Photography History - The Argus C3

Argus C3 35mm Camera "The Brick"

My first 35mm experience was with an Argus C3.
Produced from the 1930's and into the 1960's, the Argus C3 was the most popular 35mm rangefinder in the world. More than 2 million were sold.

Steps in taking a picture with the Argus C3:

First you lift the mechanical 'stop'.
Then you wind the film knob until the mechanical 'stop' positions itself in a notch in the underside of the knob (it has a 1:1 ratio to the film so it takes more than one turn to complete),
You focus by viewing through the 'rangefinder' and aligning two half images by adjusting the knob,
Then determine proper exposure by reading the recommended settings from the film box for type of light (i.e., for bright sun - speed 125th second - lens aperture f11; for cloudy day - speed 60th second aperture f8, etc.) or if you carry a light meter, read and apply settings,
You'll manually activate the shutter by depressing shutter lever, and,
Finally, trip the shutter-release button to expose film. (Warning: there is no protection against making a double exposure. You must go through all the the above steps again.)