Argus Model K (1939-1940)

According to advertising copy, the Argus Model K was made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the invention of the daguerreotype by Louis Daguerre, but in reality may have been made simply to use up parts for the abortive Model D. The Model D was going to be a spring motor drive, automatic film advance camera like the made-in-Germany Berning Robot, but Argus did not manage to get beyond the prototype stage. The list price of the model K in 1939 was $19.50 (about $365 in depreciated 2020 dollars). The Model K is uncommon; only about 1,800 were made.

Argus Model K and Box

Front

Back

Bottom

Top

Interior

The camera body is die cast metal with leatherette covering and chrome trim. The front of the camera has the lens, the rim-set shutter speed dial, the shutter release, the focusing dial and the windows for the viewfinder and extinction exposure meter. The back of the camera has the film advance button and the eyepieces for the viewfinder and extinction exposure meter. The latch for the film door is on the left side. The top of the camera has the film advance knob, the exposure counter and the cover for the film cartridge chamber. The bottom of the camera has the film rewind knob, the tripod socket, the aperture dial, and the shutter speed dial.

One thing that makes the Model K different is that the viewfinder is on the bottom. The photographer holds the camera against his forehead to take a picture.

The lens is an uncoated, f/4.5-11, triplet anastigmat. The shutter is a self-setting leaf shutter with speeds of 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/200 second plus bulb and time. The shutter has a socket for a cable release. Close focus is 3-1/2 ft. The lens and shutter are like the ones on the Argus A.

The first steps in loading film are taking off the film chamber cap, dropping the film cassette inside, and replacing the film chamber cap. Then the photographer inserts the film leader into the slot on the take-up spool and rotates the film advance knob until the film catches. The film counter is manually set and counts up from zero. To advance the film the photographer pushes the film advance button on the back of the camera, turns the film advance knob about a quarter turn, releases the film advance button, and turns the film advance knob until it stops. To rewind the film the photographer turns the rewind knob until the film is back inside the cassette. The sprocket wheel freewheels while rewinding. There isn't a rewind clutch. All of the pre-WWII Argus 35 mm cameras rewind this way. The film runs from right to left, which is opposite the way it goes in most other 35 mm cameras.

The extinction meter works by extinguishing the light visible through the meter eyepiece. The photographer turns the film speed knob on the bottom of the camera to match the value that is set on the shutter, aims the camera at the scene and adjusts the aperture dial until the center dot of light visible through the meter eyepiece just about disappears. The meter has no way to account for the sensitivity of the film, unlike the meter on the A2. Light is attenuated by strips of film attached to the film speed knob and aperture dial. The film strips have graduated densities that correspond to the control settings. The lowest densities are for f/4.5 and 1/25 second and the highest densities are for f/11 and 1/200 second.

The shutter on mine is oily and needs to be cleaned in order to work, not a job I want to do right now, and the film strip for the aperture dial on the extinction meter has come loose.

[Update] I got the shutter to run. Sample pictures to follow.