Originally posted by dkpentax Even though Pentax sold bellows for decades they don't anymore, and never sold any with hookups for exposure or focus. What happened in photography that made bellows unwanted?
They seemed to go away with the AF camera era. I suspect that manufacturers couldn't make a bellows work with screw drive AF. and so the product was dropped. I don't recall ever seeing a bellows for Canon EF, even though it should have been fairly easy to incorporate. A ribbon cable from front to back would have done it, though it probably wouldn't have been pretty.
I think they just saw how few bellows they sold after good macro lenses came along and decided do not do it, especially with the aforementioned engineering issues.
Just for you though, a K1 mounted on a really nice bellows:
---------- Post added Jun 17th, 2022 at 09:59 AM ----------
Originally posted by photoptimist While not offended by your proposed modifications, I'm surprised by the decision given what you say about possibly using extension tubes.
The entire point of a bellows to provide a much more powerful alternative to extension tubes as well as better control of subject distances and focus. Bellows beat extension tubes in two ways. First, bellows typically offer much more extension than can be done with tubes. Second, bellows offer much more flexibility and control in being able to rack-in or rack-out the exact amount of extension needed without the hassle of swapping different tubes in or out.
Perhaps I don't understand the necessity of removing the bellows to accomplish your goal.
It sounds like he is going to spend $60.00 and put a bunch of extra work into building something he could have bought premade to $20.00, thereby ensuring the $60.00 thing is no longer fit for purpose.