The Argus C-4

A shot from 2003, showing the Argus C-4 and materials from the year it was introduced

The Argus Corporation has probably been most famous for the Argus “Brick,” the Argus C-3. That camera and its variants accounted for somewhat over 3 million units sold between 1938 and 1966.  The Brick is the utilitarian 35mm camera that is most associated with Argus. With its externally geared rangefinder, boxy shape and sharp corners, the C-3 is unmistakable.  However, the much improved and metal-bodied Argus C-4 looks remarkably svelte and modern, even in 2026.

The Argus that I have owned the longest.

The Argus C-4 was produced from 1951-1957, and in that time frame, there were about 300,000 units sold. By sheer numbers alone, it’s much less common than the C-3.  The C-4 features the coupled rangefinder as well as a front-mounted shutter speed dial that we see on the C-3. However, there the similarities stop.  The C-4 has a cast aluminum body and the rangefinder is coupled directly to the base of the lens, so you can adjust focus by turning the lens or the knurled wheel that surrounds the rangefinder window.  The shutter speeds are B, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/300 sec. The exposure indicator dial is reset by hand.  The 50mm/2.8 Coated Cintar lens has apertures from f/2.8 to f/22, and focuses from about 3 feet to infinity. Those are pretty good specs for an early 1950s US-made 35mm camera.  The rangefinder focus patch is easy to see, and the viewfinder is certainly better than a Barnack Leica.  There is a hot shoe on the top with X and M sync switch on the top of the back of the camera. The shutter cocks when you wind on the film and is much improved over the C-3.  There is no light meter, but you could have purchased a clip-on meter at the time.  

Top view

Bottom view

When the C-4 was introduced it sold for $99.00 - that amounts to about $1200 in today’s money.  So, definitely not a low-cost camera at the time. The equivalent model from Kodak would have been the Kodak 35 rangefinder, which gets my vote for the ugliest camera ever manufactured by anyone.  The C-4 is a streamlined, easy to use camera, and the Kodak is not any of those things.

I think I acquired my first Argus C-4 around 2001, before I ever owned a C-3.  I still have that camera, and it works pretty well.  As shown here, it’s in good condition, and is the fourth variant of the C-4, as it has the “Colormatic” settings for the shutter speed dial, and a M/X switch for the flash, plus a flat metal strip on the bottom of the camera to lock/release the removable back. 

The back is removed to access the film chamber

Here's a roll of Eastman 5231 loaded to shoot with this week

It’s easy to use the C-4, as it is a simple to operate camera, and I would say the only downside is that the camera body does not have built-in strap lugs for a neck strap. I use the bottom half of the leather case to attach a strap, and that works fine.  The coated lens works well, and you can take excellent photographs with it. That loud shutter sound will definitely let you know that you made an exposure!

A complete Geiss-modified Argus C4 with all the lenses. A real rarity.

Argus introduced a follow-up to the C-4, the C-44, and C-44R, which were produced from 1956-1962.  Those models have interchangeable lenses.  There was also a C-4R which was slightly improved over the C-4 with a rapid film wind lever and rewind crank, as well adjustment to the more modern shutter speeds of 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/300 sec.  It was only produced for a year, so is hard to find.  There is also the Geiss-modified C-4 (shown above), which was a third-party that offered a removable lens system that could be installed by the Argus factory, between 1954 and 1956.  Those cameras are also rather uncommon today.

A very nice example of the very rare black version C-4

Lastly, the most uncommon Argus C-4 version is the all-black C-4, a beautiful camera with a black anodized aluminum finish. Only a handful of them are known to exist, and I once possessed one of them.  It’s theorized that these black C-4s were prototypes for the US military, but in reality it’s unknown how many were made. They are among the rarest of the Argus cameras.  I sold mine for $1400 in 2011, and I imagine that the value has gone up since then. I acquired it in a box of donated cameras in 2009. 

If you want to know more about the Argus C-4 or all things Argus, look for a copy of Henry Gambino’s book, “Argomania. A Look at Argus Cameras and the Company That Made Them.” It was published in 2005, and is a wonderful resource.  Online, the Argus Collector’s Group has many Argus resources, and if you are ever in Ann Arbor, Michigan, you should visit the Argus Museum, the only camera museum in the US that sits in the same building as the factory that produced them. 

Argus C-44R on display in the Argus Museum.

If you find yourself an Argus C-4, I hope that you come to appreciate its quality of construction and that you too. take many wonderful photographs with it.  It was the camera for the serious amateur back in the mid-1950s. 

Here are a few images from my C-4 taken over many years.

2003, at the Carhenge site in Nebraska

AuTrain Falls, MI 2008

Emmett Co., MI. 2008

Emmett Co., MI, 2008

Ann Arbor, MI, 2007. With flash.

