Milsurp After Hours

Deadin gifted me a camera. It's a Argus C3 Rangefinder made in the USA from 1939 to 1957. Over a million and a half were made. The most produced camera line made in America back then and probably for ever more for the numbers produced record.

It's call the "Brick" because it looks like one and being made with a lot of metal it feels like one. Nothing about it is automatic. Side push a lever like a gear shift to unlock the film winding knobs to advance the film from one exposure to the next. Once your knob locks you push over a switch on the front to cock the shutter. You look through the rangefinder window to align the top and bottom view while turning either the lense barrel or the wheel at the top front. The Shutter speeds are another wheel 10.25, 50, 100, 300. Aperture 3.5 to 16 set on the front of the lense. There is also a B mode under the picture taking button.

I have another that I had no luck with at all. This one is really clean as I received it and I did a little lense cleaning to help the situation. The lense comes off and there were two other choices of lense. The one on this one is the standard 50mm. Taking the lense off is a specialized project in itself... but all things considered who needs any other lense.

I went out to Battleship park to try it out. I was guessing exposure on an overcast day. Most shots taken with either a shutter speed of 50 or 100. I varied the aperture but stayed mostly in the middle at about 8.

The biggest problem was... in spite of calling myself paying attention... I got a few double exposures. That's partly the problem of the cock the shutter thing that isn't linked to the film advance. Toward the end I think somehow the film didn't advance as it should too. Some of the double exposures look kind of artsy fartsy actually.

In any case... fun camera to take for a test run.

Thanks Deadin.

That's a good performer, was the last one a mistake or an experiment?

That's a nice gift and I do like the pics you took with it Robert.

Joe

Thanks, Joe. And thanks Deadin.

That last one I posted above was a mistake, Duncan. I didn't set out to make any double exposures and it was toward the start of the roll. The face is a statue representing Vietnam dead. The plane in the background is a C47 like they used on D Day to deliver the paratroopers. However, at the end of the roll there were double and triple exposures without me making a shutter cocking mistake. I think what was happening was that the film on the rewind spool was tightening up and the mechanical exposure counter was not showing what was happening as the wheels would turn and lock like "normal".

I took my Canon SX50 HS with the long lens too. Note the couple on the bow and the long reach.

Neat!! That took better pictures than I expected. (And they even look "vintage".)

This makes me want to shoot a couple of other vintage cameras I have. One is a Super Ikonta BX folder and another is a Rollei 16 miniature.

Dean

Well if you want to gift the Rolli I'll send you my address and pay the freight

Dean,with old camera's you never know what is going to happen. That's much of what is fun about it.

If anybody wants to try some old camera photography I'd suggest:

Use Black and White 35mm film because it is cheapest and TMAX and Kentmere are pretty forgiving on development times and temperatures. A 36 exposure of roll of Kentmere is $2.95. It comes from England so it should be cheap there too. You can get 120 film for a little more per roll

You need some chemicals. D76 runs $4.95 an envelope that contains the powder to make a quart of developer. You can use the developer chemicals several times before replacing. Water works as a stop bath or get some stop bath for cheap. Then you need some fixer. It comes in liquid undiluted quarts, or powder,that can be used several times with small amounts mixed with water...... 1:3 , using rapid fixer liquid.

I forgot to mention... ( later edit) Changing bag. Developing tank with reel for film. Church key for opening film cartridge, Some plastic jugs for the chemicals. A timer of some sort... the kitchen kind do nicely. A small pair of scissors.

Then have ..or get.. a scanner that will scan negatives. I have a Epson V600. You can scan your negatives and create positives and save to computer. Then ...if you want... you can have prints made of any you wish from the scans... just like digital camera images.

If you go to ebay or Goodwill or flea markets, there are plenty of old camera's out there. Be sure to shop around on ebay if you use that source. People often ask way more than a camera is worth and then eventually offer them with a low starting bid. Even so... some cameras are going to be junk so you have to average it out over time with the good and bad.

Well if you want to gift the Rolli I'll send you my address and pay the freight

Duncan,
Don't give up hope, yet. I have to make an attempt to sell it first as it comes complete with most of the accessories... (See below...)
The light meter seems to work, (the little green safe to shoot light comes on if there is enough light)
The only thing I can't figure out is how to test the shutter speeds. The shutter fires, but it seems to me that it's the same speed all the time. ????

Dean

That's a great camera kit.
The best way to check the shutter would be to expose a film at the different speeds and see kif there is any difference in the pictures...........

expose a film at the different speeds

That's the problem... The manual says the shutter speeds are 1/60th through 1/500th but there's no way to set them. Must have something to do with the "automatic" function. Besides, I don't have any film that will fit or a way to develop it if I did. There is one unopened cassette in the package, but it has got to be at least 50 years old. I have no idea what kind of film it is (color/ BW?) and I doubt very much if it is viable any longer.