The Deardorff View Camera
An American Classic
By: Ken Hough
(Edited by Bob Peters from an original post on 'Usenet', used by permission)
*
The Deardorff wood View Cameras had one of the longest production funs of any view cameras in history. If you see an early 1924 Deardorff and a 1988 model you will see a wonderful family resemblance.
Laben F. Deardorff had been a camera repairman for nearly 30 years before building the first 8 x 10 Deardorff. He had been employed by Rochester Camera Company in the 1890s. Part of the design of the Premo line of cameras was his responsibility. (Rochester Optical factory records do not indicate what part.) He moved to Chicago and set up shop as a repairman. L.F. Deardorff developed a skill of re-figuring lenses to improve their performance in addition to modifying existing view cameras such as Eastman’s & Senecas giving them front tilt and swing. He saw the optical advantage of these movements, even if the manufactures did not!
Around 1920 according to Merle ( his son ) some pro photographers and architects approached Laben to build his own camera. No doubt influenced by the English Folding Field camera design of the 1870s Laben came up with a view camera that bears an uncanny resemblance to the 8 x 10 Deardorff of the 1980s. Those first cameras were self casing and had rear swing and tilt, triple extension bed, front tilt and a rising panel so the photographer could change the image position without refocusing or changing the tilt setting. They had a 5 1/2 X 6 inch lens board. Merle told me the lens board size was so photographers would buy only Deardorff boards. They went to the standard 6 x 6 Eastman board after the first 15 cameras. Perhaps the photographers did not want to buy more lens boards?
The next 200 or so cameras did not change much from the first. 1926 saw the departure of the all handmade camera. Until that time every metal part, except the gear racks and gears, were made by family members. The metal parts were hand polished and clear lacquered. In 1926 they went to outside sources to produce certain metal parts. All brass parts were PAINTED in a special gold paint. This lasted till 1937-38. Why gold paint ?? So there was less work in preparing the metal ! Clean it and paint it ! I have restored about 15 of the early cameras and there is nearly 7 hours "satinizing" the metal. Painting takes about 3 1/2.
Why did L.F. Deardorff create the first 8 x 10 ( called the V8 )? He saw a need for a camera that did all the functions of those modified cameras he had worked on earlier as a repairman. To understand what was going on you have to recall the cameras that were around in the early 1920s. Agfas, Anscos, Kodaks, Carltons, etc...They are almost all clones of each other--Limited movements, inability to do wide angle work without contortions ( running the camera to the front of the rails putting the thing out of balance) L.F was undoubtedly influenced by the English folding field cameras of nearly 40 years before. What he and his sons did was to re-design the English folding field to have a front extension that rolled out of the bed and a rear extension that did the same. Why these movements ? To balance the camera on the tripod. Remember, these are some heavy lenses made with lots of brass. Also the optical properties of these movements are that the front extension changes the size of the object on the ground glass and the rear extension sets the focusing plane. The movable rear swing unit focuses the image.. The sliding lens board panel adjusts the image on the ground glass without readjusting the front tilt. Take ALL these movements: rear swing and tilt, front tilt and the sliding panel, put them together and you do not have to stop down as much as before--though I still know photographers who insist on stopping down to f 90 when f 22 will do. But even I do not use all the movements all the time. The camera can also be squeezed together to accept a 3.5in lens.
The "Baby" was made from 1936 until 1948. Most were from the 1938-41 era. There are 2 distinct versions. The first 15 (1936) have 2 wood strips attached to the top of the bed as in any Deardorff built at the time. An extrusion company salesman visited the factory and convinced Merle that an extrusion would support the front and rear extensions. All the rest of the production run (1938-48) are built like this. They all take 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 in round cornered lens boards. The biggest negative it can make is 4x5.
***
If you have a pre front swing 8x10, 5x7 or 4x5 ("Baby") . You do have a way to affect front swings. Merle Deardorff himself taught me this while I was training at the factory. You tilt the front standard backward so the lens is OVER the tripod hole ( facing forward ). Now to swing the lens pivot the camera on the tripod hole and swing the back. Now the relationship between the lens plane and the image plane can be adjusted as in a camera with front swing. Q: How many Baby Deardorffs were made? A: About 500.
This brings to mind an interesting story Merle told me. Most of the world used Graphic type lens boards then (1920s-30s) Deardorff did not. They had bigger boards so the camera could have bigger flanges. The round corners came from a visit Merle did to a studio. He noticed a lot of the boards the studio used had smashed corners from being dropped !! The idea of round corners on lens boards was put into production soon after.
Lots of my customers want me to modify their ground glass backs to work with square cornered ground glass. I try to discourage this. WHY ? Simple: There are some lenses that you have to look through the cut corners to see the iris and the light coming through it. WHY ? So you know if your getting coverage on the film plane. Many " process APOs " have a small image circle that does not cover a given format well. Watch those corners!!
****
Ken was trained at the Deardorff factory (1980-82) under the watchful eye of Merle Deardorff in the correct ways of building Deardorff cameras. As some of my loyal customers already know, I am dedicated to the care, rebuilding and refinishing of all models of that great view camera, the Deardorff. I was trained at the Deardorff factory in ALL aspects of camera building. From building new cameras to refinishing old ones. Ken is also the only repair person in the U.S. trained there. Ken applies only the kind of finish that the company put on. Ken’s rebuilt cameras hold their value. Ken is also a dedicated Deardorff user from 4x5 to 12x20. Ken was also there at the break up of the company. He also repairs ALL view camera shutters and recements view lenses of any age. If you have any questions regarding Ken’s services E-mail him at K-4sb@msn.com or call at 219-464-7526 10:30 am central to 5:00 pm. Want to know what your Deardorff is worth ?? Read the Deardorff section Ken wrote for McKeowns 1997-98 price guide. If you have any questions regarding the use and correct care of these fine cameras E-mail Ken at k4sb@niia.net
 |
|