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Thread: deardorff cult

  1. #21

    Join Date
    Feb 1999
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    deardorff cult

    Someone mentioned the weight of the Deardorffs. My friends, if you've ever tried lugging a Calumet C-1 into the field -- that's heavy. The Deardorff I hoisted once at Midwest Photo felt like a pack of cigarettes by comparison.

  2. #22

    deardorff cult

    What a great forum- I have always been, as an engineer, fond of great machine fits and precision, so it
    is greatly illuminating to hear from all the dorff owners.

    I do have an Eastman D-2 5x7 that I use occasionally, so some romance is there.

    Thanks for the inputs

  3. #23

    Join Date
    Dec 1998
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    405

    deardorff cult

    It's romance, appeal, zeal, chauvanism, prejudice, pride and a willingness to lug a 12.5 pound monster an hour to make a 30 second exposure. We all know that the picture ain't about the camera, but I think the camera is all about the picture. For the types of photographs I enjoy creating, my Deardorff fits the bill perfectly in nearly all situations.

    I love my 8x10. Made in 1952, it's been dropped, cracked and repaired more than once. A right angle is not to be found on it, but it still holds a lens and a film holder, and I can fix it myself (which implies that I can also break it myself...that damned cause and effect thing again).

    Is it a cult? Maybe it is, but it is in the same sense as there is a Harley, Corvette or Leica cult. None of them may be my personal cup of tea, but any of which I really wouldn't mind owning.

  4. #24

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    deardorff cult

    How sad. I do feel sorry for you. You see, if you have to ask, you would never understand. The Deardorff to me is instinctive. I know that if you spend enough time under a darkcloth you can learn to use anything. But, with the 'Dorff everything is just where it's supposed to be. Look at the lower section of the rear standard brackets. See how they are C- shaped? And the bottom support is C- shaped too. That's so your thumbs slide right onto the knobs for the swing. Even with heavy gloves on. On the front standard the knobs are on the outside. Once again easy to use even with winter gloves.

    The only other L/F camera that is anywhere near so perfect in it's design performance is a Speed or Crown Graphic.

    By the way, to even mention wood hacker Wisner. In the same sentance as Deardorff is blasphemy.

    Rigid? What 8x10 camera with 12 to 30 inches of bellows cranked out is rigid in the wind? No wind they are all rigid enough. The Empire State building looks rigid at ground level too. How many feet does it sway in the wind?

  5. #25

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    Sep 2003
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    deardorff cult

    >>By the way, to even mention wood hacker Wisner. In the same sentance as Deardorff is blasphemy.<<

    LOL. I have a Deardorff 4x5 Special nfs from the 1930's and it is just a joy to use. As mentioned earlier, everything is in the right place and easy to operate. The camera is sleek.

    I also own several other view cameras including Agfas, several Burke and James models, plus I have access to Shen Haos, Tachiaharas, and Calumet monorails and I've used Cambos and Sinars in the past. I use the Deardorff while the others sit around collecting dust. I did consider purchasing a Wisner once, but handling it in the store, it felt bulky to me and I didn't like the way it looked. Unsleek. They may be fine cameras to use, but to me, they are unappealing especially at the asking price. The used Deardorff was a much better value IMO.

    I like how the 'dorf looks, feels, and handles. Plus, mine has aged gracefully and although it has a few scars, it still is nice just to look at.

  6. #26

    deardorff cult

    i guess i am in the minority. i have been using my rebuilt (by jack) V8 for about ten years with great satisfaction. my other principal LF camera is a master tech, so it is safe to say that i know what rigid means. my dorff is quite rigid in all dimensions, and i have never noticed any wobbling, quivering, flapping in wind or otherwise. i also find the movements quite easy to use and very intuitive in their design. the bellows is an admirable combination of durability and light-weight construction. i have enhanced the design by adding what i consider to be an essential accessory: a linhof adapter board. even if my other camera weren't a linhof, this would be an amazing convenience to the extent that it dramatically decreases the size and weight of board-mounted lenses. really nice.

    as for the perceived quality of the camera, surely that is a matter of persona taste. there are people who climb into a new 2005 car and love the new car smell (polymer outgassing), and crispness with which all the knobs and buttons function. other people get in a new car and see a boatload of plastic crap that is going to be broken to bits in five years. the dorff has an amazing sense (to me) of solid quality. i would take it into any environment with complete confidence. it also makes a neat 4x5 camera (with reducing back) with gobs and gobs of extension.

    anyway, to each his own. but considering the great photogs who have taken immortal images with dorffs, as well as ron wisner's own high praise for the instrument, i think it is silly to talk about deardorffs being dogs -- that is of course unles you are talking about sixty year old unrestored cameras. it's amazing they're still going at all.

  7. #27

    Join Date
    Feb 2001
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    deardorff cult

    I drove my 1970 MGBGT to the office this morning. Compared to a Kia, it is slower, noisier, less efficient, less comfortable, and more drafty. I had to take 3 inches out of the foam in the seat so that I could fit in it to drive it. It is probably more "rigid" than the Kia. I had to get up early this morning and fix the rear s.u., which has a sticking jet. It accomplishes the same thing as a newer car -- I get to work. I look exactly the same when I get here. It is a beautiful car, at least to me, the result of Italian design working on the original British roadster. The inconveniences (pull the choke out, gradually push it in) are slight and by now second nature. I don't think I've seen a 35 year old Kia on the road. Or a 35 year old Toyota on the road. Or a 35 year old Datsun on the road. I enjoyed the 14 mile 35 minute commute. I think I'm going to drive it tomorrow too.

  8. #28

    deardorff cult

    Amazing the number of responses.

    To reiterate, my question was about why dorffs cost so much, not whether they are any good as a user camera.

    To me, the camera is not my friend or enemy, just a trusty (we hope) tool that will be there when I need it.

    Certainly did not mean to offend those who took offense, as I mentioned in the initial thread, I have an Eastman D2 that I use regulary-it is probably decades older than dorffs.

  9. #29

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    deardorff cult

    Herb, Please check View Camera magazine and look at the Midwest photo ad. A brand new 4x5/5x7 Deardorff made by Jack Deardorff for about the same price as a Canham or Wisner. A thousand more than a Tachahara or Shen-hao. Fifteen hundred less that an Ebony or Lotus.

    If a 'Dorff holds it's price, why not?

    Jim will have a 11x14 for about $5,800. New. What's the Ebony 10 or $11,000? The Canham is $5,996.

  10. #30
    Ted Harris's Avatar
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    deardorff cult

    Quality is worth what you pay for it but while we are waxing eloquently about the dorff let's not forget that tthere are other quality wood field cameraas that may well last as long as dorffs ... most of 'em just hafen't been around that long. My Canham Traditional 5x7 is pushing 10 and I imagine it will be around to celebrate at least another 20 anniversaries and yeah, I feel it has the same quality of workmanship as a dorff. Those who use them will say the same about Ebonies as well. As mentioned above, there are still many Gandolfi's doing daily duty that were old before the first Deardorff ever left the factory. Curious now, I wonder how many of Keith Canham's earliest cameraas are still in service?

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