i drove down to samy's this afternoon to look at their 8x10 cameras. they have one deardorff in what would be bargain condition at keh, and one new canham traditional. i liked how the dearforff handled, but of course it was heavy and it would be hard to find one in good condition. i vaguely remember that it costs $2500 to have one professionally restored, but i'm probably wrong.
despite mike johnston's opinion, i didn't really like how the canham traditional handled, especially the levers for extending the front bed. they're on the inner side of the rail and all the way in the back. i also didn't like the t-knobs for front rise and tilt. they don't align themselves to give each other room. the swing/shift mechanism is brilliant, though.
today's real find was the mqc57. true, the rear standard flexes when you nudge it with a finger, but it was not finicky at all. the bed was also completely rigid when fully extended. the jmc810 has support struts on the rear standard like the traditional, so i'm guessing it doesn't flex like the mqc57. if the phillips compact ii goes for over $4000, i think the jmc810 would do the trick!
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