A bellows camera (often referred to as a folding camera) is characterized by a flexible, accordion-like light-tight bellows that connects the body to the lens standard. For transport, the lens together with its mechanism can be completely folded into the body, making the camera surprisingly compact and flat despite its often large film format (mostly medium format).
By pulling out the bellows, the necessary distance between the lens and the film plane is established to focus the image. Many historical models use this mechanism, which today is appreciated mainly by enthusiasts of classic photographic technology and in the large format field.
