Argus Model 19, Minca 28 (1947-1948)

The Minca 28 was a pared down version of the pre-WWII Argus Model M. The camera was designed by Leonard A. Wilkinson, an employee of Argus, Inc. The Minca 28 had three aperture stops, a single speed shutter, and a non-retracting, f/9.7-f/16, 47mm two element lens. It took eight 24mm by 36 mm pictures on size 828 roll film. The same camera was also made with the names Camro 28 and Delco 28. A no-name version was probably made as a give-away camera. It was one among the cheap miniature cameras like the Winpro 35 or the Spartus 35 that popped up right after WWII. Argus supposedly sold the design and tooling to a company in Philadelphia after Argus stopped production.

The body of the camera is molded plastic with some metal parts. It has a reverse galilean viewfinder at the top. The lens was non-retracting. The aperture selection dial is on the top of the lens barrel. It is marked "bright" (f/16), "cloudy" (f/11) and color (f/9.7). Color film would have been Kodachrome for slides taken only in bright sunshine. Black and white film would have been a medium speed black and white film like Plus-X or Verichrome. The aperture stops are circular openings in a metal plate; therefore, you can't select intermediate apertures. The "time" or "instant" shutter selector is on the right side of the lens barrel as seen from the front. The shutter release is on the left. The shutter speed is about 1/25 second. The lens is a fixed focus two element lens with a close focus distance of 5 ft. Argus called it a "Lumar" lens. The bottom of the camera has a tripod socket and the film advance knob. There is a sliding catch on the right to open the back of the camera for loading a roll of 828 film. The picture number is visible through a little green window on the back of the camera.

828 film is all but discontinued. Only Film for Classics re-spools modern film on 828 spools and their film goes for more than $20 a roll. It is possible to tape a length of 35 mm film to a couple of 828 spools to use in this camera with the green window covered. You need to load and unload the camera in a darkroom, and guess at the spacing. With a little more effort you could trim a length of backing paper from 120 film and roll your own "828" film from 35mm film. Because a picture taken by the Minca 28 is the same 24mm x 36mm size as a 35mm camera instead of the larger 28mm x 40mm Kodak Bantam format, the sprocket holes won’t intrude into the picture.

A Mysterious Argus AA Variant

This variation on the Argoflash AA is a little mysterious because it is not mentioned in Henry Gambino's 222-page book on Argus cameras, "Argomania," or in the Argus camera guide reproduced on the Argus Camera Information Reference Site.

This camera resembles closely an Argus AA Argoflash camera (https://fourelementsinthreegroups.blogspot.com/2020/01/argus-argoflash-model-aa-1940-1942.html) without the flash connection, and has a serial number of M3435. It has the late model Argus A style back. It could have been a short, trial production run or a repair job. This example came from Goodwill in Racine, Wisconsin. I know of one other example. The other Argus model with an "M" prefix on the serial number is an 828 roll film camera with a "streamline moderne" style body (https://fourelementsinthreegroups.blogspot.com/2021/11/argus-model-m-1938-1940.html). All three models have the same lens and shutter.

The lens is an uncoated triplet (f/6.3-f/12.7).  The shutter is a single speed shutter (about 1/25 second).

Battle of Nashville Monument March 24, 2022

f/12.7 with Ultrafine eXtreme 400 and an ND 0.6 filter.  The 4x filter factor kept the picture from being grossly overexposed.

Argus Model M (1938-1940)

Argus produced this "streamline moderne" style camera for a short while before WWII. The Model M was designed by Gustave Fassin, Argus, Inc. It uses 35 mm wide 828 roll film. It was the first Argus camera to take film other than 35 mm in daylight loading cassettes.

The camera has a plastic body with a few metal parts. The lens is a fixed focus, f/6.3-f/12.7, un-coated anastigmat triplet. The close focus distance was six feet. The instruction booklet says that a close-up lens attachment focused at 3-1/2 feet was available. The shutter is a single speed shutter that's about 1/50 second.


The Model M can be set for either "double frame" or "single frame" format. Double frame produces 36 mm wide by 24 mm high negatives. Single frame negatives are 19 mm by 24 mm. You set double frame format by opening a pair of flaps on the film gate and closing the cover over the left picture number window. You set single frame format by closing the flaps across the film gate and uncovering the left picture number window. Either frame size is smaller than the standard 40 mm by 28 mm 828 format negative. The under size negatives compared to the normal 828 format means that the Model M is happy with regular 35 mm film, provided that you can roll it with backing paper onto 828 spools. If you develop 120 film yourself you would have a plentiful supply of backing paper that you can trim to 35 mm wide.


