Yet another Argus C3 review

[modern_kogaku]

<p>Hello everyone,<br>

yesterday there was a post from Doug on this list with some nice pictures his friend took with an Argus C3.<br>

I also own one of these historically significant cameras, which were the ultimate argument in the film format war. As there were more than a million of them produced, the 135 film they were using became a de-facto standard in amateur photography. My model is so called Match-Matic. It was intended to be used with a special light meter on top (which I don't have), that supplied you with some number which you then set on the shutter speed dial and the apperture.<br>

<img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/lazy_clown/pic/000z0p21" alt="" width="350" height="235" /><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/lazy_clown/pic/000z1yqa" alt="" width="350" height="235" /><br>

-- only the numbers from 4 to 8 there, not the usual fractions of a second and f-stops. Which makes the cumbersome ergonomics of this camera even cumbersomier. So I only used it once.<br>

<img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/lazy_clown/pic/000yxaz2" alt="" width="700" height="469" /><br>

-- overall the camera looks very steam-punkish with all those gears and dials and has it's charm.<br>

Here are some of the results I managed to get -- the lens is very nice to my opinion:<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2792425020_a7c2ffa436_o.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="536" /><br>

Worser Bay<br>

--<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3174/2792424236_fdfb5265ba_o.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="536" /><br>

Red Bag<br>

--<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/2792419928_35f94b499f_o.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="536" /><br>

Neighbour<br>

--</p>

 

[modern_kogaku]

<p>Sorry, just one more picture. Can be interesting to someone.<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2792423548_01b8926b6c_o.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="536" /><br>

-- that rusty ship is the "Venture" which brought King Kong to New York. RIP.</p>

 

[paul_wheatland]

<p>I used an Argus C from about 1940. Thei model is like the later ones except the rangefinder is uncoupled, no gear wheel in between, and no BiPole flash syncronization. I like the shutter release button on this particular model because of it's "hair trigger" action, much smoother than later models.</p><div></div>

[modern_kogaku]

<p>Great shot Paul!</p>

[User_5050610]

<p>Dmitri--all your shots are great!<br>

How did you get the cat to stay still??:-)<br>

Worser Bay is really nice...<br>

Thanks for posting.<br>

Paul</p>

[cj8281]

<p>Les the finder is real easy to clean. Open the back, remove the circlip with a large needle or a small pick. Use a Q-Tip with a little bit of cleaner to clean the inside of the finder. Reinstall then clean the other one. I don't know if the two back lenses are different or not.</p>

<p>Dmitri, do you have the book for your Matchmatic? In my copy, there is a page that lists what the different numbers are. I remember the aperture is 3½=ƒ3.5, 4=ƒ4, 5=ƒ5.6, 6=ƒ8, 7=ƒ11 and 8=ƒ16. IIRC, the shutter is 8=300, 7=100, 6=50, 5=25 and 4=10. If you have a light meter that shows the EV of the scene, then you add the 2 numbers to get the exposure. Say your meter says that the EV is 12, you can set the aperture to 6 and the shutter to 6, or 5 and 7 or, well you get the idea.<br>

Nice pictures.</p>

 

[modern_kogaku]

<p>Clay, no book, just the brick! Thanks for the magic numbers and the exposure setting advise. That will be really helpful when I feel the itch for running a roll through this beast. May not happen in the nearest future though :)</p>

[modern_kogaku]

<p>Paul, the cat was astonished by the look of the camera! He did not let me to come up closer though. Thanks!</p>

[modern_kogaku]

<p>Les, thank you. There were 24 frames on the film -- enough to make 4 decent ones :)<br>

Yes the Cintar has rendered the <em>Neighbour</em> shot quite nice.. smooth and with some nice details. A very interesting lens.</p>

[doug grosjean]

<p>Nice work. I like the Neighbor, the Red Bag, and Worser Bay.</p>

<p>But a small correction - the photos I posted, were photos I took myself. I don't think we're allowed to post photos here, that we haven't taken ourselves. Well, except Gene M. when he does Found Films (grinning).</p>

[gnashings]

<p>Lovely results, I too like the neighbour, great shot!</p>

[chuck_foreman1]

Excellent results ! So cool that the numbers were defined I'd pack that info with the camera! I recall back in the 80s when I first got interested in old cameras seeing the "brick" but realizing they were plentiful assumed I'd come back to them. We've discussed the "attractiveness" issue and how this affects our collection habits! Steam Punkish ..that is a very cool description!

[harris_austin2]

<p>Here are the shutter speeds:<br>

#4=1/10th second<br>

#5=1/25th<br>

#6=1/50th<br>

#7=1/100th<br>

#8=1/300th<br>

The f stops start at f3.5-the next stop is f4 and you should be able to figure it out from there. Smallest f stop is f16</p>

[cj8281]

<p>Here is a scan of that page in the book. I did remember correctly. On the ƒ-stop remember that 8 is 16 and 3½ is 3.5.</p><div></div>