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Jon Shiu
7-Mar-2014, 21:35
http://jonshiu.com/aabb/dorff1.jpg
http://jonshiu.com/aabb/dorf2.jpg
Peter B. Hales, Darkroom Photography, Sept. 1985

David Karp
7-Mar-2014, 22:13
Thanks John.

Tin Can
8-Mar-2014, 00:15
Thanks, great read.

Alan Gales
8-Mar-2014, 09:28
Thanks, Jon.

I wonder what a V8 cost back in 1985?

William Whitaker
8-Mar-2014, 09:34
My, how times have changed!

Jon Shiu
8-Mar-2014, 11:56
Thanks, Jon.

I wonder what a V8 cost back in 1985?

Around 1800-2000. See
http://web.archive.org/web/20140308185259/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-08-16/entertainment/8502230447_1_camera-can-t-mahogany-wood


Jon

Jason Greenberg Motamedi
8-Mar-2014, 12:10
Here is a pricelist from 1986:
http://www.ohio.edu/people/schneidw/deardorff/images/deardorff_1986_prices2.pdf

Alan Gales
8-Mar-2014, 12:13
Around 1800-2000. See
http://web.archive.org/web/20140308185259/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-08-16/entertainment/8502230447_1_camera-can-t-mahogany-wood


Jon


Thanks, Jon.

That was a bit of money back in 1985. I paid $2,500 for a real nice used Chrysler LaBaron about then. I should have bought a Deardorff instead. The car is long gone and I'd still be using the V8! ;)

Alan Gales
8-Mar-2014, 12:16
Here is a pricelist from 1986:
http://www.ohio.edu/people/schneidw/deardorff/images/deardorff_1986_prices2.pdf

$2,995.00???

Now I remember why I was shooting a 35mm camera back then!

Jason Greenberg Motamedi
8-Mar-2014, 12:23
In 1986 I bought a nice used 5x7 Deardorff from Lens & Repro for $1100, which is about what I would expect to pay for a nice one today. Of course, $1100 then could buy a lot more than now.

Tin Can
8-Mar-2014, 13:04
I see they were still selling Studio stands, but don't see a price for a Studio camera.

Prices are all over.

GG was cheap and costs a lot more now, for USA GG.

Bellows are about the same price now and then, give or take.

Cameras were about the same as new construction today.

Which means a new hand made view camera is a steal today!



Here is a pricelist from 1986:
http://www.ohio.edu/people/schneidw/deardorff/images/deardorff_1986_prices2.pdf

Leonard Robertson
13-Mar-2014, 10:34
Looking through some older catalogs, I found a few pre-WWII prices.

1928-29 Central Camera Company of Chicago catalog shows "The New Deardorff" 8X10 priced at $150. The same catalog shows an 8X10 Eastman View No. 2 cost $63, an 8X10 Ansco Universal View was $67.50, and an 8X10 Korona View was $50.85. So a Deardorff was a comparatively expensive camera, but had more movements and lighter weight which made it more desirable than the competitors.

1931 George Murphy, Inc., New York catalog shows the 8X10 Deardorff priced at $118. An 8X10 Eastman 2D was $59.50, an 8X10 Ansco Universal was $63.75, and an 8X10 Korona was $51.65.

Finally, a Deardorff catalog which is undated, but has 1939 hand written on the cover shows the price of an 8X10 was up to $142.50.

It would be interesting to know production numbers on Deardorffs versus the "others" during that decade.

Len

Jim Galli
13-Mar-2014, 13:25
I wonder if anyone thought to take HABS HAER quality photos of the old Chicago 'works' before they broke it down and moved to Tennessee? I love the descriptions. Need to see some pictures. I happen to like messy shops.

Jonathan Barlow
17-Mar-2014, 22:30
In 1986 I bought a nice used 5x7 Deardorff from Lens & Repro for $1100, which is about what I would expect to pay for a nice one today. Of course, $1100 then could buy a lot more than now.

$1100.00 in 1986 was the equivalent of $2301.04 in 2014.