The camera was loaded the same way as other roll film cameras. The empty spool went into the chamber under the winding knob and the fresh roll of film when into the chamber on the other side of the camera. The backing paper was pulled from the fresh roll to the take-up spool and threaded into the slot on the spool. A couple of turns on the winding knob got the film started and the back was replaced.

For full frame pictures the film was advanced until the number appeared in the right window and the picture would be taken. The film would be advanced until the next picture number appeared in the right window and the next picture would be taken.

For half frame pictures the film film was advanced until the number appeared in the left window and the first picture would be taken. Next the film would be advanced until the number appeared in the right window and the second picture would be taken. Each following number would appear first in the left window and second in the right window until the film was finished.

Argus had their own brand of 12/24 exposure Arguspan black and white film for this camera, and a fine grain developer (Argus AR-1). Argus loads of Dufaycolor were available for color slides.

Production of the Model M was interrupted by WWII. The post-WWII Model 19, a/k/a Minca 28, used the same style body with a simplified lens and without the half frame feature.

Life magazine ad July 24, 1939.

Kodak Vision3 Film

In the tradition of putting motion picture film in still cameras, photographers and suppliers are loading 35 mm Kodak Vision3 color negative motion picture film into regular 135 film daylight loading cartridges. The differences between ECN-2 process motion picture film and normal C-41 process still picture film include the presence of a carbon black anti-halation and anti-static layer ("remjet") and different developing chemicals. The remjet layer prevents light from diffusing through the film ("halation") and prevents static electricity from the rapid movement of film, 90 feet per minute or more, through movie cameras. The remjet layer also prevents processing by a normal still photo lab because the remjet will contaminate the processing chemicals and machinery. An ordinary C-41 process lab will be very unhappy if it inadvertently tries to develop a roll of ECN-2 film in a C-41 machine and ruins the other films in the batch and contaminates their machine. Motion picture labs can deal with remjet; however, they are set up to process high volumes (a feature can have more than a mile of film) and don't process short lengths of still picture films.



Film Photography Project loads Vision3 film in 35mm daylight cartridges. Their film needs to be developed at home or by a lab that can deal with the remjet. Cinestill removes the remjet before loading the film in 35mm cassettes, which avoids the contamination problem and permits the film to be developed by a normal C-41 film lab. Removal of the anti-halation layer does cause halos to appear around bright lights.

Available with the remjet intact:

Film Photography Project Vision3 500T. Tungsten balanced.
FIlm Photography Project Vision3 250D. Daylight balanced.
Film Photography Project Vision3 200T. Tungsten balanced.
Film Photography Project Vision3 50D. Daylight balanced.

Available without remjet:

Cinestill 800T (Vision3 500T). Tungsten balanced. Rated ISO 800 when processed in C-41 chemicals or ISO 500 when processed in ECN-2 chemicals.
Cinestill 50D (Vision3 50D). Daylight balanced.

"Tungsten balanced" means that the film will render natural looking colors when the scene is illuminated with artificial light. "Daylight balanced" means you get natural looking colors in sunlight. "Color temperature" is based on the fact that hotter objects, like blue gas flames, emit bluer light and cooler objects, like glowing coals, emit redder light. The temperature of the radiating body is measured in degrees kelvin (K).  Normal room temperature is 293K.  Tungsten light is light with a color temperature of 3,200K, like the light from a photoflood lamp. Ordinary household lighting is redder (2,900K). Daylight is bluer (5,600K). You can use tungsten balanced film outdoors and get natural colors with an orange Wratten 85 color balancing filter with a loss of speed (ISO 125 instead of 200 or 320 instead of 500). Daylight balanced film exposed indoors with tungsten lights needs a blue Wratten 80A color balancing filter with a loss of speed of about two stops (ISO 12 instead of 50 or 64 instead of 250). Daylight film exposed indoors with electronic flash does not need a filter, and can be exposed at box speed.

Commercial motion picture labs are set up for processing a lot of film at once and have large minimum orders (a 35 mm feature film would use more than a mile of film). They are not set up to process short lengths of film from still cameras.

