Difference between revisions of "Argus"
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| − | + | |[http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbaird/8578374/in/pool-camerawiki/ http://farm1.static.flickr.com/5/8578374_f33eceb1e5_m.jpg]<br/> | |
| − | Argus Building, 535 West William | + | Argus Building, 535 West William St.,<br>now an office building, and<br/>home of the Argus Museum |
| − | + | |[http://www.flickr.com/photos/hugo90/702617486/in/pool-camerawiki/ http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1231/702617486_80cb7731c7_m.jpg]<br/> | |
| − | + | Curved corner of former Argus<br>optics shop, across 4th Street from<br>original factory building. | |
| − | Curved corner of former Argus | + | |[http://www.flickr.com/photos/hugo90/1229208061/in/pool-camerawiki/ http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1303/1229208061_1874ff6a0f_m.jpg]<br/> |
| − | + | The entrance of that building,<br/>currently in use by the<br>University of Michigan | |
| − | The entrance of<br/> | + | |[https://www.flickr.com/photos/vox/52774853199/in/pool-camerawiki/ https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52774853199_081ca06e9b_m.jpg]<br/> |
| − | + | East side of Argus factory building,<br>facing parking lot. Camera display<br>upstairs through left doorway | |
| − | East side of Argus factory building,<br>facing parking lot | ||
|- | |- | ||
| align=center| <small>image by {{image author|John Baird}}</small> {{with permission}} | | align=center| <small>image by {{image author|John Baird}}</small> {{with permission}} | ||
| − | |colspan= | + | |colspan=2 align=center | <small>images by {{image author|John Lloyd}}</small> {{with permission}} |
| + | |align=center| <small>image by {{image author|Voxphoto}}</small> {{non-commercial}} | ||
|} | |} | ||
{{Flickr image | {{Flickr image | ||
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Argus's factory was located in a residential neighborhood west of downtown Ann Arbor, which had traditionally been an enclave of German immigrants—particularly from Swabia in southern Germany.<ref>[http://aaobserver.aadl.org/aaobserver/15573 "The Story of the Schwaben Halle"], from the ''Ann Arbor Observer'' column "Then And Now," Dec. 2002, archived at [http://aaobserver.aadl.org/node/18520 Ann Arbor District Library]. The Swabian region of Germany was home to [[Dacora|Dacora Kamerawerk]], founded in Reutlingen south of Stuttgart.</ref> | Argus's factory was located in a residential neighborhood west of downtown Ann Arbor, which had traditionally been an enclave of German immigrants—particularly from Swabia in southern Germany.<ref>[http://aaobserver.aadl.org/aaobserver/15573 "The Story of the Schwaben Halle"], from the ''Ann Arbor Observer'' column "Then And Now," Dec. 2002, archived at [http://aaobserver.aadl.org/node/18520 Ann Arbor District Library]. The Swabian region of Germany was home to [[Dacora|Dacora Kamerawerk]], founded in Reutlingen south of Stuttgart.</ref> | ||
| − | In 1957 Argus was purchased by Sylvania Electric Products Co., who believed there would be a synergy with that firm's flashbulb sales. A new South Carolina factory was opened to handle strong slide projector sales. However by the late 1950s, Argus was struggling to compete against new Japanese camera imports, which offered better features at a lower price point. In 1959 Sylvania | + | In 1957 Argus was purchased by Sylvania Electric Products Co., who believed there would be a synergy with that firm's flashbulb sales. A new South Carolina factory was opened to handle strong slide projector sales. However by the late 1950s, Argus was struggling to compete against new Japanese camera imports, which offered better features at a lower price point. In 1959 Sylvania entered a merger creating GTE; and in 1962<ref> See a [https://aadl.org/aa_news_19620302_p17-argus_sale_okd_for_april_29 Mar 2, 1962 article] from the ''Ann Arbor News'' dating the sale's closing to April 29; from the [https://aadl.org/node/204921 Ann Arbor District Libray collection of Argus materials].</ref> its management essentially dumped Argus onto [[Mansfield|Mansfield Industries]]—a Chicago photographic distributor and a smaller company.<ref>Sylvania/GTE retained ownership of the Ann Arbor buildings until 1963, noted in [https://aadl.org/sites/default/files/aa_news/aa_news_19630316_p16-U_acquiring_former_argus.jpg a March 16 ''Ann Arbor News''] story. Only one building of three was still leased to the local Argus remnant.</ref> |
