Argus C44_A7R7098
Today I found an old Argus rangefinder camera at a flea market. It's a model C44 an upgrade from the C4 that was an upgrade from the C3 (The Brick). I have a thing for cameras that were made before I turned ten years old. At any rate I didn't know anything about this camera so when I first picked it up the weight of it and the brushed aluminum finish set off a trigger I have no control over. I bought it. Once I got it home and started going through the usual tests and checks some interesting facts started to surface. First everything worked so I will be buying a roll or two of film. I found a PDF copy of the manual and more interesting things came to light. I found out how to load the film, reset the frame counter and rewind the film once all the exposures have been taken. And something else. There is a lever with an arrow on it at the base of the lens. It had me mystified. Come to find out it's a lens release switch. By twisting the lens barrel to infinity pushing the lever in the direction of the arrow and twisting the lens in a counter clockwise direction the lens comes loose from the bayonet mount. Horror!! I HAD to buy a 35mm f4.5 and a 100mm f4.5 on Ebay. How could I possibly enjoy using a camera without having all three available lenses. No big deal the entire outfit was less than $90.00. If I get any good photos out of it I'll post them.
Argus C44_A7R7098
Today I found an old Argus rangefinder camera at a flea market. It's a model C44 an upgrade from the C4 that was an upgrade from the C3 (The Brick). I have a thing for cameras that were made before I turned ten years old. At any rate I didn't know anything about this camera so when I first picked it up the weight of it and the brushed aluminum finish set off a trigger I have no control over. I bought it. Once I got it home and started going through the usual tests and checks some interesting facts started to surface. First everything worked so I will be buying a roll or two of film. I found a PDF copy of the manual and more interesting things came to light. I found out how to load the film, reset the frame counter and rewind the film once all the exposures have been taken. And something else. There is a lever with an arrow on it at the base of the lens. It had me mystified. Come to find out it's a lens release switch. By twisting the lens barrel to infinity pushing the lever in the direction of the arrow and twisting the lens in a counter clockwise direction the lens comes loose from the bayonet mount. Horror!! I HAD to buy a 35mm f4.5 and a 100mm f4.5 on Ebay. How could I possibly enjoy using a camera without having all three available lenses. No big deal the entire outfit was less than $90.00. If I get any good photos out of it I'll post them.