| Author: | | New Member Registered: July, 2013 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: August 1, 2023 | Not Recommended | Price: $150.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Highly useful in the film era | | Cons: | Heavy, fragile, completely manual, questionable current relevance | |
I've owned this rig for over 30 years, and it's essentially in mint condition, as it was used only to do creative in-camera work with slide film. Used a AF 280T flash to provide consistent exposure. For that purpose, it worked well. In the digital era with processing software, that's akin to starting a fire by rubbing sticks together. It's likely I'll never use the slide copier again, but the bellows is there if I ever need more that the 50mm extension provided by tubes. I keep this equipment mainly for nostalgia, an example of Pentax accessory quality from the film days.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2017 Location: Medellín Posts: 1,322 | | Review Date: December 31, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $86.50
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Build quality, versatility, reversible, accepts filters; manual, stop down and cable release aperture. | | Cons: | Copying slides is hard if you don't want to rotate in post. | |
It's a joy to use. The 100 mm bellows lens works well and focuses even to infinity. Reversing a lens is a breeze and it also accepts 49 mm filters for protection. I've also used the front standard on its own with the 31 mm Limited reversed on to extension tubes and the double cable release plus a Canon T3 cable release adapter, or a Nikon AR-10 double cable release (both adapted to 2.5 mm plugs) on my K-5.
I wish Pentax had a lighter option like the BR-6 from Nikon instead of using a whole standard of the bellows.
Also, copying slides is sometimes hard, because holding them at the right angle is cumbersome and there is no easy way to correct this.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2011 Location: Gotland Posts: 169 | | Review Date: February 28, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Top quality. Slide copier can work with APS sensor. K-1 CAN BE USED after some modification. | | Cons: | None with an old analog camera, new bulkier digital cameras make special demands | |
UPDATE JANUARY 8, 2020. FOR K-1 COVERAGE, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN.
I bought the Auto Bellows K and Slide Copier K used and in excellent condition. Everything is beautifully made. Works smoothly. Locks with no creep. The vertical position of the diapositive/negative film holder can be adjusted and locked by a small black screw. Japanese quality at its very best!
For more details, check the other reviews on this page.
My K3 II did fit, but only in the "landscape" orientation. To copy slides I found that the only lens that works for me is the 77 mm one. Caveat: The bellows at the slide stand end are too short to function in this configuration. I rolled up a piece of black paper to keep out stray light.
The double cable supplied steps down the aperture and also trips the camera, but needs an adapter to a digital Pentax. I built one around a micro switch.
K-1 ADAPTATION: The K-1 is a little bit too big to fit. You can use a short extension tube for general work with no problems. But to use with the Slide Copier it needed to be fitted directly. Otherwise it was impossible get the proper frame and perfect focus, at least with the lenses I own.
So I cut away some metal (4 mm thick, 8 mm deep, 40 mm width) where the K-1 body made contact with the bellows unit. I used a hacksaw after carefully masking the whole thing. Now I use it with the Macro F 4 (but any not too big 50 mm lens should work). Setting up to get proper framing and full focus is a bit fiddly but fully workable. The original scales should help, but did not fit when the K-1 was mounted. Probably they can be adjusted to fit.
The K-1 tilt screen is ideal to find a good working position. I have the whole apparatus mounted on a tripod. I let the unit slant somewhat downwards for good ergonomics and to let gravity hold the slide in place.
| | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: August, 2007 Location: Coquitlam, BC, Canada Posts: 624
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 8, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $75.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Excellent Build, Light weight and compact, suitable for field use. | | Cons: | None | |
This bellows unit utilizes the same design as the earlier screw mount unit, is well designed and built, highly flexible, and is a robust bellows unit. It can also be used with the Pentax Slide Copier K, which is a re-labeled version of the earlier slide copier (all the other slide copiers are the same). There was a production change during its manufacture, while the front lens board is different between the early and late productions, the physical size and function is identical, other than the difference in the cable release socket. This auto bellows unit utilizes a single, well-engineered, strong “X” rail; it also incorporates a geared tripod mounting block that can be positioned along the bottom of the X rail to properly balance your camera/bellows/lens combination.