In the 1960s, most Argus products became foreign imports (several from [[Mamiya]]), rebranded with the Argus name. While optics contracts kept some Ann Arbor workers busy, by 1963 camera production had stopped there (a trickle of camera models were made in South Carolina through the mid-1960s). Starting in 1967 Argus's corporate ownership turned over several more times, with the brand popping up in various guises. But the era of US-designed and -manufactured cameras had ended. | In the 1960s, most Argus products became foreign imports (several from [[Mamiya]]), rebranded with the Argus name. While optics contracts kept some Ann Arbor workers busy, by 1963 camera production had stopped there (a trickle of camera models were made in South Carolina through the mid-1960s). Starting in 1967 Argus's corporate ownership turned over several more times, with the brand popping up in various guises. But the era of US-designed and -manufactured cameras had ended. | ||
| Line 48: | Line 48: | ||
}}{{br}} | }}{{br}} | ||
| − | == List of Argus | + | == List of Argus cameras == |
=== A-series === | === A-series === | ||
<div class="floatright plainlinks">[http://www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/20759011/in/pool-camerawiki/ http://static.flickr.com/15/20759011_434e5266cd_m.jpg]</div> | <div class="floatright plainlinks">[http://www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/20759011/in/pool-camerawiki/ http://static.flickr.com/15/20759011_434e5266cd_m.jpg]</div> | ||
| Line 76: | Line 76: | ||
* [[Argus C44R]] | * [[Argus C44R]] | ||
* [[Argus C4 Geiss]]-modified for interchangeable lenses | * [[Argus C4 Geiss]]-modified for interchangeable lenses | ||
| − | |||
* Argus C4R | * Argus C4R | ||
| + | ''For Argus C3 Electro and Argus C4M Electro, see "later rebadged cameras" below'' | ||
| − | === Autronic | + | === Autronic series === |
* [[Argus Autronic 35]] | * [[Argus Autronic 35]] | ||
* [[Argus Autronic 35 | Argus Autronic C3]] | * [[Argus Autronic 35 | Argus Autronic C3]] | ||
| Line 99: | Line 99: | ||
* [[Argus Argoflex Seventy-Five]] | * [[Argus Argoflex Seventy-Five]] | ||
| − | === Other | + | === Other factory cameras=== |
* [[Argus 21]] "Markfinder" | * [[Argus 21]] "Markfinder" | ||
<div class="floatright plainlinks">[http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthew2000tx/2810503738/in/pool-camerawiki http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2810503738_4836d0f266_m.jpg]</div> | <div class="floatright plainlinks">[http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthew2000tx/2810503738/in/pool-camerawiki http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2810503738_4836d0f266_m.jpg]</div> | ||
| Line 107: | Line 107: | ||
* [[Argus Model M]] | * [[Argus Model M]] | ||
| − | ===Later | + | ===Later rebadged cameras=== |
* [[Argus 127]] ([[Whitehouse Products]]) | * [[Argus 127]] ([[Whitehouse Products]]) | ||
* [[Argus/Cosina 35]] Compact ([[Cosina]]) | * [[Argus/Cosina 35]] Compact ([[Cosina]]) | ||
* [[Argus (SLR)]] (Mamiya) | * [[Argus (SLR)]] (Mamiya) | ||
* [[Argus CR-1]] ([[Chinon]]) | * [[Argus CR-1]] ([[Chinon]]) | ||
| + | * [[Argus C3 Electro | Argus C2/C3 Electro]] ([[Haking]]) | ||
| + | * [[Argus C4M Electro]] ([[Haking]]) | ||
* [[Argus CR-1 | Argus CR-2 ]] ([[Chinon]]) | * [[Argus CR-1 | Argus CR-2 ]] ([[Chinon]]) | ||
* [[Argus CR-3E]] ([[Chinon]] autoexposure) | * [[Argus CR-3E]] ([[Chinon]] autoexposure) | ||
| − | * [[Argus STL 1000]] | + | * [[Argus STL 1000]] (Cosina; Petri) |
* [[Argus/Cosina STL 1000]] ([[Cosina]]) | * [[Argus/Cosina STL 1000]] ([[Cosina]]) | ||
