Deardorff 8x10 Questions

**Len Middleton** · 16-Apr-2024, 12:28

Originally Posted by Eric Woodbury

Check the focus, i.e. the glass placement. I've had several Deardorffs, 810 and 57. The glass is always off. And not even parallel. Usually sloped in one direction. As much as 0.030". That's too much.

Eric,

When Richard Ritter did some work making dark slides for my two 8x20 holders, he had me send the camera back to him, as well as the holders.

Apparently it was common one time to mount the ground surface on the outside of the camera away from the lens, rather than the common practice of facing the lens. He installed it correctly and shimmed the ground glass for the correct T-distance.

I wonder how much expensive 8x20 film I would have gone through before I realized the problem was the camera and not the lens or camera operator?

I was very grateful for him correcting that,

Len