The operation of the bellows unit is smooth, with the front lens board, the rear camera body board, and the movable tripod seat, gear operated with micro-action control knobs. , All three movement operations are precise, allow no creep, and have a locking knob on the opposite side to the control knob. The movements are quiet as the moving control surfaces utilize nylon bearing blocks.
This bellows unit supports automatic diaphragm operation with a dual cable release; the first cable stops the lens aperture down before the second triggers the camera. This dual cable operation is not usable with the modern bodies that are electronically activated, unless you make a modified connector as illustrated here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photo-articles/the-pentax-bellows-guide-ebook.html
There were two versions manufactured, the early production was essentially a “Pentax Auto Bellows Unit” with K mounts instead of instead of screw mounts. The later production has an upgraded, three function, lens board cable release socket. The differences in the cable socket are illustrated below.
With the later production unit the aperture stop down can be accomplished manually as detailed in the second picture above.
The minimum extension at 38mm, roughly equivalent to a combined number #1 and #3 extension tube. The maximum extension is 170mm. With a 55mm lens in reverse mount you can achieve 2.7 times magnification and the 28mm lens will attain 6.2 times life size. Mounting a lens in reverse requires that the front lens board be taken off the X rail and re-installed facing backward or by using the Pentax Reverse Adaptor K 49mm or 52mm. Additional extension tubes can be used to attain even higher magnifications.
As the rear camera board does not pass aperture information back and forth with the front lens board, so the non-auto Pentax Extension Tube Set K or the variable Pentax Helicoid Extension Tube K can be used on the camera body. Using a Pentax Auto Extension Tube K on the lens board will allow stopping down of the aperture using the cable release socket.
Removing the Camera Body Connector Ring is the easiest way to mount the camera body. The camera mount can be rotated, within the rear board allowing the camera body to be changed to vertical orientation, however the physical dimensions on new digital bodies will conflict with the rear board unless a short (#1) extension tube is used to re-position the body back to clear the board.
The tripod mounting surface is generous, with a single ¼-20 hole located on the movable mounting block. Using a focusing rail has advantages in micro positioning the lens for depth of field. The Pentax Focusing Rail is discontinued but is sometimes available on eBay, but Really Right Stuff, Kirk Enterprises, Novoflex and Hejnar currently supply products for this application and the ultimate solution is a computer operated focussing rail with a stepping motor made by Cognisys.
The Pentax Auto Bellows K comes with two metal extension/magnification scales, one for 50mm lenses and one for 55mm lenses that attach to magnetized pads on the top of the front and rear boards and this robust bellows can easily handle the extra weight and longer length of lenses up to 150mm, 200mm or even a 300mm F4.0.
 | | | | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: January, 2012 Location: Summer:Lake Superior - Michigan Winter:Texas Hill Country Posts: 2,774
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 23, 2012 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | well built, K-mount makes it easy to attach to most Pentax cameras | | Cons: | lens aperture is totally manual - lens without manual aperature control cannot be used | |
There is little difference between the M unit and the K unit, other than no adapters are needed to attach this unit to any current K-mount Pentax camera. You can read the reviews on the M unit here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/accessoryreviews/pentax-auto-bellows-m-slide-copier-m.html
There are two major shortcomings when using this unit with a APS-C digital camera -
1. The aperture is strictly manual, and all metering must be done with the lens stopped down.
2. The APS-C sensor is 75% of the size of the full frame (35mm), meaning you get 150% magnification with any lens. This pretty much rules out the scales included with this unit, and makes 1/1 copies verydifficult. I solved the issue with my K-r here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-camera-field-accessories/170530-how-auto-bellows-slide-copier-k-digital-slr-camera.html
I doubt we will ever see it, but it would be wonderful if Pentax would release a KA version of this unit with enough extension to do 1/1 slide copies on cameras with the APS-C sized sensor. With the advance controls in the camera, I see this as a better option than what might be comparably priced slide digitizer scanners. | | |
