Can anyone ID this camera?

[HippieWitch]

All I know is its a Targus.

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[o hey tyler]

Google revealed it's an Argus C3.

Amazon.com: Vintage Argus C3 The Brick 35mm Film Camera +Case + Flash All Works: Everything Else

 

[otherprof]

Tyler got it. And it is easy to do double exposures with that camera. Glad you posted it. "She reminds me of the one I loved back then," as George Jones sang.

 

[Derrel]

The Argus C3 was the best-selling 35mm camera in the world for almost three decades, from 1939 to 1966. I had one when I was a kid, back in the mid-1970's. It was not in very good shape. I bought a truly mint 1957 or '58 model last year at Goodwill...it was the nicest C-3 I've ever seen,along with the almost immaculate "everready" case. This camera was often known as "The Brick", for obvious reasons. It's a good example of rather primitive technology, just barely refined into a workable product. Compared to Contax, Leica, or even Kodak cameras of similar design, it's a very crude instrument. But...they sold like crazy. These were pretty affordable cameras.

 

[timor]

it's a very crude instrument. But...they sold like crazy. These were pretty affordable cameras.

Thanks to C3 35 mm film became a standard as a still photography medium.

 

[usayit]

cheap and crude... I have a couple just for display. Rangefinder type. Open them up and you'll really get to see how crude they were... but it did open up photography to the masses. Kinda built like the toys of the same era.

 

[timor]

cheap and crude... I have a couple just for display. Rangefinder type. Open them up and you'll really get to see how crude they were... but it did open up photography to the masses. Kinda built like the toys of the same era.

Common, it was a proper tool for proper times. Name any other American made camera of that time, which was not crude comparing to Japan and Europe designs and in mass production .

 

[HippieWitch]

Google revealed it's an Argus C3.

Amazon.com: Vintage Argus C3 The Brick 35mm Film Camera +Case + Flash All Works: Everything Else

Thank you for identifying it for me.

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[usayit]

Common, it was a proper tool for proper times. Name any other American made camera of that time, which was not crude comparing to Japan and Europe designs and in mass production .

sure.... did I say it wasn't a proper tool? Is "crude and cheap" not an appropriate description? sheesh...

Need I remind you that Japanese products were also often crude and cheap after the war.... The C series argus also predates the first 35mm film camera out of Japan.

Eastman Kodak was producing some nice quality back then... maybe not in 135 format but still nice never-the-less.




BTW.. just noticed in the photo... the lens. I believe its a later C3 model.

 

[timor]

Need I remind you that Japanese products were also often crude and cheap after the war.... The C series argus also predates the first 35mm film camera out of Japan.

But Japan was totally destroyed but very soon their cameras improved and started to flood American market making look Argus C3 really like a toy. I don't know why Kodak never went into business of making serious cameras.

 

[DSRay]

That was my first camera. My parents gave it to me when they bought their new Minolta SLR. I also eventually got the Minolta SLR.

 

[usayit]

But Japan was totally destroyed.....

Woah.. really?

Didn't know that.... :er:

So I ask again... Did I say it wasn't a "proper" tool? Is "crude and cheap" not an appropriate description? Did I not say "after the war?"

Sorry.. I'm just trying to follow exactly the line of reasoning behind your responses to my posts.... other than restating the obvious in a form that seems counter. You seem to take offense to calling the Argus C3 cheap and crude, yet still seem to agree that it is crude toy like. Very confusing.

 

[Derrel]

But Japan was totally destroyed.....

Woah.. really?

Didn't know that.... :er:

So I ask again... Did I say it wasn't a "proper" tool? Is "crude and cheap" not an appropriate description? Did I not say "after the war?"

Sorry.. I'm just trying to follow exactly the line of reasoning behind your responses to my posts.... other than restating the obvious in a form that seems counter. You seem to take offense to calling the Argus C3 cheap and crude, yet still seem to agree that it is crude toy like. Very confusing.

I can't figure out what timor's 'issue' is with your characterization of the old Argus C3... Still, I like my description: " It's a good example of rather primitive technology, just barely refined into a workable product."

Don't go after me, please, timor! See--I said it's a good example...of rather primitive technology...."refined"..."workable product". lol

American cameras of the time? There were a few small companies making cameras in the USA, but more were made in Europe I'd venture. In the USA, the Busch Precision Camera Co, and Graflex, and Simon-Omega were probably making cameras that were worlds better and more-refined than the Argus C3. The C3 was...primitive...tractor-like I would say. Utilitarian. Ugly squared off design. Relatively unpolished metalwork. Ugly. Compared to, say a Kodak Medalist, the viewfinder and rangefinder system in the C3 was...poor, by comparison. But, the C3 got the job done, and as I recall they had a very good guarantee and repair policy. The Argus C3 was a BIG seller. It was priced right and built solidly, and it doubled as a self-defense weapon.

 

[The Barbarian]

In fact, the camera is surprisingly easy to work on; you can do a CLA with very little experience. The shutter is reliable (have you ever found an inoperative C3?) and the lenses are adequate and better than some Japanese glass of the same period.


The Argus designers of the 1930s set out on a daring journey indeed when they conceived the idea for the C-line of cameras. Their objective was to produce an inexpensive, reliable 35mm rangefinder with the capacity to accept interchangeable lenses and yield sharp images. Given the materials and technology available, the only way to succeed at those goals was to emphasize simplicity of operation and durable, but heavy components. The shutter of the C3 with its beams and gears spread across the face of the camera is like no other design. The rangefinder, with its odd external lens coupling is rugged and accurate. The standard 50mm Cintar lens is capable of very good sharpness. The basic design of the camera remained largely unchanged over the three decades in which it was produced, except for some cosmetic changes like the two-tone color scheme of the Matchmatic model, or the addition of a clip-on exposure meter.
Argus C3

The Argus C3 was a BIG seller. It was priced right and built solidly, and it doubled as a self-defense weapon.

No kidding. On a wrist strap, the heavy, square-edged camera was a formidable weapon, quite capable of taking down a mugger, and then getting a shot of him lying on the ground.

 

[IanG]

The Argus C3 was the best-selling 35mm camera in the world for almost three decades, from 1939 to 1966. I had one when I was a kid, back in the mid-1970's. It was not in very good shape. I bought a truly mint 1957 or '58 model last year at Goodwill...it was the nicest C-3 I've ever seen,along with the almost immaculate "everready" case. This camera was often known as "The Brick", for obvious reasons. It's a good example of rather primitive technology, just barely refined into a workable product. Compared to Contax, Leica, or even Kodak cameras of similar design, it's a very crude instrument. But...they sold like crazy. These were pretty affordable cameras.

No it wasn't the best selling camera in the world, maybe the best selling camera in the US but they weren't exported in large numbers, they almost all went for domestic consumption.

Ian