82-Year-Old Argus C-3 35mm Rangefinder Camera: SURVIVOR Cameras, an In Depth Review Part TWO.

August  19, 2021

#435

Gentle reader,

This is part two of a four part series. Part one can be read here:

The Robb Collections: Found: Fully Working 60-Year-Old Petri 7 35mm Rangefinder Camera. It and Three Other SURVIVOR Cameras an In Depth Review Part One.

Since I have limited room in my now tiny collection, I chose the ONE camera which was NOT given to me to pass on to someone else, via eBay. Starting on August 22, 2021 at 9:00 PM Eastern or 6:00 PM Pacific time, THIS camera will be for sale at no reserve on eBay. Items for sale by rfcollectin | eBay

Now, this camera, an Argus C-3, the venerable "Brick" is a VERY early model, in fact it is the 4,216th one which was made, all the way back in 1939! It is 82 years old and works perfectly!

Here it is, posing with the 1961 (60-year-old) Kuribayashi Petri 7 which has taken it's place in my "Gifts only" cameras collection.

There were more than one MILLION Argus C-3 cameras made in several variations. The newer they are, the less adjustability the have. Here are three variations I once had including this one:

There was a pink tint to the white background which I could not get rid of, so I converted the photo to black and white. 

The left one's leather covering is grey. Note there is only one control on the front and a large addition to the top which includes a light meter.

The middle one's leather was beige or light tan. It has the same number of controls as the 1939 model, but only five shutter speed choices to the originals ten. It has a shoe mounted light meter which one reads and sets the speed by. 

And here it is. I did not know how old it was until I discovered the Argus Collectors Group website many years ago.

I will explain each piece and control of the camera. My parents had one as were were kids, I do not know from when.

This is the left side. Note the patina on some of the metal pieces. One opens the camera's back by pressing hard with a finger on the raised circle of the shiny square metal piece.

The right side. I am referring to as if one was holding the camera with the lens facing away from themselves.

The back, with the viewfinder hole on the left, and the rangefinder hole on the right. The latter is used to focus the camera.

The top. Left knob is for winding the film. I believe the round device is a cover over the rangefinder adjustment screw(s). 

The numbered dial is the film counter. When one turns the left dial, the film's sprocket holes are counted and the six-sided device moves a little. It stops the film when one frame has been wound. 

The last thing is the shutter button, top right. It has a little locking device on it.

The bottom. The dial is for rewinding the film. To release the film for rewinding, one presses the little nail head shaped device (below) which is the one that counts the sprocket holes. 

The round metal disc on the right is the tripod socket with the standard 1/4" threaded hole. The small black six-sided device holds the camera level when on it's "feet" comprised of the two round devices.

The back cover opened. The film take-up spool is on the left in the chamber. The film fits in the right hole. 

One pulls the the film rewind knob downward to allow the film cartridge to be inserted or removed. 

Note the two sprockets (with teeth) which transport the film during winding. As noted above, the little six-sided device (sticking up from the top) is what counts the film's movement and is also pressed to release it for rewinding. 

In the dark hole in the middle is the back of the shutter.

Here is the serial number. They started counting at 10001.

Here are the (left) viewfinder hole and (right) rangefinder hole. Note the blue tint in the right hole. The bottom half of the image seen through this window is blue tinted. The top half is clear.

To focus a rangefinder camera, one looks for a something vertical in the subject area. For instance, the side of a face. By rotating the rangefinder ring OR lens' body, one watches and when the face's edge (or other vertical subject) aligns with it's lower (blue tinted) half in the window, the camera is in focus.

Here is the roll of film I found in the Petri 7 camera when I opened it. It is obvious how the film lines up exactly with the sprocket teeth on the roller and passes it by the shutter.

If one bought the deluxe Argus C-3 kit, it came with a flash which used flash bulbs and plugged into the two holes below on the left side of the camera.

Above is an aftermarket adapter which plugs into those two holes and allows one to use a separate flash or even many in a studio setup by plugging their flash's cord into the round socket opposite the two prongs.

Here is the flash adapter in place. One can now see the PC socket which the flash's cord would plug into. When the shutter opens, a circuit is closed inside the camera, attached to those metal holes. That fires any flash plugged (electrically) into those holes, or via the adapter.

Most major camera companies have names for their lenses. Last Century, Argus lenses were called Cintar. 

This lens' maximum opening is f3.5. The minimum is f18. The lower the number, the wider the opening. 

After World War II, the number was changed to F16 to make worldwide parity. 

To open or close the aperture (inside the lens) one used their fingers to rotate the ring with the two metal pegs sticking out of it. 

This is the shutter speed dial. The fastest speed is 1/300th of a second. The slowest is 1/5th of a second. 

Both shutter speed and aperture opening combined allow one to make correct exposures.

For an action shot, a wide open aperture and fast shutter speed is required to stop the action.

To show speed, a narrow aperture and slow shutter speed would blur a moving subject's movement.

To make the subject, say a person or row of people, in focus, but the background blurry, again, a wide open aperture and fast shutter speed.

To make everything from say three feet (one meter) in front of you to the back of a room (or field or valley, for example) ALL in focus, the smallest aperture and correspondingly slow shutter speed (and a tripod) are needed.

Note the gear teeth on the range finder. Nowadays, it is one word. Behind the round disc is another gear and as you can see there are teeth on the lens as well.

One rotates the rangefinder OR the lens body itself while looking through the rangefinder hole (window) on the back of the camera. The lower portion of what one is seeing is blue tinted, the upper half is not. Once both halves are aligned, the camera is in focus.

Then one switches their eye to the left hole (window) to compose the photo and makes the shot.

I was able to find this tiny filter which fits the Cintar lens. It is supposed to eliminate haze in the air and make summer photos more sharp.

And here it is, complete and ready to be packed off to the new owner.

Years later, (but for quite a while when C-3s were still selling) Argus made more sleek looking (and expensive) cameras. Like this C-forty-four. Prior to this was a C-4 which did not have interchangeable lenses like this one does. Note that there are only five speeds, plus B which holds the shutter open until you release the button.

This is an even fancier C-forty-four which belonged to my step-daughter's grandfather on their father's side. It came with all three lenses plus cases for all and the device on top which one uses to see what each lens "sees" by rotating the inner lenses. 

For further articles on cameras, collecting and using them and digital photography plus making budget studios, links are here:

The Robb Collections: INDEX PART ONE To Every Article I Have Written About Collecting And Using Film And Digital Cameras

The Robb Collections: INDEX PART TWO To Every Article I Have Written About Collecting And Using Film And Digital Cameras

I hope that you enjoyed reading and learning about this very old camera. Every camera, including the one(s) in your cell phone, works the same. Aperture, shutter speed and focus. But all done automatically and NO film needed.

Scott

August 19, 2021

#435