Argust 21st

[Brownie]

Each August (affectionately referred to as 'Argust') the Argus Group holds Argus Day, a day in which to shoot only your Argus cameras. You choose your two favorite shots and send them to one of the members who creates a page. The day corresponds with the year, so this year's event is Argust 21st. No idea what they're going to do come 2032, but I guess there's time to sort it out.

I've decided to shoot my lovely Argoflex E TLR again, I had a blast with it at Wings and Wheels and it takes fantastic photos (user dependent). Also will shoot the STL-1000 I just cleaned up, and will be using some of the M-42 glass I picked up from @barry13, the Matchmatic, and maybe if I'm feelin' it I'll load up a roll of expired and shoot the A4. These are all cameras I've worked on, and other than the Argoflex none have been proven in battle.

And just to increase the risk factor (and excitement), I found a CineStill C-41 kit locally and will try my hand at color for the first time. Pass or fail, I'm all-in.

So, go buy a cheap-ass Argus or pull that one you've been staring at off the shelf and make plans to join us (or me, anyway, we can do our own thread here) on Argust 21st! Or you can join the Argus group for free. Guys there have a lot of knowledge and they're not adverse to answering questions about other brands.

 

[Panolyman]

Spotted these two on the UK LCE site today.
Anyone fancy joining Brownie's club?

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I think I'll pass.

 

[Brownie]

Spotted these two on the UK LCE site today.
Anyone fancy joining Brownie's club?

View attachment 899831 View attachment 899832

I think I'll pass.

Chicken! The Matchmatic is one I'll be using that day.

They're popular at Hogwarts.

 

[mcrosa]

That Black Argus C-3 looks like the one I used to have. Long gone.

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

I’m stretched thin already participating in Olymtober, Nikovember, and Fujiary, otherwise I would.

 

[Brownie]

Well, it was a semi-successful day. I had planned to visit target-rich historic Greenfield Village for this event. Life got in the way and I instead woke up in a campground just off US-12 in Michigan's Irish Hills area. I had taken the cameras with me planning to return mid morning, but knowing Greenfield Village was out, I figured I'd meander back toward home and shoot what I saw along the way. I had an STL-1000 (SLR), an A-four (distance estimate focusing), a Matchmatic (rangefinder), and an Argus Seventy Five (Pseudo-TLR P-n-S). Unfortunately, the Matchmatic was a total failure, not sure what happened but everything is distorted. I never took this lens apart, but I did take it off. It looks to be more than just focus but we'll see. The A-four had problems as well and I had to remove the back at one point, nothing much to post but I did turn one into a fun sepia which is in the album. The Seventy Five and the STL-1000 both performed flawlessly.

Irish Hills was a tourist trap area when US-12 (Michigan Avenue) was the main route from Detroit to Chicago. Some of them still exist in various states, from completely abandoned to still in use. After a couple of campground shots I drove along US-12, from there I ended up at the Southern Michigan Railroad in Clinton, then the Rentschler Farm Historic Museum in Saline where I met Mr. Rentschler himself, son of the original owner. He grew up on the farm and occasionally volunteers as a docent. There's a photo of him cranking the corn shucker. He told me me it's the same one he used as a boy. From there to a nature path in a local park. I was unable to shoot all of the film on that day so have not included anything that wasn't made on August 21st.

I decided to go color and try developing at home, having only done B&W before. These represent my first attempt at color. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I underexposed in the camera a bit, will change that next time.

A couple of examples

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P1031869 by telecast, on Flickr

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P1031909_01 by telecast, on Flickr

Album:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWxbDvj