atlcruiser
5-Jul-2011, 20:54
Hi All,
I saw the post on the new deardorffs and I figured it was time for me to get off my ass and post my experiences with Barry and Monica of LF Deardorff and Sons :)
I will leave the convoluted details to Barry but the short course is he did work with the japanese company that bought deardorff from Jack many years ago. That venture only lasted a few years at best. Barry continued to be involved with the restoration of deardorffs on a semi professional basis. At some point in there he and Monica started making repo straps for the cameras. Through a crazy set of circumstances they had the opportunity to buy the complete remaining stock of original deardorff parts, plans, tooling and more odds and ends than one can imagine. The story when told by barry is really amazing!
I ran into them a few months ago when I bought my 810. I cold called Barry and we made an appointment to meet within a few weeks. I am in Atlanta and he is in TN about 3 hours from me. The plan was to have them look over my camera and install a new strap......maybe 2 hours tops? We spent a solid 8 hours working on my camera.....they worked on it while I watched :) It turns out there were a few more issues than I thought. I basically had the entire camera rebuilt as well as got a guided tour of the shop and some good sushi for lunch. When the bill was totaled I insisted on paying more than was asked; the work was worth it. This was by far one of my best experiences ever in dealing with cameras commercially.
The amount of stuff they have is amazing.....it really is hard to believe. There are stacks and stacks of backs, standards, springs, nuts, bolts, bellows material...all of the parts to build the cameras; well almost all of the parts as they are having a few missing parts custom made.
I got to see a restored 11x14, a restored studio 20x24 and many unrestored cameras, studio stands, a camera from NASA, a camera from the FBI...it is amazing :)
The best part of this is that Barry and Monica are determined to make a go of this company and they have the dedication and materials to make it happen. They are very nice folks that know these cameras inside and out and are more than willing to help.
I am a very satisfied customer; now I need ot figure out how to save the money for the new one :)
FWIIW I am just a customer, this sounds like an advertisement but I wanted to share my great experiences with them.
I saw the post on the new deardorffs and I figured it was time for me to get off my ass and post my experiences with Barry and Monica of LF Deardorff and Sons :)
I will leave the convoluted details to Barry but the short course is he did work with the japanese company that bought deardorff from Jack many years ago. That venture only lasted a few years at best. Barry continued to be involved with the restoration of deardorffs on a semi professional basis. At some point in there he and Monica started making repo straps for the cameras. Through a crazy set of circumstances they had the opportunity to buy the complete remaining stock of original deardorff parts, plans, tooling and more odds and ends than one can imagine. The story when told by barry is really amazing!
I ran into them a few months ago when I bought my 810. I cold called Barry and we made an appointment to meet within a few weeks. I am in Atlanta and he is in TN about 3 hours from me. The plan was to have them look over my camera and install a new strap......maybe 2 hours tops? We spent a solid 8 hours working on my camera.....they worked on it while I watched :) It turns out there were a few more issues than I thought. I basically had the entire camera rebuilt as well as got a guided tour of the shop and some good sushi for lunch. When the bill was totaled I insisted on paying more than was asked; the work was worth it. This was by far one of my best experiences ever in dealing with cameras commercially.
The amount of stuff they have is amazing.....it really is hard to believe. There are stacks and stacks of backs, standards, springs, nuts, bolts, bellows material...all of the parts to build the cameras; well almost all of the parts as they are having a few missing parts custom made.
I got to see a restored 11x14, a restored studio 20x24 and many unrestored cameras, studio stands, a camera from NASA, a camera from the FBI...it is amazing :)
The best part of this is that Barry and Monica are determined to make a go of this company and they have the dedication and materials to make it happen. They are very nice folks that know these cameras inside and out and are more than willing to help.
I am a very satisfied customer; now I need ot figure out how to save the money for the new one :)
FWIIW I am just a customer, this sounds like an advertisement but I wanted to share my great experiences with them.