Ann Arbor, MI, 2007

Ann Arbor, MI, 2007.

Ann Arbor, MI, 2013

First Results from the Chinon CS-4

 As previously posted, this is my second Chinon CS-4.  Of course, there's more to testing it than knowing that the meter and shutter is working properly.  How does the camera feel in the hand when using it? How easy it is to use the stop-down metering button?  Does the film move easily through the camera? That's why film-testing a camera is important.  Too many cameras are sold on eBay that are not film-tested.  Many are sold as-is, or as "un-tested." Granted, there are a lot of sellers out there that don't know a damn thing about photography, let alone how a camera ought to perform.  Leaving all that behind for a moment, let's just see how THIS camera performed.

I started with a roll of Tasma NK-II from the Film Photography Project. The Tasma film is a panchromatic b&w film on a tough polyester base, with an ISO of 100.  I used it because it was a 24-exposure roll, and also because it was one of the rolls that I picked up in November. So, onward.  If I am trying out a camera for the first time, I often go into my Libre Office program and type up a description as shown below:

That gets photographed on the first frame or so of the roll so that I know exactly that information if I end up waiting some time to develop the film.  In this case though, I finished the roll of Feb. 6, and developed it the same day -- which is not usual for me.  I took a short trip to the River Arts District (RAD) of Asheville, which is a great place to test cameras and film.  The RAD is still recovering from the flood/Helene of September, 2024.  Some places have reopened after much restoration/renovation, and other are either erased, or in need of major repairs.  Some of these photos show that.

This mural is on the now closed French Broad Outfitters in Riverside Drive.

Alien landers or fermentation tanks? On Foundy Street.

This area was well-known for the street art. Most of it disappeared after Helene. Some is new.

Part of the building below.

I do not think this one will be rebuilt.

That Dell went to hell.

There will be more piles of bricks

Bad views from the inside and out.

Nature finds a way.  I've always been interested in nature reclaiming our abandoned places.

What is now a field used to be a series of low buildings used to store recycled materials. That place used to look like this image below, taken a few years before Helene.

2022, Nikon F4, Eastman 2374 film

Present day, waiting for reconstruction

Whodat?  

Using the Chinon CS-4 is a breeze.  The stop-down metering is not a problem, as it works much like a Pentax Spotmatic, except there are red/green LEDs that show up in your peripheral vision as you look through the view finder.  Pretty much like a +/- in the viewfinder.  The Tasma NK-2 was developed in HC-110B for 10 minutes, and it is a really sharp film with good tonality.    A successful outing, and just as I was pretty much done, a squall line came in and it started to rain.  

This camera is a keeper in my M42 arsenal, and I look forward to  using it more.  

The Chinon CS-4, Revisited

The Chinon CS-4 features a vertical metal shutter, uses modern LR-44 cells

A decade ago I wrote a post about a very good example of a M42 camera body, the Chinon CS-4. Like many cameras that I have owned, it was a thrift shop purchase for $10 with a couple of lenses. At the time, I already owned a Spotmatic F and didn't need a second M42 body, so I sold the CS-4. Some of you may know that I am writing a book on Pentax Spotmatics and other M42 mount cameras and lenses. I was going through back posts on this blog, and realized that the CS-4 information belonged in the book. I also decided that I needed another one to try out, now that I have a lot of M42 lenses. So, off to eBay I went, and snagged a decent example for $35 + shipping. The camera arrived today, and I spent an hour replacing the nasty old foam of the mirror bumper as well as the rear door seal. I cleaned the battery cover contact, and the meter sprang to life. As you can see, the camera is in great condition. The aperture blades on the Chinon 50mm 1.9 lens are oily and slow to operate, but I have many other lenses to use with this excellent compact SLR from the early 1980s. 

Standard layout - the meter switch is next to the lens mount on the left.

I'll note here that the eBay seller did not use the eBay option of letting AI write the description. For those people that use the eBay AI for the description, I say piss-off. I'll not be buying your shit if you cannot write the description yourself. 

The Yashinon-DX lens has "character"

As you can see in this photo, I have attached a Yashinon-DX 50mm/1.4, which is a wonderful nifty-fifty with the promise of making art. It's one of those lenses you should own if you want to explore what you can do with different lenses of the same focal length. It's not as weird as a Helios-44 lens, but it has a distinct aura, if you want to call it that.

Anyhow, I'm in the stage of assembling the images and text for the book, and I realize now that I will have to learn Affinity Publisher to put it all together, since it's more complex than what I can do with Open Office. I'll keep you posted as to my progress on the Spotmatic Book. 

Now, to also get some decent weather to go out and shoot with my newly-acquired Chinon CS-4!

