Almost every photographer, amateur or professional who came up during the early to mid-1950s has at least some acquaintance with the Argus C series, mainly C3, the most successful American-made 35 mm camera ever. It was an ungainly monster, a clunker to carry, clumsy and slow in use (I could work a Speed Graphic faster), fitted with a mediocre lens and unreliable rangefinder. Although the optics were interchangeable with wide and tele options, few owners bothered with them. It was a real project to change lenses, especially difficult to accomplish without a surface to work on.
Despite all, it was a triumph of merchandising; by the end of the '50s, more C3s had been sold in the US than all other makes combined, foreign or domestic. There were US competitors, notably the Bolsey B and C models and the Kodak 35, both superior products, in my opinion. Both, however, were available mostly in photo specialty shops, with ER case, flash, film, batteries and bulbs sold separately as was the custom in photographic sales then. Argus, however, packaged C3s as complete kits, with all the above except film and available at a much wider variety of shops. Some of the larger general merchandise stores had them on racks. Also, ugly as the contraption was, many people were dazzled by the gears on its front, assuming this meant some kind of high tech (no speculation here, I encountered several people who expressed themselves so.)
So ubiquitous was the C3 that, basically, I couldn't avoid owning a couple of the wretched things at different times and regretted each. Still, a gazillion images were made with Argus Cs, many of them of historical note. Even though instructed not to, the tail gunner on a B29 over Japan ( I don't remember which city) took the only still photo of an atomic bomb mission mushroom cloud with his personal Argus Later, according to a magazine article I once read but memory no longer allows me to cite, that the first electron microscope image of a molecule was made with a lash-up involving a C3 body, which had been found on a beach by one of the scientists involved and hanged up on a garage wall until pressed into service for the project.
There were other Argus offerings. Some sold moderately well, but none as phenomenally successful as the C3. Despite that, the company was a troubled one, plagued with bad business decisions and worse luck. In the end, unable to upgrade and faced with superior Japanese competitors, the brick sunk the company.
Allen Zak
On Jan 8, 2010, at 12:54 AM, Javier Perez wrote:
<x-tad-smaller>Hi Everyone</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> FYI, you might want to have a look at this book about Argus cameras. Since most of you are serious camera collectors or photo historians, I don't have to explain the significance of the old Argus to photography! I'm sure the veterans among you have some interesting Argus stories</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> to tell.</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> Javier</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>http://www.ultragone.net</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> --- On Thu, 1/7/10, Henry Gambino <</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>aeonecom@xxxxxxxxxxx</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>> wrote:</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> From: Henry Gambino <</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>aeonecom@xxxxxxxxxxx</x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>></x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> Subject: [ACG] Argomania</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> To: </x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>arguscg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010, 12:33 PM</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> Ron Norwood reminded me that with all the new members of the ACG, I </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> should post a reminder about my Argomania, the complete illustrated </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> history of the Argus Camera Company. It covers just about every </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> camera variation and accessory that Argus ever made and answers many </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> of the questions some members have been asking lately. Those members </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> who have a copy, feel free to jump in and let others know what you </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> think about it.</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> The list price of Argomania is $39.95, but I've offered the book to </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> ACG members at a special price of $26.50 plus $4.50 for shipping. I </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> only have 40 copies left and I don't plan on reprinting. If anyone is</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> interested in getting a copy, send me an e-mail at </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> aeonecom@comcast. net. Thanks. Harry Gambino</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]</x-tad-smaller>
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