From The Archive

 I spent the afternoon retrieving scanned files from an old backup hard-drive.   Some of the files go back to 2001.  A quick look tells me my memory is going to be taxed recognizing some of the places and subjects.  

I do recall this cloudy April 6th of 2013 when I found some old cars lined up along the curb in the Old Town Plaza.  Captured with my Argus C3 and the Sandmar 35mm lens.

For this subject, Google Search is a big help in retrieving some details:

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"The car featured prominently in the center of the image is a 1958 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe. 

Key Details of the 1958 Impala
    •    Debut Year: 1958 was the inaugural year for the Impala nameplate, which was originally introduced as the top-of-the-line trim for the Chevrolet Bel Air line.
    •    Design Features: This model is known for its pillarless coupe design, quadruple headlights, and distinctive triple taillights. The specific color of the car in the image appears to be Silver Blue Poly.
    •    Performance: These classic cars were often powered by a 348-cubic-inch "W" engine or a 283ci V8, with some high-end versions featuring "Tri-Power" (three two-barrel carburetors).
    •    Historical Significance: It was a "one-year-only" body style, as the Impala was redesigned for the 1959 model year, making the '58 a highly sought-after collector's item. "  

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  More to follow...

Paint

Many of my old cameras have visited the aircraft displays at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque.  None of the Cold War Era planes is in flying condition, but the three bombers and the F-16 have recently been repainted and look like new.  Now, the Museum is undertaking a fund raising campaign to pay for repainting the last two planes in the collection, the F-105D Thunderchief and the A-7 Corsair II.  The INDIEGOGO page on the restoration project features an excellent presentation about the history of the two aircraft.

My pinhole picture of the F-105D was in a recent photo show at the museum, and the print was donated for sale by  the museum.

The picture I did of the A-7 Cosair II is one of my favorite shots from my Argus C3.

C3 Wide

The first camera I bought for myself was an Argus C3.  That would have been about 1958 when I was just out of high school.  Argus was still making the camera, but I got mine used in a pawn shop.  I don't recall exactly what became of that first one; I've bought several more in the last ten years and have enjoyed shooting them again.

I found the 35mm Sandmar a couple years ago on eBay.  The maximum aperture is f/4.5; it's a little slow, but it is coated and reasonably sharp.  The C3 and the Sandmar always seem a good choice for shooting at car shows like the early Spring one I went to this morning in Old Town Albuquerque.

One of the two nearby Walgreen's Drugstores has stopped processing 35mm film.  The other is due to shut down its Fuji machines in a couple days.  It seems my C3 and I have come full circle.

C3 Rangefinder Adjustment

The split-image rangefider on the Argus C3 is a lot more reliable and easier to use than almost any other old camera.  Often, a little cleaning of the optics is all that is needed to get the rangefinder working like new.

Occasionally, one needs to unscrew the silver port cover on the top to make some adjustment to the vertical and horizontal alignment of the rf image.  There is a lot of helpful information on the internet about performing the adjustment.  Strangely enough, none of the half dozen or so C3 examples I have looked at over the past few years have had rangefinders that look like the illustrations.  Nearly all show a couple screws as pictured below, but they are separated by a crease in the metal plate, and the directions for the needed adjustments never seem to work.

On my cameras -- all post-war models -- the little top screw does clearly change the vertical image alignment.  Just turning the bottom screw, however, accomplishes nothing.  If you disassemble the rf mechanism, what you will discover is that under the larger screw there is a little slot oriented perpendicular to the long axis of the camera.  To adjust horizontal alignment you need to loosen the screw and then move it toward  or away from the lens.

That sounds a bit easier than it is.  In fact, if you can see the screw move when you push it forward or back, you have gone way too far.  Looking through the rf window, you will see that the split images cannot be brought together, so you need to gently push things roughly back in place and start over with very gentle nudges to the front or back edges of the large screw head. When you get things lined up properly, you can tighten down the screw, but that may throw the adjustment off a tiny bit.  The trick seems to be to make ever-smaller adjustment movements, and to allow a little margin for the final screw tightening.  Cleaning and lightly lubing the rf mechanism may make the process a little easier.

 A useful target for the adjustment process is a phone pole a couple blocks away; sight on it and move the rf adjustment wheel to the infinity position, which should bring the split images into perfect vertical and horizontal alignment.  Getting the focus set perfectly at the infinity position should result in proper focus at all the intermediate positions as well.  Once you are satisfied no further adjustment is needed, it may be worthwhile to put a drop of paint or glue on top of the screws to insure that everything stays in place.

I can't imagine that the Argus factory technicians used the kind of hit-or-miss method I've described to get the rangefinder adjusted.  My guess would be that they had some kind of jig with micrometer adjustments to get the job done.  In any case, it is a task that can be accomplished even without any special tools and it is really much more a matter of persistence than of skill.

A Mixed Bag

I saw an ad on Craigslist for a yard sale with cameras in Albuquerque's South Valley.  Seemed like a good excuse for a ride on the motorcycle, even though I didn't expect to find anything I really needed.

Well, of course, I didn't need yet another Argus C3 since my shelf is already groaning under the weight of several old bricks.  BUT, this Matchmatic looked to be in good shape other than the usual cloudy rangefinder, and it had a working light meter. I didn't need another K1000 either, except that the trivial price also made it a must-have.  There was also a Series VI adapter, a 2+ Portra lens, a skylight filter, and a nifty little yellow and orange Kodak film can.  So not a bad haul.