January 27 - Happy 127 film day

Shanghai's GP3 127 film - the only currently available fresh  b&w 127 film

Well, my buddies at the Film Photography Project have announced today as 127 film day, and let's take a little look at the film that was once called "vest pocket" film by Eastman Kodak. 127 film was introduced in 1912 by Kodak for its Vest Pocket cameras.  The reason it is called 127 is because it was the 27th roll film introduced by Kodak since the 101 size in 1895.  (Which means that 120 was the 20th size that Kodak introduced, - sorry to deflate you, 120mm idiots). The Kodak Vest Pocket camera was truly an innovation at a time when "real photographers" were still using glass plates.  The camera collapsed into a thick object the size of a tobacco tin, and did fit into a vest pocket, back when men wore vests.  The VP Kodak was possibly one of the few cameras used by soldiers in WWI to document what it was like in the trenches.  Collapsed, it could be easily hidden, and quickly brought out to use.  The "trellis struts" held the front standard away from the back. The lens was a Meniscus Achromatic with a Kodak ball-bearing shutter. This YouTube video on the VP in WWI is definitely worth a watch.

The OG VP Kodak.  1912-1914. Image courtesy of SBA73 on Flickr

From the start, 127 was the "miniature" film, as other cameras at the time used much larger formats. Back in the heyday of folding cameras and consumer-oriented box cameras, you typically received contact prints from the drugstore where you dropped off your film. For 120, 116, and larger formats, the contact prints were of a decent size, but with 127, the biggest size was 1-5/8 x 2-1/2 inches - what we might call wallet-size photos today. 127 film is a roll-film, and the full frame size is 4 x 6.5 cm. However, you can also have 4x4 cm  and 3x4 cm negatives (half-frame), resulting in 16 exposures.  A fairly economical choice for the casual snap-shooter. 

From the Bell & Howell Electric Eye (2004)

from the Kodak Brownie Reflex (2011)

from a Beacon 127 camera (2004)

 Kodak went on to produce a lot of 127 film cameras, from the Vest Pocket (1912) and the No. 0 Brownie box camera (1914) to the last one, the Brownie Fiesta in 1966.   To Kodak, the 127 film format was for every-day consumers, and the cameras they produced for it reflected that.  However, with the introduction of the 126 Instamatic in 1963, the days for 127 were numbered.  Mom and Pop no longer had to thread the film from the spools. Just drop in the cartridge and you were ready for at least two holidays.  That would have been 126 day - yesterday!

Kodak's Bakelite wonders - Baby Brownie Special and Baby Brownie

Imperial Mark 27

The Fed-Flash

One of the varieties of the Clix-O-Flex

About as cheap as you can get - a Deluxe Cinex

There are a plethora of cheap US-made 127 cameras available - and most of them are simply nothing more than toy cameras, such as those sold under the Falcon name by the Utility Mfg. Co. in New York. Metropolitan Industries in Chicago sold a slew of 127 cameras, with the Clix-O-Flex being the most well-known. Spartus in Chicago sold many inexpensive 120 and 35mm cameras, but also a couple for 127- the Cinex and the Spartus folding camera - which greatly resembles the original VP Kodak. Almost all these cheaper cameras appeared in the late 1930s until WWII.  

A shot from my Clix-O-Flex, 2007

There are also lots of European cameras that were made for 127 film. Some from Ferrania, and the first Exaktas from Ihagee before the Kine Exakta I. The Bilora Bella 44 was sold in several versions..  The Purma Special (1937-51) from Great Britain might be one of the most elegant and yet strange designs for a camera.  Ruberg and Renner in Hagen, Germany, manufactured a bunch of 127 cameras in the 1930s. Zeiss Ikon sold the Baby-Box cameras and the Kolibri in the 1930s. Nagel's Pupille,  Ranca, and Vollenda cameras are well-made 127 models, sold before Kodak acquired Nagel in the late 1930s.  

Ferrania Rondine - cute, eh?

Kodak's Vollenda, made by Nagel A.G.

Balda's Micky-Rollbox Model II

Looks much better than it is! The Light Super.

Meanwhile other companies did take the 127 format seriously in the 1950s, and made cameras to take advantage of the smaller film size.  The Baby Rolleiflex, the Yashica-44, and the Sawyers Mark IV are all 4x4 cm Twin Lens Reflex cameras with good optics, a range of shutter speeds, and of course, focus via the TLR method.  I'd say that the 127 TLRs are the most desirable cameras to use for that film size.  So, if you are interested in trying 127 film, look for one of those TLRs.  I'd shy away from any of the cheapest toy cameras to shoot 127, since the film is certainly expensive due to its limited availability, and stick to b&w, so you can home develop.  

The Yashica-44 is a nice little TLR

I sure miss Verichrome Pan film

Kodak stopped producing 127 film in 1995.  It had a long run for a consumer format. Longer than 126, 110, 828, and APS!  

So, happy 127 day!  

Ansco Cadet outfit