Deardorff 10×8 Field Camera Fully Restored to Excessive Standard by Nik & Trick

We bought this camera back in December 2021 from a seller in the USA knowing that it would be in a bit of a state and needing restoration, also knowing that the baseboard was intact and not split, a problem common to Deardorff.

It came with a 5×4 reducing back but no full size back. Bellows were holed, the lacquer chipped, scratched and discoloured but mostly complete and with intact architecture but it really was worse than it looked!

The camera was completely dismantled and made ready for restoration, a rebuild that has involved replacing many new parts to support the originals:

The rear standard was replaced with a brand new old stock unfinished genuine Deardorff item generously sold to us by the great Tom Lazaroff (Photolaz)

Bellows, brand new from our guys, made to Deardorf specification from modern materials.

Lens carrier, again, in very poor condition but a mint one was acquired from a dealer in Germany.

Any lacquered parts stripped back to bare wood and all wood parts were then French polished to a high standard in keeping with that you would expect of Gandolfi….in fact our experience with Gandolfi was the big influence behind the desired end result, you will notice that all screws, again mostly new stainless steel, are tightened so that the heads align.

Our end result is by far in excess of the original factory standard, so this camera may not be for the precious!

Now, out of the blue we received an email from a chap called Barry Cochoran…the current own of the Deardorff brand including all the unused parts, the rights to the name, the patents and the copyrights. I think he tried to sell it to me for a bargain $150,000 but we’re not camera makers really so we settled on all the parts, brand new, that would make up the missing 10×8 back.

The ground glass carrier being one of the originals, the rest remanufactured to a high standard, the ground glass supplied by one of our UK colleagues, hand made and bright.

Barry also generously donated the heavy duty embossed Deardorff strap. Lovely!

It’s reducing back (not shown) we have left in original condition as it’s not at all bad and is also ready to use.

Many many hours, hundred of them, have gone into this project, what with the French polishing, the refinishing to my satisfaction, parts acquistion….the screws required are a swine to get hold of until you find the right specialist people and so on and so on.

To complete this camera we have made our usual carbon fibre lens board, same size as Ansco, made by us to fit the supplied Schneider 240mm f5.6 Symmar, one of my favourite lenses for this format.

We won’t say that this is the best 10×8 Deardorff around….but it’s bloody close! This is the best and proudest restoration we have yet undertaken, the result is stunning and we will be genuinely upset to see it leaving us.

Please note, we will not accept payment by Paypal on this one, unless you are prepared to pay the fees!