In October 1911, Freundlich contacted astronomer Charles D. Perrine in Berlin to inquire as to the suitability of examining existing solar eclipse photographs to prove Einstein's prediction of light deflection. Perrine, the director of the Argentine National Observatory at Cordoba, had participated in four solar eclipse expeditions while at the Lick Observatory, in 1900, 1901, 1905, and 1908. "...he had become, in the opinion of the director of the Lick Observatory, W. W. Campbell, an observer without peer in the field of solar eclipses." He did not believe existing eclipse photos would be useful in proving Einstein's claim. In 1912 Freundlich asked if Perrine would include observation of light deflection as part of his program for the solar eclipse of October 10, 1912, in Brazil. W. W. Campbell, director of the Lick Observatory, loaned Perrine its intramercurial camera lenses. Perrine and the Cordoba team were the only eclipse expedition to construct specialized equipment dedicated to observing light deflection. Unfortunately all the expeditions experienced heavy rain which prevented any observations. Nevertheless, Perrine was the first astronomer to make a dedicated attempt to observe light deflection to test Einstein's prediction.