'During the years from about 1885 until about 1900, Mr. Laben F. Deardorff worked for several companies including E & H. T. Anthony, and Sweet-Wallach & Company, which later became the Eastman Kodak Store'....'Mr. Deardorff had the same lens made and sold it for a number of years. It was used for all of the official portraits made at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1903.'

Now the talk is about the Petzval type lens, but still it shows that Deardoff also made lenses and sold them under his own brand. Thats something i didnt know untill i did research on this lens. Looking at the serial numbers of lenses made by him, one can only assume that the production numbers werent really high. That also explains, why it is such a rare find nowadays.

This quite large group portrait and landscape lens features a tweaked aplanatique layout which is similar to Voigtländers Euryscope. With its 550mm (or 22") focal lenght it will cover 14x17 and possible even larger. 


Condition: The brass looks very good and authentic here, there is minimal to no wear. It is unpolished and still shows the fatnastic patina of over 100 existance. It is coated with a dark golden laquere which still protects the brass beneath. The glass is a great condition also, beeing clear and without any haze or fungus.

The lens comes with a working iris aperture!

The lens comes with a flange and the original leather lenscap.



height: 18cm
width: 10cm
weight: 2700gr

Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 10 eur
EU* - 40 eur
Worldwide - 90 eur

*(the site offers only 2 shipping variations, DE and worldwide. buyers from EU please either contact me beforehand for a reduced EU cost, or after buying so i can send a refund over the difference)

Importent Note: This item comes from my private collection and is around 100 years old (antique). I try my best to describe all the faults and major damage which are relevant for the function of this item. But the actuall item can show signs of wear and also some cosmetic blemishes/damage which is not described in the auction text! When buying this item the buyer agrees to this terms.