* [[Argus/Cosina EC 2000]] ([[Cosina]]) | * [[Argus/Cosina EC 2000]] ([[Cosina]]) | ||
* [[Argus V-100]] (German OEM) | * [[Argus V-100]] (German OEM) | ||
| − | * [[Argus Auto 35mm]] | + | * [[Argus Auto 35mm]] (integral flash reflector; Mamiya) |
* [[Argus Automatic 35]] ("Electric Eye 35mm") | * [[Argus Automatic 35]] ("Electric Eye 35mm") | ||
| − | * [[Argus A-5]] | + | * [[Argus A-5]] (Japan OEM) |
* [[Argus Pocket Carefree 110]] (series for [[110 film]]) | * [[Argus Pocket Carefree 110]] (series for [[110 film]]) | ||
* [[Argus Skylark 110]] (series for [[110 film]]) | * [[Argus Skylark 110]] (series for [[110 film]]) | ||
| Line 127: | Line 129: | ||
* [[Argus DF-300]] ([[Seagull DF-300]]) | * [[Argus DF-300]] ([[Seagull DF-300]]) | ||
| − | ====126 | + | ====126 cartridge==== |
* [[Argus 260 Automatic]] | * [[Argus 260 Automatic]] | ||
* [[Argus 257 Instant Load]] | * [[Argus 257 Instant Load]] | ||
| Line 144: | Line 146: | ||
* [[Argus Electric Eye 345X]] | * [[Argus Electric Eye 345X]] | ||
* [[Argus Electronic 355X]] | * [[Argus Electronic 355X]] | ||
| + | * [[Argus Go-Light Carefree 366]] | ||
| + | <!-- spotted on eBay but need info whether they have model numbers | ||
| + | * [[Argus Sidekick]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | --> | ||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
| Line 150: | Line 157: | ||
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
=== Links === | === Links === | ||
| − | *[https://argusmuseum. | + | *[https://www.argusmuseum.org/ Argus Museum site] and [https://argusmuseum.pastperfectonline.com/ searchable index of artifacts & images] |
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/186048873@N07 The Argus Museum Flickr account] | * [https://www.flickr.com/photos/186048873@N07 The Argus Museum Flickr account] | ||
* [http://www.arguscg.org/ The Argus Collectors Group] | * [http://www.arguscg.org/ The Argus Collectors Group] | ||
| Line 174: | Line 181: | ||
* [http://www.collectiongeven.com/piwigo/index.php?/category/758 Argus page] at [http://www.collectiongeven.com/piwigo/ Collection G. Even's site] (in French) | * [http://www.collectiongeven.com/piwigo/index.php?/category/758 Argus page] at [http://www.collectiongeven.com/piwigo/ Collection G. Even's site] (in French) | ||
* [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/general/html/listeA_imagettes.php#Argus Various Argus Camera at Sylvain Halgand's collection] (in French) | * [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/general/html/listeA_imagettes.php#Argus Various Argus Camera at Sylvain Halgand's collection] (in French) | ||
| − | * [ | + | * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110913032452/https://arguscamera.com/history/index.htm Argus Camera History] on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20080302150600/http://www.arguscamera.com/index.htm Argus Company site] (archived) |
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/arguscg/ Argus Camera Photographers Group] and [http://www.flickr.com/groups/arguscg/pool/ Pool] on Flickr | * [http://www.flickr.com/groups/arguscg/ Argus Camera Photographers Group] and [http://www.flickr.com/groups/arguscg/pool/ Pool] on Flickr | ||
| − | * [https://www.washtenawhistory.org/argus-museum Argus Museum page] at [ | + | * [https://web.archive.org/web/20201024194826/https://www.washtenawhistory.org/argus-museum Argus Museum page] (archived) at [https://www.washtenawhistory.org/ the Washtenaw County Historical Society] |
=== Manuals === | === Manuals === | ||
| − | * [http://www.butkus.org/chinon/argus.htm Listing of different Argus instruction manuals in PDF format] | + | * [http://www.butkus.org/chinon/argus.htm Listing of different Argus instruction manuals in PDF format] at [https://www.butkus.org/chinon/ Butkus.org] |
=== Books === | === Books === | ||
Latest revision as of 05:03, 1 August 2023
Argus Inc. was a camera maker based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. The company sold nearly three million of its best-known model, the Argus C3—fondly (and accurately) known as "the brick."
