For Sale FS: 8x10 Deardorff

[wfwhitaker]

FS: Deardorff 8x10 camera. Very solid camera; mechanically sound throughout. Extensions operate smoothly with no issues. Everything locks down tight. Bed joints are tight with no separation. Cosmetically the camera is in good condition, but it does have minor scratches and dents. The back is a later version (probably DPPI as that's what the ground glass is marked). But it has been fitted properly to the camera; there's not any looseness or slop at all. It snaps in soundly in both vertical and horizontal orientations. The bellows is in good shape, BUT it does have about half a dozen small pinholes along the bottom left corner near the front standard. And there are about three small pinholes along the bottom right at the back near the rear standard. The pinholes are very small. Simply placing a flashlight inside the bellows did not reveal them. It took a bare-bulb flashlight, a dark room and working the light carefully along the full length of each corner to find them. I've not tried any repair nor have I taped the bellows. The camera is usable as-is if you're careful. I have a NOS Deardorff bellows frame (front and rear) which could be sent out for a new bellows to be installed without having to incur any downtime. Once replaced, the old bellows could be a spare. The frames are included with the camera.

This camera features a compendium shade, something not usually found on Deardorffs. The shade mounts directly to the rising front panel so that feature can still be used. Mounting and detaching is positive and very simple. Two spring-loaded levers move the pins at the top so they can fit into and lock into the keyhole slots.

I’d heard a number of horror stories about other used Deardorff purchases. So many have issues of one sort or another. Separating beds, loose or wobbly standards, sticking or binding extensions, backs that are loose or don't fit the camera correctly - and so on. I went to great effort to find an 8x10 Deardorff that was a solid reliable camera. This camera has none of those problems. Cosmetically the camera is not perfect. But this is not a collector's camera; it is a photographer's camera.

Asking $1695 plus shipping and insurance for camera with compendium shade. Lens, lensboard and tripod are not included.

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USD
Price : 1695.00

 

[Andrew Moxom]

Damn.... Where's the dough when you need it!!!!

 

[wfwhitaker]

When I bought this camera, I was told that Jack Deardorff may have made the shade. After looking firsthand at a Deardorff Triamapro, the levers and knobs on the compendium shade are almost certainly from a Triamapro. That would lend credence to the story and suggest that the compendium was in fact made by Deardorff. If not by Jack, it was made by someone who got Triamapro parts from him. You're probably not going to find another one like it.