Testing the Argus C3. Also fields.
Posted: 2009-01-31 05:36am
The Argus C3 was an American 35mm rangefinder camera produced from 1939 to 1966. Thanks to a simple yet rugged design, a good lens and exceptional durability, it made 35mm photography available to the masses at low cost. Today, they're cheap as piss in the US but hard to come by anywhere else; I imported mine. There may be cheaper and more comfortable cameras but I just can't get enough of the way this thing looks.
The model I have is a Colormatic from somewhere around '56-'58. It's one of the last models before the Standard redesign and lacks some of the speeds of earlier models; it does, however, have colour-coded controls. The inside of the case has instructions on which colour to set the controls at for which type of film, and following those instructions should get you perfect shots on a bright day. Unfortunately the speeds only go up to ISO 64 or thereabouts and I've only got ISO 200 lying around, so I didn't get a chance to try it out.
It lacks most of the luxuries of other rangefinder cameras; there is no integrated rangefinder/viewfinder window, no light meter, no double exposure protection and you need to cock the shutter separately from winding on the film. Even so, it's a very fun piece of equipment to actually use, once you avoid getting your fingers bruised from the lever snapping back.
It also takes some pretty nice pictures.
The model I have is a Colormatic from somewhere around '56-'58. It's one of the last models before the Standard redesign and lacks some of the speeds of earlier models; it does, however, have colour-coded controls. The inside of the case has instructions on which colour to set the controls at for which type of film, and following those instructions should get you perfect shots on a bright day. Unfortunately the speeds only go up to ISO 64 or thereabouts and I've only got ISO 200 lying around, so I didn't get a chance to try it out.
It lacks most of the luxuries of other rangefinder cameras; there is no integrated rangefinder/viewfinder window, no light meter, no double exposure protection and you need to cock the shutter separately from winding on the film. Even so, it's a very fun piece of equipment to actually use, once you avoid getting your fingers bruised from the lever snapping back.
It also takes some pretty nice pictures.