Contents
Buildings
 Argus Building, 535 West William St., |
 Curved corner of former Argus |
 The entrance of that building, |
 East side of Argus factory building, |
| image by John Baird (Image rights) | images by John Lloyd (Image rights) | image by Voxphoto (Image rights) | |
|
| C3 and C3 Matchmatic image by Rick Soloway (Image rights) |
History
Before 1939, Argus was International Research Corporation, having evolved from International Radio Corporation, an innovative maker of bakelite radio sets. President Charles Verschoor saw a business opportunity to branch out into a bakelite 35mm camera as well. The first Argus, the Argus A, resulted from a patent that the company received in 1936, and its surprisingly affordable cost made it a great success. Thus it was this American company that brought 35mm film in Kodak's 135 cassette format to a mass market that could not afford costly Leica, Zeiss Contax or German Kodak Retina cameras.
Despite the success of the Argus A, company stockholders were unhappy with Verschoor's management, and ousted him from the company in 1938. But that year also saw the release of the Argus C and Argus C2, the first of the "bricks"—enormous successes which stayed in production for nearly three more decades.
By the 1950s, Argus had become a significant force in Ann Arbor's economy. Several buildings from its heyday still stand. Two are now used by the University of Michigan; but the main original factory is now remodeled as office space, and owned by "C3 Partners." This building includes a public area in an upstairs lobby, where a permanent exhibition of Argus cameras is shown, The Argus Museum[1].
Argus's factory was located in a residential neighborhood west of downtown Ann Arbor, which had traditionally been an enclave of German immigrants—particularly from Swabia in southern Germany.[2]
In 1957 Argus was purchased by Sylvania Electric Products Co., who believed there would be a synergy with that firm's flashbulb sales. A new South Carolina factory was opened to handle strong slide projector sales. However by the late 1950s, Argus was struggling to compete against new Japanese camera imports, which offered better features at a lower price point. In 1959 Sylvania entered a merger creating GTE; and in 1962[3] its management essentially dumped Argus onto Mansfield Industries—a Chicago photographic distributor and a smaller company.[4]
In the 1960s, most Argus products became foreign imports (several from Mamiya), rebranded with the Argus name. While optics contracts kept some Ann Arbor workers busy, by 1963 camera production had stopped there (a trickle of camera models were made in South Carolina through the mid-1960s). Starting in 1967 Argus's corporate ownership turned over several more times, with the brand popping up in various guises. But the era of US-designed and -manufactured cameras had ended.
|
| image 1940's, by vincentnip (Image rights) |
List of Argus cameras
A-series
Argus A-5 see below
C-series
- Argus C
- Argus C2
- Argus C3
- Argus C3 colormatic
- Argus C3 Golden Shield
- Argus C3 MatchMatic
- Argus C3 Standard
- Argus C 33
- Argus C4
- Argus C44
- Argus C44R
- Argus C4 Geiss-modified for interchangeable lenses
- Argus C4R
For Argus C3 Electro and Argus C4M Electro, see "later rebadged cameras" below
Autronic series
TLR
- Argus 40
- Argus 75
- Argus Super Seventy-Five
- Argus Argoflex 40
- Argus Argoflex E
- Argus Argoflex EF
- Argus Argoflex EM
- Argus Argoflex II
- Argus Argoflex Seventy-Five
Other factory cameras
- Argus 21 "Markfinder"
Later rebadged cameras
- Argus 127 (Whitehouse Products)
- Argus/Cosina 35 Compact (Cosina)
- Argus (SLR) (Mamiya)
- Argus CR-1 (Chinon)
- Argus C2/C3 Electro (Haking)
- Argus C4M Electro (Haking)
- Argus CR-2 (Chinon)
- Argus CR-3E (Chinon autoexposure)
- Argus STL 1000 (Cosina; Petri)
- Argus/Cosina STL 1000 (Cosina)
