I just picked won this Argus C4 on eBay. I'm trying to figure out what the light meter is. The photos aren't great, they're from the seller's listing. I've tried to clean them up a bit. If you look at the one, it almost looks like the Leica 'L', and the name is short enough, but? I can't find any images on the internet that show a Leica meter that looks like that. Anyone recognize it?
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Um... Lots of cameras from the era looked like Leicas but didn't actually behave like them. Argus was based in Michigan.
That looks like an Argus C4. They made hundreds of thousands of them 50s. They came with an uncoupled meter. so you dialled in the exposure and read off the meter-dial to set your camera settings.
There's a 50/50 chance that after advancing one frame and tripping the shutter, it will jam forever. There's also a good chance its shutter is WAY out of calibration. How much are they asking for it?
Most of the ones I've seen were "closet classics" - poorly stored, although looked mint, and failed mechanically, easily.
There's a guy named Rick Oleson who's a bit of an expert on them:
Long story short, with I learned is that selenium cells deteriorate with time & that is why my bargain light meter read one stop low. No replacement cells available for that one, YMMV. Life is like school except first you get the test and then you get the lesson.
Long story short, with I learned is that selenium cells deteriorate with time & that is why my bargain light meter read one stop low. No replacement cells available for that one, YMMV. Life is like school except first you get the test and then you get the lesson.
One stop, eh? What if you flip it to the "H" scale? Does it read correct there? I remember they weren't very sensitive. Those Sekonics were dual-range although they were better for incident than reflective.
Um... Lots of cameras from the era looked like Leicas but didn't actually behave like them. Argus was based in Michigan.
That looks like an Argus C4. They made hundreds of thousands of them 50s. They came with an uncoupled meter. so you dialled in the exposure and read off the meter-dial to set your camera settings.
There's a 50/50 chance that after advancing one frame and tripping the shutter, it will jam forever. There's also a good chance its shutter is WAY out of calibration. How much are they asking for it?
Most of the ones I've seen were "closet classics" - poorly stored, although looked mint, and failed mechanically, easily.
There's a guy named Rick Oleson who's a bit of an expert on them:
Good grief, no one said the camera was a Leica, I said I bought an Argus C4 in my opening sentence. I live 15 minutes from the factory, now museum. It's my third Argus. The question is about the light meter. I paid $12 for it and am not adverse to working on cameras. Most shutter problems can be fixed by flushing them out. I'll know if it's running slow after a roll of film. Thanks for the information in your second post.
@WRay Don't have it yet, just won the auction this morning. Trying to find out if there's any value in the light meter, I'll probably sell it off if there is. I have a Weston Master II that works well and is still fairly accurate.
I can zoom in on the one photo far enough to see that the first letter on meter's name isn't a K, even a stylized one like on the Kodak. However, the link you provided says that Gossen, had their own version called the 'Sixti'. Looking up photos of that, the 'S' in Sixti looks very similar to what little bit I can make out in the photo. I'm thinking that's what it is.
I paid $12 for it and am not adverse to working on cameras. Most shutter problems can be fixed by flushing them out. I'll know if it's running slow after a roll of film. Thanks for the information in your second post.
That's weird, when I read your post, I didn't see anything that said you admitted to it being a C4. Did you edit your post to add that? Sorry f I sounded ranty...hmmmm...
$12 is actually a decent price. I've seen those little meters alone go for as high as $30 as some camera collector meet-ups. I've seen a few that actually worked accurately, too.
A few of my friend's parents had C4s of the same vintage - all of them looked fantastic on the outside, until we had them looked at and realized they were terribly gummed up and needed soaking to clear them out. Fun times.
My dad had one of the later boxy versions and it was completely unreliable from day one.
That's weird, when I read your post, I didn't see anything that said you admitted to it being a C4. Did you edit your post to add that? Sorry f I sounded ranty...hmmmm...
$12 is actually a decent price. I've seen those little meters alone go for as high as $30 as some camera collector meet-ups. I've seen a few that actually worked accurately, too.
