I went to a flea market and found these 2 TLR's

jeroen · Mar 29, 2010

We went to a flea market yesterday. I was hoping to find a nice medium format camera like a Rollei or maybe a Mamiya or something like that. (One can always hope :blushing

I came home with this pair though

The first thing I found was this cute little plastic/aluminum 1950's Argus Super 75.

It has a 65mm f8 (!) lens. It has 3 f-stops; f8, f11 and f16. There are instructions inside the viewer cover what stop to use in what weather condition. Shutterspeed is fixed (don't know how fast, I found some info on the net that it's somewhere between 1/30 and 1/50) or what would be "bulb".

It seems to be in perfect condition and I payed 15,- for it.

Secondly, my heart missed a beat because my first thought was that I found my Rollei, but it turned out to be something else. Since the brand/light meter cover is missing I had no idea what I bought. But it appears to be a 1958 Minolta Autocord LMX.

The focus lever button is also broken off but the lever itself is still usable. Also the light meter is dead but that is no wonder after 50 years. Still, it seems to be working perfectly fine. It has a 75mm f3.5 lens and I payed 50,- for it.

If anyone has more info on these, I would love to hear it.

compur · Mar 29, 2010

Your Autocord has a fine lens -- comparable to to the Schndeider Xenar and
Zeiss Tessar lenses found on some Rolleiflex cameras. Many say it is even
better. This camera is also just about as sought-after as the basic Rolleiflex
models. In mint condition they can fetch $200-$300 or more, the same price
range as the Rolleiflex Automat cameras.

The broken focus lever on the Autocord is fairly common on some of these
cameras as it was not very sturdy on some models. I sold one with the same
fault recently on eBay as a "fixer-upper" and it went for over $100 "as is."

benhasajeep · Mar 30, 2010

Hey cool an Argus. Their HQ was about 3 blocks from my house when I was growing up. Would walk or ride my bike past it on the way to downtown Ann Arbor, MI. They had already given up on cameras by then though. But the building is still called the Argus building and had some extensive remodeling done while I was in high school to. I had no clue who or what they used to be until later on.

Mitica100 · Mar 30, 2010

Here's a website describing the restoration of the focusing lever on your Autocord:

CLICK

Mitica100 · Mar 30, 2010

Also some notes on disassembly from Rick Oleson's site:

CLICK

Mitica100 · Mar 30, 2010

And if you want to have someone else look at it and repair it:

[email protected]

Check with Karl for rates. I don't know if he can address the meter but that's not vital, is it?

jeroen · Mar 31, 2010

Thanks for the comments

I shot a roll of 120 film with the Autocord today in the park using my dSLR's lightmeter for reference. I can pick up the negatives next week.

I'm afraid it does need a bit of restauration. The mechanism needs cleaning and although I can see a sharp image through the viewer, the focussing scale is way off. I have two left hands so all I can do is ruin my camera. But I also found an address of a specialized company that can do it for a reasonable price.

I'll keep you posted

Proteus617 · Apr 3, 2010

The Argus 75 is a fun camera. The shutters are a bit stiff and tend to jerk the camera sideways. Careful bracing can result in surprisingly good photos.

jeroen · Apr 3, 2010

I shot a roll of b&w film before I send my Autocord to a restorer yesterday. This is my favorite from the roll.

jeroen · Apr 4, 2010

Here's one more. I have a roll of Kodachrome ready for when I get my camera back from restauration.

SusanMart · Apr 7, 2010

I love the camera.....I think you should take pics OF it)))) but not with it..lol

It's like a piece of art) But I like your shots too)) did you photoshop them or changed colors.....what's the original color? because the fisrt shot seems a bit brownish))

jeroen · May 16, 2010

I got my Autocord back from CLA and I shot a film with it that I should get back in a few days. The guy that CLA'ed it also made a new focussing knob and fixed the lightmeter. How cool is that?
I'll post some results when I have my film back.

In the meantime... I am afraid I have a new hobby in collecting old camera's. The "film" camera market seems to be so dead that one can buy mint conditioned oldtimers for just a few bucks at the moment. It appears to be the perfect moment to start a fresh collection.

Mitica100 · May 16, 2010

jeroen said:
In the meantime... I am afraid I have a new hobby in collecting old camera's. The "film" camera market seems to be so dead that one can buy mint conditioned oldtimers for just a few bucks at the moment. It appears to be the perfect moment to start a fresh collection.

Congrats on getting the G.A.S.!!! That'd be Gear Acquisition Syndrome! :lol:

Collecting is fun and yes, the film cameras can be had for peanuts now.

Can hardly wait for the results from your new/old baby.

Dallmeyer · May 16, 2010

Good result with the Autocord! I like your photo of the cat on the windowsill.

jeroen · May 17, 2010

I had an Agfa Isolette I since I was 5 years old. An uncle gave it to me because it didn't work anymore anyway. And because I was only 5 I killed the rest of the poor thing. Murdered beyond repair, as I found out last week when I took apart what was left of it.

Yesterday I went to another flea market and I found the exact same Agfa Isolette I. It seems to be in a minty mint never used (!) condition. There was even a hand typed manual that came with it. I have a test roll of Ilford b/w 100 ISO in it to check if the bellows are as good as they seem to be.

But the weirdest thing is this: I payed only 6 (six! :shock: ) euro's for it.