- Argus/Cosina EC 2000 (Cosina)
- Argus V-100 (German OEM)
- Argus Auto 35mm (integral flash reflector; Mamiya)
- Argus Automatic 35 ("Electric Eye 35mm")
- Argus A-5 (Japan OEM)
- Argus Pocket Carefree 110 (series for 110 film)
- Argus Skylark 110 (series for 110 film)
- Argus Palmatic (series for 110 film)
- Argus "Focus Free"
- Argus DF-300 (Seagull DF-300)
126 cartridge
- Argus 260 Automatic
- Argus 257 Instant Load
- Argus 264 Instant Load
- Argus Instant Load 270
- Argus Instant Load 284
- Argus 126
- Argus Carefree
- Argus 164k Carefree
- Argus Lady Carefree
- Argus Instant Load 164
- Argus Electric Eye Instant Load 364
- Argus Solid State Electronic 374 ("Electric Eye — Instant Load")
- Argus Instant Load 146X
- Argus Flash Sensor 235x
- Argus Electric Eye 345X
- Argus Electronic 355X
- Argus Go-Light Carefree 366
Notes
- ↑ "Argus Camera Museum, Ann Arbor " at Vintage Cameras | Gregory Fox Photography
- ↑ "The Story of the Schwaben Halle", from the Ann Arbor Observer column "Then And Now," Dec. 2002, archived at Ann Arbor District Library. The Swabian region of Germany was home to Dacora Kamerawerk, founded in Reutlingen south of Stuttgart.
- ↑ See a Mar 2, 1962 article from the Ann Arbor News dating the sale's closing to April 29; from the Ann Arbor District Libray collection of Argus materials.
- ↑ Sylvania/GTE retained ownership of the Ann Arbor buildings until 1963, noted in a March 16 Ann Arbor News story. Only one building of three was still leased to the local Argus remnant.
Sources
Links
- Argus Museum site and searchable index of artifacts & images
- The Argus Museum Flickr account
- The Argus Collectors Group
- Ann Arbor District Library
- Old News: The Story of Argus Cameras
- Argus newspaper stories (from the local paper Ann Arbor News)
- Argus Eyes (employee newsletter)
- Instruction manuals
- Photos of Argus products and the Argus Museum
- Video: Eyes for Victory (c. 1945)
- Video: Fine Cameras and how they are made (c. 1953)
- Audio interview: Cheryl Chidester, Argus Museum Curator
- Audio interview: Milt Campbell, Art Dersham, and Elwyn Dersham, former Argus employees
- Audio interview: Art Parker former Argus employee
- Argus Camera Information Reference Site by Phillip G. Sterritt
- Argus A/A2 Camera Page by Hrad Kuzyk
- Argus patents
- Argus C: the first best-selling 135 film camera (1938), at DCView (in Chinese, English translation)
- The Argus Museum: Ann Arbor's Hidden Treasure (PDF), by Henry Gambino, at From the infinity to the focal plane
- Argus page at Collection G. Even's site (in French)
- Various Argus Camera at Sylvain Halgand's collection (in French)
- Argus Camera History on the Argus Company site (archived)
- Argus Camera Photographers Group and Pool on Flickr
- Argus Museum page (archived) at the Washtenaw County Historical Society
Manuals
Books
- DESCHIN, Jacob. Picture making with the Argus C3, C4, A4: A working manual. Camera Craft Pub. Co., San Francisco, 1954. Library of Congress 54012589.
- GAMBINO, Henry J. Argomania: A look at Argus cameras and the company that made them. Aeone Communications, Doylestown (Pennsylvania), 2005. ISBN 0-9770507-0-X.
- KUZYK, Hrad. 35mm for the proletariat: A modern user's guide to the Argus A/A2 camera. Hrad Kuzyk, 2007. ISBN 0615144888.
- LAHUE, Kalton C. and BAILEY, Joseph A. Collecting vintage cameras, vol. 1: The American 35mm. American Photographic Book Publishing Company, New York, 1972. ISBN 081740547X.
- LAHUE, Kalton C. and BAILEY, Joseph. Glass, brass, & chrome. University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma, 1972. ISBN 0-8061-0968-8. 2002: ISBN 0-8061-3434-8.
- MURPHY, Burt. Argus 35mm photography. Verlan Books, New York, 1959. Library of Congress 59015881.
- TYDINGS, Kenneth. The Argus 35mm guide and reference book. Greenburg, New York, 1952. Library of Congress 52008125.