There are a few labs that custom develop ECN-2 film exposed in still cameras, according to the Film Photography Project web site:

Blue Moon Camera & Machine
Portland, Oregon
https://www.bluemooncamera.com

Boutique Photo Lab
Mt Juliet, Tennessee
https://boutiquefilmlab.com/

The Camera Shop
St Cloud, Minnesota
http://www.thecamerashop.com/

Old School Photo Lab
Dover, New Hampshire
https://oldschoolphotolab.com/

You can develop film at home using either an ECN-2 kit or a C-41 kit. A 1 liter ECN-2 kit is made by QWD (https://quietweredreaming.com/ecn2-kit). A 1 liter C-41 kit is sold by the Film Photography Project Store (https://filmphotographystore.com/collections/darkroom-supplies/products/darkroom-supplies-fpp-c-41-development-kit-1-liter), and other vendors.  [Update] The FPP store now has a 1 one liter ECN-2 kit (https://filmphotographystore.com/products/darkroom-supplies-fpps-new-color-negative-development-kit-1-liter-powder).

At home you can use a pre-bath to remove the remjet before developing the film in C-41 chemicals or you can simply wipe off the remjet after developing the film. I've used the wipe it off at the end method. This video shows how to remove the remjet layer at the end: Develop Color Negatives at Home. You need to be careful to get off all of the remjet or else you get cloudy areas in your pictures. If you remove the remjet at the end of the process it is a good idea to filter the C-41 chemicals when you pour them back into the storage bottles, to remove stray particles of remjet floating in the solutions.

This video shows how you can remove the remjet at the beginning: Removing Film Remjet. I haven't tried this method.

You don't get a before/after option for remjet removal with the QWD ECN-2 developing kit because a pre-bath using the chemicals supplied with the kit is a required step in the ECN-2 process.  [Update] The FPP Store ECN-2 kit doesn't include chemicals for a pre-bath.  How you remove remjet with the FPP Store ECN-2 kit is up to you.

Kodak Vision3 500T film developed C-41

Processing motion picture film in C-41 chemicals causes color shifts and changes in contrast compared to film processed in ECN-2 chemicals; however, the results can look pretty nice.

Zenit TTL (1982)

Zenit (Russian: зенит) was a long running (1952-2005) line of inexpensive single lens reflex 35mm cameras from the government-owned KMZ factory in Krasnogorsk, Russia, a suburb west of Moscow. KMZ got its start in military optics during WWII and later branched out to civilian products. Zenits were made by the million and are common on the used camera market. This Zenit TTL was made in 1982, according to the first two digits of the serial number, 82041469, which give the year the camera left the factory. This camera is lettered in latin script, which shows that it was made for the export market. The Zenit TTL was imported into the USA as the Cambron TTL by Cambridge Camera Exchange, New York, NY, into West Germany as the Revueflex by Foto-Quelle, Nuremburg, and into the UK as the Zenith TTL by Technical & Optical Equipment (London) Ltd. The UK version had "Zenit" on the camera body, but "Zenith" on the instruction pamphlet.

Front

Top

Back

Bottom

The front of the camera has the strap lugs, the self timer, the PC flash sync socket, and the lens mount. The top of the camera has the rewind crank, the film speed selector, a hot shoe for flash, the shutter speed dial, the shutter release, the rewind clutch, the frame counter, and the film advance lever. The back of the camera has the battery compartment for the light meter and the viewfinder eyepiece. The left side of the camera has the latch for the film back. The bottom of the camera has the tripod socket.

The shutter is a cloth focal plane shutter. Shutter speeds are 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60 and 1/30 second plus bulb. The flash sync speed is 1/30 second. One stroke of the film advance lever advances the film and cocks the shutter. The mirror is an instant return mirror. Earlier versions of the Zenit had mirrors that did not return to the viewing position until the film was advanced.

The lens mount is an M42 "universal" or "praktica/pentax" screw mount with an automatic diaphragm plate inside the lens mount. Pressing the shutter release will push the plate against a pin on the lens to stop down the lens to the selected shooting aperture. The M42 screw mount was introduced on the 1949 East German VEB Zeiss Ikon Contax S single lens reflex 35mm camera and remained popular through the mid 1970s. Bayonet mounts, which handled exposure automation better, eventually completely displaced the screw mount. KMZ was one of the last manufacturers to still make screw mount SLRs.

Pressing the shutter release also turns on the light meter. The exposure meter needle is visible in the viewfinder. The needle pointed to "0" if the exposure was good, "+" if the picture was over exposed, or "-" if the picture was under exposed. The camera metered through the lens with a CdS cell. The meter ran on a PX625 mercury battery, which is no longer available because of the toxicity of mercury. 625 zinc air hearing aid batteries should work, but last only about a week while a mercury battery would last a year.  The meter on my camera no longer works. The needle consistently shows over exposure regardless of the light level.  I use an external light meter or just guess.

The viewfinder has a central microprism focusing spot surrounded by a ground glass collar.

