[rollei_list] Re: Argomania
- From: Javier Perez <summarex@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Rollei List <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 02:24:13 -0500
Hi Don
Actually I think that wasn't a design defect. I'm not sure how the story goes
but that switch was NOT an X/M switch. It was something else and it was meant
to be used with the Argus flash or something like that. I have a few Arguses
including my favourites the C33 and C44. I keep them in the closet next to my
Claruses (Clari?)! Fun cameras!
Javier
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 15:09:14 -0600
To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: dwilli10@xxxxxxx
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Argomania
At 12:01 AM 1/8/2010, Javier wrote:
Hi Everyone
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
to tell.
Javier
Thanks,
My High School Graduation present (exactly 60 years ago) was an Argus C4. (I
really wanted a Kodak 35, I think it was called).
I used it through college and bought a battery-powered flash for it in Panama
in 1953 during my Midshipman Cruise. It was disappointing at first. I kept
getting low exposures, regardless of the F-stop setting. I finally opened the
camera and pointed the flash on the behind-the-lens shutter and found that the
F speed setting was causing the flash to fire when the shutter was half open,
so that the shutter was acting as the F-stop. I then took the camera open,
ground a new cam on the shutter drive shaft, and created an X-sync.
That worked fine and I still have an under water housing I made for it but gave
the camera to someone a few years back. It had a design defect in that the
"shutter-toggle", a lever that runs in a grove in the shutter drive shaft would
break every few months. Argus always gave me replacements but they finally
became unavailable and the camera sat around for 30 or so years. I couldn't
bear to toss it out so I found someone who wanted it so I sent it to a new home.
The first time the toggle broke I sent it back to Argus and they repaired it
but the bent my new set of flash contacts away from the cam. I bent it back
and it worked fine. I do remember that I had to add a light shield to keep the
spark at the contacts from exposing the frame.
I think the strobe battery was 67 volts, perhaps more, and that was what was
supplied to the capacitor. Nice little German-made strobe.
The book looks interesting but it's out of my price range.
Regards to all.
DAW
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