V8
OS 1923-30, 1930-'37, 1938-49
Laquered metal, Painted Metal,
Nickle plated metal
8x10 Folding View
Why did L.F. Deardorff create the first 8 x 10 ( called the V8 ) ? He had
been a repairman for nearly 30 years before the 1923 premiere of the first
V8. He worked for Rochester Optical and assisted in the design of
their PREMO line of VIEW cameras. He also modified any view camera
to have more movements. He gained quite a reputation for this work. He
also saw a need for a camera that did all the functions of those modified
cameras he worked on. To understand what was going on you have to think
of what cameras were around in the early 1920s. Agfas, Anscos, Kodak's,
Carltons, etc.... What do all of these have in common ? They are almost
clones of each other. Limited movements, inability to do wide angle work
without contortions ( running the camera to the front of the rails putting
the camera out of balance)
L.F was undoubtedly
influenced by the English folding field cameras of nearly 40 years before
(1880s). What he and his sons did was to re-design the English folding
field to have a front extension that rolled out of the bed and a rear extension
that did the same. Why these movements ? To balance the camera on the tripod.
Remember, these are some heavy lenses made with lots of brass. Also the
optical properties of these movements are that the front extension changes
the size of the object on the ground glass and the rear extension sets
the focusing plane. The moveable rear swing unit changes the perspective
of the image. The sliding lens board panel adjusts the image on the ground
glass without readjusting the front tilt. Take ALL these movements Rear
swing and tilt, front tilt and the sliding panel, put them together
and you do not have to stop down soon much as before, though I still
know photographers who insist on stopping down to f 90 when f 22 will do.
But even I do not use all the movements all the time. It can also be squeezed
together to accept a 3.5in lens. What came of all this ? One
of the longest production view cameras in history. When you see a
1923 Deardorff and a 1988 model you will see a wonderful family resemblance.
This is a 1928 V8 #12A. It has a 6x6 square cornered lensboard
V8
OS 