The Helios-44M lens that came with the camera is patterned after the Carl Zeiss Biotar lens, with 6 elements in 4 groups. The distance scale is in meters. There is a manual-automatic diaphragm switch.

To use the self timer you advance the film, turn the self-timer lever down and push the button above the self timer. The self timer will run a few seconds and the trip the shutter. Rotating the self-timer lever exposes a little "M" on the camera body as a reminder to switch the lens from automatic diaphragm to manual. The self timer doesn't actuate the automatic diaphragm plate and the lens should be switched to manual for the aperture to be correct.

You don't want to store the camera with the shutter cocked because it will weaken the springs that actuate the shutter, with the result that the shutter will stick open and ruin your pictures.

The chief point in favor of the Zenit was that it was cheap. In the hierarchy of Soviet Bloc cameras the Zenit trailed behind the East German Praktica and both trailed behind the better West German and Japanese cameras.

Werra 1 (about 1962)

The Werra 1 is a scale focusing 35 mm camera that was made by VEB Carl Zeiss in Eisfeld, East Germany. The camera was named for the river Werra, which flows through Eisfeld. Werra also was the name of a line of binoculars made by the same company. VEB roughly meant "state owned company", which was part of the East German Communist system for the organization of industry. This example was made for the export market. The focusing scale is marked in feet and meters, and the shutter and lens have "Q1" symbols to indicate supposedly higher quality control. The shutter also has the tower icon of VEB Pentacon. Because the original Carl Zeiss firm still existed in West Germany, the East German state did not have the right to use the name "Carl Zeiss” in the West, so the lens on this export model is marked "Jena" instead of "Carl Zeiss."

Ready to shoot

Lens Covered

Bottom

Back

The body of the camera has aluminum trim and black vulcanite. The top of the camera has just the shutter button. The front of the camera has the viewfinder window and the lens. The bottom of the camera has the rewind knob, a tripod socket with a 3/8" thread, the latch for the back, the rewind clutch button and the film counter. The PC flash sync connection is on the right side. Strap loops are on both sides. The back of the camera has just the viewfinder eyepiece.

All of the controls are grouped around the lens. The film advance ring is at the base of the lens, followed by the shutter speed ring, the depth of field scale, the focusing ring and the aperture ring. The shutter is a "Prestor" shutter with times 1/750, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 second plus "B". The shutter button is threaded for a cable release. The shutter can be set to sync with flash bulbs ("M") or electronic flash ("X"), or set a self-timer ("V"), using a lever under the lens. The lens is a 50mm, coated Tessar design. The apertures go from f/2.8 to f/16. 30.5mm screw-in filters fit this camera. Putting a filter between the lens and the lens hood makes access to the aperture ring easier. The lens hood can be reversed to act as a lens cover. Before covering the lens any filter should be removed and the lens focused to infinity.

The viewfinder has an adjustment for eyesight, and has frame lines with markings for parallax correction.

To load the film the back is unlatched at the bottom and pulled completely off. The film runs from right to left, opposite from most 35 mm cameras. The film counter is manually reset after film is loaded. To advance the film the ring at the base of the lens is rotated clockwise. Rotating the film advance ring advances the film and cocks the shutter. The rewind clutch button has to be pressed continuously while rewinding film.

The Prestor shutter works like the 1949 Kodak Synchro 800 shutter. The shutter leaves swivel in one direction around a pivot instead of oscillating back and forth. This action allows the Prestor shutter to open and close faster (1/750 second compared to 1/500 second on a Compur-Rapid or a Synchro-Compur). Because this swivel action is not self-capping when cocking the shutter, a second set of shutter leaves cap the lens when the shutter is cocked. Unfortunately the capping leaves on my shutter were stuck shut. A liberal application of contact cleaner got the shutter to run, but the shutter probably should be re-lubed. There are Youtube videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/mikeno62/search?query=werra) on disassembling a Werra with a Synchro-Compur shutter that may be helpful on this project.

A 51mm x 39mm card packed inside the camera has this text in German:

"Achtung!

Beim Aufschrauben der Sonnenblende als schutzkappe, darf die am Objektiv eingestellte Ectfernung 6 m bis infinity betragen. Kuerzere Entfernungen nicht zulaessig. Filter nur auf Gewinde des Schutzdeckels auf schrauben nicht zwuischen Objektev und Schutzekappe,

Schuetzen sie, wann Sie keinen Film eingelegt haben, die neuartige Film-buehne und diefeinstgeschliffene Andruckplatte vor Beschaedigungen! Legen Sie diese Karte zwischen beide Flaechen, damit sie sicj nicht beruehren!"

Translation courtesy of Google Translate:

"Notice!