A few of my friend's parents had C4s of the same vintage - all of them looked fantastic on the outside, until we had them looked at and realized they were terribly gummed up and needed soaking to clear them out. Fun times.
My dad had one of the later boxy versions and it was completely unreliable from day one.
Admitted to it being a C4? Of course I didn't edit my post, you can look at it and see I didn't edit it. Cripes, the camera case in the last photo has ARGUS emblazoned on the front. Nice try though.
Remember, reading is FUNdamental.
Ronsinol lighter fluid is the liquid of choice to degum these. There are plenty of people still using them. Too bad you don't like them, this should really set you off: I bought an Argus 75 and an Argoflex Forty today too. These add to my Argoflex E and C3. Still looking for an A2, maybe an AF.
(edited to add the sentence about the camera case, just so no one thinks I'm trying too fool them)
Changed the title to hopefully get more light meter info. The camera came and everything works fine. I found that the shutter problems with the C4 is that the grease from the lens gets on the shutter leaves and gums them up. The finger that connects the release button to the shutter is thin and too much tension can break it.
The way to determine this is by starting the shutter on the slowest setting (weakest spring) and testing. If it responds and returns ok then you work your way up the speed settings and trip it, each time observing the shutter action through the aperture. If you see it returning more slowly than it trips, you stop and plan to clean and flush. Mine tests out ok, but I may still flush it out.
Ok, the light meter. It is a Gossen Sixti. I've found the manual for a Gossen Sixti, but it's not exactly like mine, they changed the rear dial, possibly several times. This is cropped from an auction photo, so it sucks. The single line of numbers are red, the double line numbers are black. The instruction manual says that one of these notched is red and the other is black, for alignment to the colored numbers.
Neither of the notches on mine have any color in them, and the dial rotates all the way around (no stop) so there's no way for me to tell if the correct notch is aligned with the numbers, if in fact that's the correct way to use it. No way to know if this is a different version.
Some of the other obvious version differences have a dial on the back with a single set of numbers and notch.
Anyone ever see/use one of these, or, any idea how I can figure out which notch goes with which set of numbers?
The meter is very responsive and I'd like to use it if I can test it for accuracy.
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I think both sets of numbers are ASA. The single row shows common old film ASA values where the double row is showing the whole gamut. So you can set ASA using either set of numbers. That doesn't completely solve your mystery but maybe a start. Now, which notch?
Do you have another light meter? If not the old rule of "f16 at the reciprocal of the film speed in bright sunlight" might help. Try leaving the dial as is, at ASA 125, set f16 and see if the meter calls for 1/125 in bright sunlight. Same-o spin the dial so the 125 is aligned at the other notch, f16 and see what shutter speed you get. As I mentioned in Post #5, that old selenium cell probably has low output. If it's like my Sekonic (no reason to think so), one stop down, then you will get 125 asa f16 and 1/60 shutter when the correct notch is aligned with the 125 on the dial.
For coloring the notches, you can get model airplane paint or a couple of the lacquer paint pens the craft stores sell for fabric. Use a carefully pointed tooth pick as your brush. If you slop a little paint outside a notch, let it dry and scrape it off with an Xacto or other craft knife.
As it's still working, the previous owner(s) kept it in the case, when not in use. Lucky.
Selenium cells dies if exposed to light for prolonged periods of time. Like years.
Get a light metering app for your phone to help with comparison. Alternatively, use your Alpha on manual for comparison test.
Thanks guys, I took this photo to post for you guys to see, and I noticed what appeared to be a tiny bit of red in the corner of the notch by the 12. I got out my ginourmous magnifying glass and with bright light to confirm, and yep. So, now I know where the red is, I'll touch it up to make it more visible.
When I turn the dial there's an area on the gauge with red and an area with black. Then on the scale there are red and black as well. I have yet to sort out what that means but I'm guessing one is the low light or maybe flash scale and keep the colors consistent throughout. Again, any ideas would be appreciated. I think I have enough information now to compare it to a digital and see if I can back into it from there.
The black numbers appear to be ASA for sure, but not certain about the red. Are these DIN? They don't appear to follow any scale I've seen.
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