Rangefinder
This is my late grandfather’s vintage Argus C3 rangefinder camera with a coated Cintar lens, which I “inherited” at Christmas.
After doing a bit of research it appears that Argus produced the C3 model from circa 1938 to 1956. I believe mine is one of the earlier C3 models and dates before 1945. This is based on the following: the fact that the exposure dial is silver with black numbers (instead of black with white numbers), there is no accessory shoe, there is no Argus nameplate on the front, it has a Weston film speed reminder dial (later models didn’t have this), the back also has three stripes of leatherette divided by chrome (instead of being plain). The camera’s serial number is 137195 (inside the film compartment instead of on the bottom), which means it was produced after WWII had started. It will take a picture in the 24 x 36mm size, and is commonly referred to as “The Brick.” Many people estimate that of the 35mm cameras that American soldiers took into WWII, the Argus “Brick” was the most popular one. All this seems to fit with what I know of my grandfather; he was a US Marine in WWII and did have pictures that he took during the war buried in his desk drawer. There was one picture that I’ll never forget: that of group Japanese soldiers chained to their tank while being shot at. My grandfather said that it was common for the Japanese to chain their soldiers to the tanks during battle, to prevent them from running away. One of the Japanese soldiers had already fallen when my grandfather took the shot.
If I can ever figure out how to work it, I’d like to take some pix with my little piece of history. Knowing that my grandfather probably used it during WWII would only make that more special.
22 responses so far...
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Lisa at 2007-01-07 19:58, said:
What a great shot! Excellent start to your PAW
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L1 at 2007-01-07 19:59, said:
This is a most awesome picture…and the camera is so cool! I hope you get it all figured out; I’d love to see what that baby can do!
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Jeff at 2007-01-07 21:14, said:
What an interesting post. Old cameras are very interesting…especially when you have a family story to go with it.
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Jeni Yantis at 2007-01-07 22:38, said:
Wow – What a great photo and such a cool camera!! I love it!!
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asim at 2007-01-07 22:39, said:
great picture… great story… helps us remember the importance of photography in documenting the world around us…
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puzzled at 2007-01-07 22:52, said:
Whoohoo, you’ve kicked off 2007 with this beauty representing your own heritage – so cool that your grandfather was also a photographer! Love the sepia tones and depth.
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Jojo at 2007-01-07 23:04, said:
Wow! That is beautiful. And a great little interesting fact to go with it too! Kudos!
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Marc at 2007-01-08 01:11, said:
This is a nice shot. I like the antique look of it.
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Ancientimages at 2007-01-08 04:02, said:
Fantastic image of a great camera, and what a wonderful story to go with it. I hope you are able to take some pictures with it soon. What a wonderful piece of history and what a special Christmas present.
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Jason at 2007-01-08 17:32, said:
This is a textbook shot.
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Karp at 2007-01-09 10:18, said:
The shot is a bit dark on my screen but I sure do love the story behind it :p
And a small reply on your comment. The third escalator-shot is pretty much the same exposure but has different channel-mixer settings. I like the 2 blurred silhouettes myself because I think they give a feeling of movement and they create a sort of pathway down the image. Thanks for your comments and keep it up here!
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islandpaddler at 2007-01-09 17:10, said:
Great sepia image…it fits the antique camera nicely!
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Faye Pekas at 2007-01-10 20:47, said:
What a wonderful piece of history to have. I hope you do take some photos with it and post them.
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KarenNfld at 2007-01-11 17:44, said:
Wonderful photo.
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error99 at 2007-01-13 13:20, said:
I really like the sepia tone on this shot. I bet that camera has taken some cool shots.
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MattO at 2007-01-14 18:39, said:
Wow what a find and nicely photographed and post processed.
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Alain at 2007-01-15 04:30, said:
Beautifull picture, using sepia gives it a great vintage look.
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kteach at 2007-01-17 21:35, said:
Nice shot, and a great story to go along with it! If you get it working, I’m sure we’d love to see some scanned shots of the photos you were able to take!
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Konrad at 2007-01-21 04:39, said:
The sepia tone really give it that antique feel. You should load some B&W film into it and try it out.
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goc at 2007-01-22 03:53, said:
excellent, some piece of equipment !
great photo and story -
Ingrid at 2007-01-23 20:19, said:
This is such a good shot – I can feel the age and history.
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HAHAEvan at 2007-02-12 10:31, said:
woww
very cool piece of equipment!
Was this at the library, too? Looks cool.