Hi Djordje, I think I have alreadyy answered this question somewhere else ( not sure where) but I would suggest you wait for a couple of days until I release a review for a new rail that just came out - the NM-180 mk.II. It is a superior rail to the original in several important ways and better than any other manual rail that I have used. It should be out very soon (the video). Thanks!
@@AllanWallsPhotography Thank you for your answer. Is that something that is yet to be released for sale? I can't find a newer model in any online store...
I made the mistake of ordering a PB-5. However, I am sure they forgot to include the focus slide that moves the entire assembly. I had to buy a mount with micro adjustments.Works, but is bulky and has side to side adjustment which is slightly convenient. Still, if anyone is looking to buy after this video, take Allan's advice and get a PB-6.
@@AllanWallsPhotography There is a better source of information about Close up equipment (Nikon only). 60 pages of pure gold. all macro tables you can imagine, since extension tubes to the bellows. you gonna cry when you see it. I found on line and I have the pdf. if you are interested I can send it to you. just give me a email. the pdf are called Close up Equipment Sales Manual from 1978. it is pure gold.
@@aqueminteressarpossa3445 I bought one of those catalogues months ago and it never arrived. I would love to see what you have. Please use contact@allanwallsphotography.com as the email address. Can't wait to see it! Thanks!
@@AllanWallsPhotography I'll do better, I remembered where I got it. www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/rlNikonNotebook.htm This one: "Close-Up Sales Manual (F2 Era)" have fun
Thank you for the video. I am wondering if you know of an adapter that may help me solve a problem. I have an outstanding macro lens, the Irix 150 Dragonfly lens, which is gelded (no aperture ring). I also have a PB-4 Macro Bellows. As it stands, I will have to add an extension tube to both ends of the bellows, one to allow for mounting my D850, the other for mounting the Irix lens, due to the width of the lens barrel and the space available. What I need is an extension tube that has the capacity to manually set the aperture on the lens. Any ideas?
Hi Anthony, Sure - the PB4 is a tricky bellows to work with. One of them are made for modern cameras, but the 4 is even more cramped than the 6. I can get the D850 mounted on the 6 but agree you will need the first and last segments of an extension tube. If possible, try to find a single piece Nikon F to Nikon F mount 10-15mm extension tube. If you use a cheap set you will have two bits screwed together - a recipe for disaster. As for the other end, I would not bother trying to control the Dragonfly aperture.- it should be wide open at rest - if not, trim a small wedge of plastic and carefully insert it alongside the aperture actuator (the little tab where lens and body engage) so that the iris opens all the way. Then buy yourself an inexpensive manual iris. It is like an extension tube with a manual iris and a little lever to set the aperture. Just use whatever step rings you need to get down to the iris (52mm usually) and then back up to the lens. May I ask why you would want to add extension to the 150mm Irix? A long macro lens like that will not yield much additional magnification but will make lighting real problematic as the working distance gets shorter. Watch out for CAs as well as vignetting. Lastly, if you do use an aperture (you may get better results wide open), watch your effective aperture to avoid diffraction softening (keep it under f/20). By the way, it can be hard to find a prebuilt iris/extension, but they are dead easy to make if you are handy with tools. You can get a nice iris for $20, glue it into an extension tube segment and cut a hole for the handle. Or just use an old broken Nikon Lens, take the glass out and you have an iris. Let me know if you need any help getting it sorted.
@@AllanWallsPhotography Thank you for the quick reply. At the moment I have three macro lenses, an old Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 AIS (which I rarely use due to a damaged filter thread) with an extension tube for an old Nikon F camera, a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 Macro, and the Irix 150. I recently purchased the PB-4 on a whim, and have been wanting to get the bellows to work with all of the components I have for comparison. When I do product work, I typically use the Irix lens on a WeMacro Rail for shooting and focus stacking Jewelry and similar sized items. I can make the bellows work with the Tokina lens, which has an aperture ring, but the Irix lens is better quality and will vignette less. I have not yet spent time considering the effective aperture, or doing that math, however I do have an online calculator to use for that. My understanding is that it is better to have a longer focal length as you can be farther away and get the same field of view as a shorter focal length lens, which would then allow you more room for lighting. I did not even think of using an external iris, that is an interesting solution. Assuming this would thread onto the filter threads forward of the front element, how would that adjust the focal length of the lens? If the focal length changes, would the size of the aperture also change to match a given f/stop? Also, with the iris in front of the lens, wouldn't it lose sharpness? I am not opposed to using the Irix wide open, however my understanding is that any given lens will be sharpest when it is one or two steps down from wide open. In my experience with the Irix lens on-camera, f/11 seems to be the sweet spot for that lens. Also, the wider the aperture, the more steps will be required for a successful focus stack.
Hello, I would like to know if you ever try pb-6 with a PC-E NIKKOR 45mm (to controle the plane of focus, so we can take pictures without staking ) thanks
I am afraid not. But I used to have the PB-4 and the front standard of those bellows rotated to give a very useful tilt function. The problem is, with the bellows extended to give some magnification, the depth of field is still going to be very shallow indeed. It is hard to get enough in focus for a decent shot.
@@AllanWallsPhotography I have a pb-6 and I had to have an justification to buy a PC-E 45 so could you answer yes? 😁 But you are right, even if we chose the focus plane, it's stay still a rasor thin focus depth. Your work is superb. Have a good day. Bernard
@@bernardfranck1318 ... but then again, under certain circumstances it offers a perfect combination of flexible extension and focus optimization, yielding images of unparalleled clarity and a crystalline perfection, otherwise unobtainable.
Mr. Walls, do you believe the PB-6 is rigid as well as strong enough to be mounted in the vertical position and used for 10x and above microscope objectives in macro photography? Im attempting to choose a vertical set up but first need to decide on a base and stand. I’m thinking a sturdy copy stand with the bellows mounted on top of a Stackshot 3x.
It’s absolutely strong enough, I personally use it vertically with a 10x objective. Both posts move via a sturdy gear system, and can be locked at your desired length. When locked the posts aren’t going anywhere, especially with a relatively light objective lens. The build quality on this bellows is rock solid and I wouldn’t be surprised if you could use a larger camera lens vertically.
Allan I really love your channel and your content but this time I feel the need to contradict. ^^ The PB-6 isn't bad but compared to the "Minolta Auto Bellows III" for the same price it's hot garbage!
