Argus C33 (1959-1961)

The Argus C33 was introduced by Argus in 1959 and discontinued in 1961. You could buy one from Sears for ninety dollars, which in 1959 had the purchasing power of 780 of 2019's depreciated dollars. It was introduced only a year after the C44R, which had similar features but in my opinion was a better looking design. The boxy shape was similar to the venerable C3, which had been introduced in 1939 but outlasted the C33 by five years.  The mechanics were like the following Argus Autronic auto-exposure cameras.

Front

Top

Back

Bottom

Left

Right

Film Chamber

The C33 came with a coated Argus Cintar f/2.8-f/22 50mm lens, made by Argus in the USA, and could use an f/4.5-f/22 35mm lens or an f/4.5-f/22 100mm lens, both made by Steinheil in West Germany. The top of the camera had an accessory shoe for the Argus Zoom Viewfinder to use with the 35mm and 100mm lenses. The shutter speeds were 1/300, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 second plus bulb. The matching Argus flasholder plugged into the left side of the camera, using the same socket as on the C3. An Argus CM-2 light meter attached to the shutter speed knob. The light meter was settable for film speeds from ASA 2.5 to 1250 and was coupled to the shutter speed dial. The photographer would select a shutter speed, point the camera at the scene and set the lens to the f-stop indicated by the meter. This is a clunky camera to hold.  The C33 appeared on the market the same time as the Eastman Kodak Company's Kodak Signet 80.