1948 Argoflex twin lens reflex

[Niner]

Another $15 ebay camera arrived the other day. It is a Argoflex twin lens reflex from 1948. It uses 620 film so to use it you have to have two 620 spindles which are just a slight bit shorter in overall length than standard 12o film spindle. You then have to rewind the new 120 film in a dark bag onto the 620 spindle before proceeding to load and lock the camera.

The camera itself looked to be pretty much in ok condition. I noted the mechanical shutter was a bit sticky and I worked it at various speeds and apertures for a while in hopes it would loosen up. I then discarded the leather case because it was disintegrating in a fine red powder all over my hands and shirt. You can see some residue on the camera in the photos I'm attaching.

Well... not a good first impression. The view finder was not good for viewing or focusing. It was really pretty awful in bright sun light. The shutter was sticking at most apertures and on top of that the hand held 2.26 pound box was not immune to any camera shake at what may or may not have been the selected relatively fast shutter speed. I did get one strange triple exposure on purpose because of the sticky shutter that would sometimes not open and sometimes not close properly. So I tried three times on one exposure. And about a third of the negatives were just black because of stuck open shutter at a 4.5 aperture.

So it was crap to start with on the first go round. But you never know what you are going to get with these old relics. It's the adventure of it that's fun. And... I think I will try taking the glass out and getting down to the leaf blades and see if I can free them up a bit with some contact cleaner.