Night Shooting With The Argus C3

On the weekend of May 16-18, I was in Findlay Ohio for the Film Photography Project's Walking Workshop II.  Mike Raso, Leslie Lazenby, and the rest of the the FPP crew were on hand to welcome nearly 80 participants in the FPPWWII event.  I'll write more on that another time, but I should point out that it was a great weekend.
On the first night, Tim Wrobel (another A3C3 member) and his friend Susan and I met downtown to do some night photography.  My camera of choice that night was my Argus C3 with a 35mm f/4.5 Sandmar lens.  I loaded it with an expired roll of Ektachrome 160T.  Tungsten film is perfect for night shoots in urban areas, and my plan was to also have it developed in C-41 for some cross-processed funkiness.  Truth is, the Tungsten films xpro really well, and at night the colors are off anyways.    I used a cable release, set the shutter on B, and carried the camera around on my Manfrotto tripod.  I guesstimated the exposures, which ranged from 10-25 seconds. Overall, I was pleased with the results.  The beauty of using the Argus is that it is so simple to use for long exposures.  Second, as you can see in the photo of the camera, I have an accessory viewfinder for framing.  Almost everything was shot at infinity at f/8 to f/16.
This was the first time I had used this particular C3 with the 35mm lens, and while there is some flare in some of the photos, it worked well and I think that I will try it again with some Ektachrome 64T, which I seem to have a lot of sitting in the film fridge.

If you have put off shooting night scenes with film, give it a try.  You don't need to use Tungsten E-6 film, as any color C-41 film will also do fine.  Bracket your shots, and err on the side of overexposure.  Use a tripod and remote release, and any camera with a B setting will do.  Set your aperture to f/16, focus on infinity and have fun.  You can use a meter, but it's going to be tricky at night.  However, here is a good reference source for exposures.