The galleries on this page are dedicated to vintage cameras. The Argus Seventy-five, the Argus C3 (The Brick), the argus A2F, the Brownie six-20 and the Graflex Speed Graphic Anniversary. Having your own little collection of vintage cameras on a shelf is fun, but I find it much more fun to take them out and about, and see what these wonderful old tools are still capable of. And if you're convinced building a nice collection will cost you a fortune,
think again; most of these little gems can be found for less than 10 dollars!

The Argus Seventy-five was manufactured from 1953 to 1958. The predecessor of this camera was the Argoflex Seventy-five, which was manufactured from 1949 to 1953. The name of the Argoflex Seventy-five is thought to have changed to Argus Seventy-five in 1953, which is the same year the name of the Argoflex 40 was changed to Argus 40. The Argus Seventy-five was followed by the Argus 75, which was manufactured between 1958 and 1964 in a lovely brown colour. The Argus Seventy-five has a twin lens reflex design. It has a fixed-focus lens, everything between 6 feet and infinity will be sharp. For close up shots Argus manufactured close up lenses. The Argus Seventy-five produces 6x6 images and takes 620 film. Respooling a role of 120 film to fit the camera isn't hard. You'll need a darkroom or changing bag and two 620 spools if your camera hasn't got an integrated take up spool. If it does you'll only need one 620 spool but I would still advise you to buy more than one if you can. This allows you to use the first to respool the 120 film on the first 620 spool, and then roll it onto the second spool. This way it's hardly ever necessary to adjust the tape that connects the film to the paper back. For a very well documented but somewhat different approach of the respooling technique you can surf to the following page on Brownie-camera.com .

I knew I wanted this camera the moment I saw it. The Argus A2F's stylish design is really something else! The A2F is also a very compact and affordable camera. The Argus A2F is a member of the Argus A/A2 family which was in production from 1936 to 1951. The Argus A2F was manufactured from 1939 to 1941. It has a variable focus lens which ranges from 1 1/4 feet to infinity and has a lens speed of f/4.5. The Argus A2F also has variable shutter speeds which are 1/200th sec, 1/100, 1/50, 1/25 and it has a Bulb and Time mode. The aperture settings are, f/4.5, f/6.3, f/9, f/12.7 and f/18. The Argus A2F has an extinction meter on top of the camera which you can use to determine the correct shutter speed. It also has a Weston counter which tells you on what frame you are. One of the really amazing things of the Argus A2F is that it takes ordinary 35mm film. Be sure to visit 'The Argus A/A2 camera page' which has extensive information on all the cameras belonging to the Argus A/A2 family. It also offers the free download (for personal use) of the Book "35mm for the proletariat", which includes a users guide, a manual about how to use the extinction meter, information about restoration and repair and lots more.

The Argus C3 is also lovingly called 'The Brick', which is a fairly accurate description of this camera. Ergonomics is not something associated with this camera but it is very easy to use due to the no-nonsense design. The Argus C family was manufactured from 1938 to 1966. The Argus C3 has ben manufactured, with minor variations to name and model, from 1939 to 1966. The original Argus C3 was manufactured from 1939 to 1957. The new versions of the model, the C3 Golden Shield, The C3 matchmetic and the C3 standard were manufactured from 1958 to 1966. The Argus C3 has shutter speeds ranging from 1/30 seconds to 1/300 seconds and also features a bulb setting. It features a f/3.5 50mm lens which has the aperture settings f/3.5, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11 and f/16. The minimum focussing distance is 3 feet, the focus is variable from 3 feet to infinity. Because the shutter was integrated in the body it was possible to offer an affordable interchangeble lens system. Additional wide angle and tele lenses can still be found, just like several accessoires like filters, viewfinders and lenshoods. The camera has a split screen rangefinder system which does work very well but isn't always easy to work with. Like the Argus A2F the Argus C3 also takes ordinary 35mm film. One thing to remember about the Argus C3 is that you have to cock the shutter before firing it. Unfortunately the most logical place to hold on to this camera is next to the cocking lever. This can cause the lever to be stopped by your fingers on its return which can affect the shutter speed. The positive thing about the Argus C3 is it's simple technical design which makes it easy to repair. A technical drawing of the Argus C3 and it's lens is offered on the web by Rick Oleson .

The original six-20 folding Brownie was made from 1937 to 1940, the second model six-20 folding Brownie was manufactured from 1948 to 1953. This second model was available in two different versions. One with a Kodette II shutter and Meniscus lens, the other with a Dakon shutter and Anaston lens. The six-20 folding Brownie takes 620 rolfilm (see Argus seventy-five for information on respooling modern 120 film to 620 spools) and produces 2 1/4" X 3 1/4" images. The Meniscus lens has a bulb and an instant setting, it's a fixed-focus lens with a focus range between 8 feet and infinity. The no. 250 Kodak close up lens that can be slipped onto the lens allows photographs to be taken between 3 to 4 feet. The Anaston lens offers 2 shutter speeds, 1/25 and 1/50, and a bulb and time setting. It is a 100mm lens with a variable aperture from f/6.3 to f/22. The Brownie Camera Page is dedicated to Brownie photographers everywhere and offers a catalogue of all Brownie cameras.

The Anniversary Speed Graphic is a wonderful and very well engineerd camera. It's not an easy camera for the beginner but when you get to know it it is wonderful to use. When you are just starting out, the Anniversary Speed Graphic offers all the traps and pitfalls you can fall into from shooting blanks, double exposures to fogging your film. The Anniversary Speed Graphic was manufactured from 1940 to 1946. It was manufactured in the colour black and, for military use, in the colour olive drab. The 4x5 inch Anniversary Speed Graphic features an interchangable lens system which uses a 4 inch square lensboard. It also has a focal plane rear shutter wich offers 24 shutter speeds with a highest shutter speed of 1/1000 and a time setting. The Anniversary Speed Graphic has the capability of dropping the back. It can be fitted with a Kalart rangefinder, so you have two ways of checking the focus, through the rangefinder and using the groundglass. When focussing through the groundglass using a blackcloth can help you to check the focus by getting rid of intruding light. The Anniversary Speed Graphic is available with a Graphic Back or Graflex back. The Graphic Back has a spring system and accepts standard 4x5 filmholders. To find out everything (and more) about the Anniversary Speed Graphic and other Graflex cameras surf to Graflex.org. This site also offers a help board which can help you when you are having problems with your camera or questions about Graflex cameras.