Argus C3 cameras — any advice?
I am borrowing a friend’s Argus C3. I have looked up information on it and it is from about 60 years ago. It seems to be working but I was just wondering if any of you fine people had some good advice for me. I’ve been getting into “playing with” older model cameras lately – please see my other question about a 1986 Kiev 60 TTL camera! Thank you.
To “Maha” – thanks – I have tried a roll of film through it but haven’t had a chance to get it processed yet – good links!
The Argus C3 is a great little antique camera. It’s actually one of my favorite 35mm cameras. It’s really old, boxy, heavy, and kind of awkward to use…but you just have to love it. It’s VERY reliable, and it actually takes excellent pictures. It’s very solid and reliable. I have never seen one that wasn’t working. Seriously, every time I’ve found one in a thrift shop or antique shop, I’ve picked it up and everything still works. The shutter still fires. Do you think a cheap plastic digital camera will still be working 60 years from now? No way.
The Argus C3 is completely manual, so you’ll have to learn how to use manual exposure control…but that’s better anyway, so you can have more control and creativity with your pictures.
It does have little quirks though. One design flaw is that the shutter cocking lever is in a bad spot, right where you would normally put your fingers when you hold the camera. When you take a picture, the lever snaps back up. You have to be careful that your fingers don’t get in the way. It won’t hurt your fingers, but it will ruin the picture. If you wanted to, you can easily unscrew the lever and just screw it back on so that it’s facing a different direction and it’s not in the way.
The other little quirk is that you might need to adjust the rangefinder. With most of the Argus C3′s I’ve bought on eBay and in antique shops, the rangefinder was out of alignment. The rangefinder of course is the little window that you look through to focus. You look through the rangefinder window and turn the dial until you see one clear image. But sometimes, the rangefinder gets out of alignment and you have to adjust the mirror a tiny bit. It’s very easy to do, and if you want, just email me and I’ll explain how to do it. If the rangefinder is accurate and you focus properly, you can get VERY sharp pictures with an Argus C3. I mean seriously, it will take razor sharp pictures that will amaze you. I bought my first Argus C3 in 2007…I adjusted the rangefinder when I first got it, and it’s been fine since then.
I’m not sure what else to say – it’s really just a great little camera and you’ll have a lot of fun with it. It’s very solid and reliable, and even if you do have a problem, the shutter mechanism is very simple and easy to fix.
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