Difference between revisions of "Argus C44"

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Revision as of 18:57, 18 August 2011

After the Geiss company produced a modification of the Argus C4 which permitted interchangeable lenses, Argus followed suit with the C44 (spelled out as "c-forty-four" on the camera itself).

The camera shared the same body as the C4, including that model's improved rangefinder/viewfinder. The only real difference was in the lenses.

The standard Cintagon 50mm f/2.8 was the first 4-element lens (Tessar-type) that the Ann Arbor factory produced. The design was said to have been computed with the help of a punch-card mainframe computer belonging to the University of Michigan.

Three other focal lengths were offered as well: 50mm f/1.9; 35mm f/4.5 and 100mm f/3.5. These were manufactured by Steinheil in Germany, to a somewhat higher standard of finish, but also branded Cintagon. However the C44 bayonet is clumsy to use, as a lens can not be mounted until pairs of small red guide marks inside the mount throat and lens bayonet are aligned.

The C44 employs a behind-the-lens leaf shutter (as do other Argus C-series models), offering 1/10–1/300 second and B. This fires with an unexpectedly noisy snap, not unlike a mousetrap closing. The camera's frame counter counts down, so the user must remember to re-set it to the correct number of frames with each re-loading (and attempt not to bump it accidentally after that).

A new C44 owner will search in vain for a rewind-release button. Instead, lifting and slightly twisting the advance knob disengages the film drive and allows the roll to be rewound.



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