Argus A3 (1940-1942)

Front

Back

Top

Bottom

Film Chamber

 
The Argus A3 was made by Argus, Ann Arbor, Michigan, from October, 1940, through early 1942, when Argus shifted to war production. The production of the A3 and the similar model CC Colorcamera together may have totaled about 40,000. The A3 has a cast metal body and an f/4-16 50mm uncoated Argus Anastigmat lens in a self-setting shutter that runs from 1/25 to 1/150 second, and has bulb and time settings. The camera has an extinction meter on top and a dial exposure calculator on the back. Because the camera was made before the ASA film speed standard was adopted, the calculator uses Weston film speeds. Weston made the first photoelectric light meters for photography, and worked out film speeds to use with their meters. Weston film speed numbers were 20% smaller than the ASA film speed for a given film. A film with a Weston speed of 80 would have an ASA speed of 100. There also is an accessory clip on the top for a third party range finder such as the Kodak Service Range Finder. This is not a flash shoe - the camera is not synchronized for flash. To use flash you would need to use a third party flash synchronizer that fit the cable release socket or use open flash. Open flash means that with the camera on a tripod you would open the shutter, set off the flash, and then close the shutter. This camera is missing the die cast zinc film take-up spool. The spool was not permanently attached and if you turned the camera right side up with the back open the spool would fall out. The instruction leaflet supplied with the camera does explain how to use a reloadable 35mm film cassette as a take-up spool. You would do this to make possible using only part of a roll of film without wasting the rest of the roll. The focusing dial on this camera appears to be out of calibration and I haven't tested the camera with film. It may end up being a shelf queen.