When screwing on the sun visor as a protective cap, the distance set on the lens may be 6 m to Infinity. Shorter distances are not permitted. Only screw the filter on the thread of the protective cover, not between the objective and the protective cap.

When you have not inserted a film, protect the new film stage and the finely ground pressure plate from damage! Place this card between the two surfaces so that they do not touch!"

Werra cameras were made from 1954 to 1968. The many versions included scale focusing and range finder focusing cameras, both with and without light meters, with several different shutters, a couple of different fixed lenses, and slight changes in body style. The most advanced versions had interchangeable lenses. The Werra 1 did not have a range finder or light meter and was intended to be a low price camera, costing less than 100 marks ($25 in those days). About 281,000 Werra 1 cameras were produced.

With the lens covered the design has very clean lines. A Werra with a body style similar to my camera but with green vulcanite and without a nameplate is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art:
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/174806

The Werra is a straightforward camera to use. Set the shutter speed, advance the film, set the aperture, focus, aim and press the shutter button. Scale focusing works pretty well if you are not too close to the subject and you have the lens stopped down for a reasonable depth of field. Otherwise you might need to measure the distance to your subject with a tape measure or a pocket range finder.

The suffragette monument in Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee (Alan LeQuire, sculptor).

Werra 1 camera on Ultrafine Xtreme 400 film.

Zeiss Ikon Box-Tengor 54/2 (1934-1938)

The Box-Tengor was one of Zeiss Ikon's cameras for beginners. It makes eight nominally 6cm x 9cm (actually 58mm x 88mm) pictures on size 120 film.

The body is formed from steel and has black leatherette and black painted trim with a little nickel plate. The handle is leather. The front of the camera has the viewfinder windows, the focus zone selection lever, the lens, and the aperture selection lever. The right side of the camera has the film winding key, the landscape oriented viewfinder window, the time/instantaneous exposure tab, the camera body latch, the shutter release lever, the shutter lever latch and a cable release socket. The pre-WWII Box-Tengor is not synchronized for flash. The left side of the camera has a tripod socket for pictures in landscape orientation. The back of the camera has the little red window with its sliding cover. The top of the camera has the portrait oriented viewfinder window and the handle. The bottom of the camera has the portrait oriented tripod socket.

The lens is an uncoated, Goerz Frontar meniscus with a focal length of about 100-110 mm. Objects from 8 meters to infinity are in focus at the distant setting. For closer focusing additional lens elements can be shifted into place using the lever above the lens. The closer focus zones are 8 to 2 meters (the lower strength element) and 2 meters to 1 meter (the higher strength element). Eight meters is about 26 feet, two meters 7 feet and one meter 3-1/2 feet. The Goerz name on the lens came from C. P. Goerz, which was one of the firms that merged to form Zeiss Ikon in 1926, and made an earlier version of the Box-Tengor. Aperture stops, f/11, f/16 or f/22, can be shifted into place using the lever below the lens.

The shutter is a rotary shutter with a nominal speed of 1/25 second per the instruction booklet. A slide can be pulled out for time exposures. The shutter release has a latch that can be used as a safety catch to prevent accidental exposures or used to hold the shutter open for time exposures. There is a threaded socket for a standard cable release. Two 3/8" tripod sockets are provided.

Loading the camera is like loading a Brownie. You unlatch the back and pull it open for loading. The empty spool goes in the top compartment and the fresh film goes in the bottom. You space the pictures on the film by looking through the little red window at the numbers printed on the backing paper. The slide over the red window is kept closed except when winding the film. The camera was made when films were much slower than they are today. 100 speed film is over exposed about 1 stop with the camera set at f/22 on a sunny day. 400 speed film is good on a cloudy day or in the shade.

Because the camera is not synchronized for flash (you need the post-WWII 56/2 model for that), you have to use the open flash method for pictures indoors at night. You put the camera on a tripod, set up your shot, turn down the room lights (the room should be dark enough to avoid "ghost" images), open the shutter, fire the flash, and close the shutter.

This example is in good shape for being at least 82 years old. There are a few spots in the viewfinders and some wear to the finish. Box-Tengors were made in the hundreds of thousands and they are relatively common.

The bow scroll from the armored cruiser USS Tennessee, Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee.

The Tennessee was completed in 1906. Originally the ship was painted white and buff and had this decorative bronze bow scroll. The bow scroll was removed from the ship when it was modernized about 1911, and was installed in Centennial Park. In May of 1916 the armored cruiser was renamed USS Memphis and in August of that year was wrecked by a tidal wave in Santo Domingo harbor.