We got back on the bike and headed north on Coors Blvd.  About a mile up the road I picked up a nail in the rear tire.  As luck would have it, we were only about four blocks from a motorcycle shop.  I drove the bike slowly there along the roadside.  Margaret graciously walked behind carrying the cameras.  An hour later we were back on the road.

Car Show Camera

I took my Argus C3 to a Sunday car show in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.  Seemed the perfect camera for such an event.

I picked up this C3 at a yard sale not long ago along with several other cameras.  The fellow was selling about everything he owned and going back to Sweden for surgery on a cancer the doctors here said was inoperable.  I didn't need yet another C3, but it seemed like a worthy cause to support.

This is one of the later models with features like the Matchmatic, but it has standard shutter speeds and f-stops.  The coated Cintar is well-recessed into the mount, so not much need to use a lens shade.  I opened up the rangefinder from the top and got everything sparkly clean.  A little cleaning and lube on the gear teeth got the dials turning smoothly.  The shutter needed no attention, though I did reposition the cocking lever so it would be less likely to catch a finger.

Argus Cintar

I've had an Argus Cintar lens rattling around in my tool box for about five years which I have used as a loupe. Recently, I acquired a nice C3 body with just a 35mm wide-angle, so it seemed like a good excuse to see if the Cintar could still deliver. The F3.5-50mm Cintar is a Cooke Triplet design; this one is a pre-war uncoated example. I had partially disassembled the lens, so it needed to be put back together and adjusted. Four small set screws at the lens front can be loosened to permit collimation for proper infinity focus.



To test the C3 with the Cintar, I took it up to the J&R VINTAGE AUTO MUSUEM in Rio Rancho which has an extraordinary collection of restored classics. Photography at the museum is something of a challenge as the lighting is dim and the cars are packed tightly into all the available space. Nevertheless, I thought the C3 and the resurrrected Cintar handled the situation quite well.

Argus Sandmar

I've been curious for a long time about the Sandmar lenses for the Argus C3. Recently, I was able to acquire a 35mm example inexpensively along with the viewfinder, and it came attached to a very nice 1953 model of the camera. There was little bidding competition for the outfit on ebay, possibly because of the missing lens shade. Most of these lenses were also sold as part of a set of two, the other being the 100mm telephoto.



The outer filter ring shows the model name of the lens along with its specifications: Argus Sandmar Wide Angle 35mm F:4.5 Nr. 422.
The rear ring contains the revolving focus scale along with an inscription showing the place of origin and a bit of post WWII history: Enna-Werke München US Zone Germany pats.pend.



The accessory viewfinder can be used both with the wide angle lens and the telephoto. The mask is pulled forward and placed over the front of the finder to provide the proper framing for the 100mm lens.

The Sandmar lenses are nicely made in typical German fashion, and they are coated for contrast enhancement. However, without the lens shade in place the results I got showed some flare, and I had to adjust the contrast significantly in Photoshop.



A brief slide show presents some example shots from the C3 with the Sandmar Wide Angle.

Argus C3

I got my first Argus C3 in about 1958 when the camera still had eight years left in its amazing production run, which started in 1939. Mine was used when I bought it, and I selected it like most other C3 owners because it fit my budget as a recent highschool grad. It also conveyed something of the glamorous aura of 35mm photography at the time when Life Magazine was still the preeminent purveyor of images. People today call it "The Brick" for good reason, but the C3 was one of the boldest and most successful designs in camera history.

The People's Cameras

In the Soviet Union, they were built by Fed and Zorki. Here, Kodak and Argus were the companies that made photography accessible to ordinary folks. Kodak can certainly take credit for getting the ball rolling, but Argus overtook the juggernaut of Rochester in regard to style and popularity.

I haven't done much with any of my Argus family members. As generations of photographers discovered, it is hard to take a bad picture with the C3. The Argus twin-lens reflexes are more challenging. The lenses are quite good, but the features - or lack thereof - require more focus than I've been able to muster so far.



The main issue with the first model Argoflex is the dim viewing screen which inspires little confidence during the shooting process. The camera also has a lens that is very subject to flare. The brilliant viewfinder of the Super 75 is a vast improvement, but the non-coupled focus screen and the shutter limited to Time and Instant settings limits possiblities.



So, those are my excuses, though they aren't very good ones. I've had better results with much simpler cameras. I thought I might look for some further inspiration by acquiring one more example from the Argus A line, which was the company's first big success that really revolutionized photography in the U.S. I've been prowling around ebay recently in search of a good, affordable specimen, so hope to have something new to show soon.


Argoflex

Argus Cameras of 1955



Thanks to Carlos Avilez, I have been able to add a page to the Ephemera section of my Vintage Cameras site displaying a sales brochure with details of the 1955 offerings from Argus.

Carlos' flickr photostream under the name Soulrac has some extraordinary images, including many made with simple cameras from the period illustrated in the brochure.

old machines

C3

I've had three or four Argus C3 cameras; the only one left in my possession is a Matchmatic model, dating from 1962. The camera has a few surface blemishes, but it works perfectly, and has a phenominally sharp lens, the f3.5/50mm coated Cintar.



My thanks to Julio F for his reminder to revisit the C3.