Argus K Parts list manual

INSTRUCTIONS
FOR
OPERATING
•
argus
W
Model K
ClIMERlI
•
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH
CORPORATION
Ann Arbor . Michigan. U.S.A.

ARGUS SERVI CE POLICY AND GUARANTEE
The ARGUS Ca mera is g uar a nt eed against
defective material and workman ship for 90
days af ter shipme nt . Thi s guara nt ee is lim-
it ed to th e re turn of the camera to the fac-
tor y with tran s portation charges pr epaid,
where
any defects will be corrected and the
camera re turned with tr ansportat ion charges
pr epaid.
In order
that A RG US owners may be as-
s ur ed of low upk ee p cost of our cameras
after ex piration of the above guarantee, the
facto ry w ill put in fir st cla ss condition any
ARGUS Model "K" Camera shipped to
them, with tran s portation charg es prepaid
to th e owner for th e s um of 2.00. Thi s
po
li cy is e ffe ctive for one year from date
of pur chase. Thi s does n ot cover replacement
of camera cases broken through misu se or
cameras w hi ch have been abu se d.
NOTICE TO ARGUS CAMERA OWNERS
In order that you mig ht insure yo ur
camera aga in st defective m ate ri al and work-
manship for 90 days after shipme nt , it is
necessary that yo u fi ll out the r eg is tration
card supp li ed with your camera and return
it to our factory within 15 day s a fter pur-
chase. When writing the factory, please
mention
th e model and se ri al number of
yo ur camera.
ARGUS INSTRUCTIONS
FI GURE I
I. Cartridge Chamber Cover 5. Focusing Rin g
2.. Sh utter Lever 6. Co unt er Dia l
3· Sh u tter Speed Ring 7. Win ding Knob
4. Cable Release Socket 8. Exposure Meter Exit
9. Vi ew Finder Wi ndow
IMPORTANT
Th e Argus candid camera is a preCISIOn
ins trument. The ultim ate success of pictures
made with a mini at ure camera depends
lar ge ly upon the inte ll i ge nt use of th e cam era
and the careful handling of 35 mm . negatives.
Thi s in s truction book should be read care-
3

fully and the user should be familiar with
every part of the camera together with an
understanding of its function. It is recom-
mended
that the descriptions relative to ex-
posure
and the general handling of the cam-
era be studied carefu ll y before loading the
camera with film.
There are many excellent 35 mm. films on
the market. Some films are best when used
outdoors, and
others are more suitab le for
indoor or night photography. The slower or
medium speed films are noted for fine grain
and full color renditions. The faster films
have a s li ghtly larger grain size with less color
rendition,
but are ideal for use in night pho-
tography or whenever li ght conditions are
unsatisfactory.
35 mm. film may be purchased either in
daylight loading cartridges,
or in bulk lengths.
Film manufacturers furnish bulk film in
lengths
from 25 foot to 100 foot rolls. Some
films are notched and cut into 36 exposure
lengths which assists
greatly in darkroom
loading into cartridges. Eastman or Agfa
Cartridges are ideal
for loading with bulk
film. Your local photo finisher should be able
to supply these empty magazines. The
ARGUS camera is so constructed that all
types of daylight loading 35 mm. magazines
may be used.
Daylight loading cartridges are usually fil-
led with 36 exposures of 35 mm. double per-
forated film.
4
The success of miniature negatives depends
largely upon fine grain development and
careful handling. Careful developing in such
solutions as
ARGUS AR-I will result in beau-
tiful grainless negatives. If fine grain develop-
ing is not available locally forward your films
to one of the many laboratories which spec-
ialize in wnrk of
this type.
LOADING THE CAMERA
It is always advisable to load the camera
in subdued li ght. Never expose the cartridge
to bright sunlight.
Open the back by pushing the catch but-
ton (18, Fig. 3) up, and pulling it open by
means of the button on the end.
Figure 2 shows a
standard 35 mm. day-
light loading
cartridge being inserted into
the camera. This is accomplished by pulling
off the cartridge chamber cover (I, Fig. I),
and dropping in the cartr id ge with the round
spacer bushing up. The projecting end of
the film should be held back in the opposite
direction from which
the film is wound, as
shown, so that when the cartridge is in the
case, the end will not be hidden behind the
cartridge . Drop the cartridge down over the
rewind shaft (12) engaging the slot on the
shaft with the tongue in the cartridge and
compressing the cartridge ejector spring. Re-
place the
cartr id ge chamber cover taking
care that the round spacer bushing on the
5

F IGUR E 2
top
of the ca rtri dge goes up int o th e hole in
th e ce nt er of th e bo tt om of th e cove r.
T he film must n ex t be thr eaded into th e
camera as shown in
Fi g ur e 3. Dr aw o ut
enough film to reach th e winding sha ft (17).
Slip th e end of th e film und er th e film
hold in g spring (1 9) far enough so that it is
sec ur ely held. If th e pr ojecting end of th e
film is
trimm ed int o a tongue which li es e ith er
at the
top or bo tt om of th e film strip, so
th at it does not engage th e hold in g spring,
this will have to be torn or
trimm ed off so
6
FI GURE 3
th at th e longest po int of the film li es in th e
ce nt er where it can slip und er th e holding
sprin g. Wind one turn of film o nt o th e sha ft
for sec urit y while holding down release but-
ton ( 15 , Fig. 2). Be s ur e that th e s pr ocket
is engaged with th e perforations of th e film.
Push th e latch butt on up toward th e top of
th e camera, cl ose th e back and th en pe rm it
th e latch to spring back a nd lock. A lw ays
tr y th e back and be s ur e it is completely
locked.
7

A ft er th e back is in place, the film mu st
be advan
ce d unti l a new expos ur e is in cor-
rect place beh
in d the len s. T his is accom-
plished by
turni ng the winding k nob (7, Fig. I)
in t he direction of the arrow until a click is
he
ar d or th e fi lm counter dial (6, Fi g. I)
stops
rot at in g. De pr ess th e co unt er dial re-
lease
(1 5, Fig 2) mome nt ar il y while ad vanc-
ing t he
fi lm a nd a dvance one fu ll rotation of
the co
unt er dia l. Repeat th is operation twice.
At this point unexposed fi lm is in co rr ect ex-
pos
ur e position for the first picture. Th e
counter dial should n
ow be rotated in a
cou
nt er-clockwi se dir e ct ion wi th the th umb
unt il the ze ro fi g ur e is opp os it e the co unt er
dial i
nd icator point. T he co unt er dial is
held in
pl ace by a frict ion arrangeme nt a nd
a firm pr ess ur e is necessary to se t th e dia l.
After th e first pict ur e is tak en th e film
sho
ul d be advanced at on ce to form a ha bi t
of pr eventing do ub le expos ur e, or bla nk
frames. When the fi lm is adv anced one
frame the counter dial a
dva nces nearly a
full revol
ut ion a nd wi ll stop o pp osite fi gure
I indicating the
numb er of expos ur es made.
When
th e 36 expos ur es have been com-
pleted, rewi
nd the fi lm by turn ing the re-
wind knob (21, Fig. 4) in the direction of
the arrow
unt il the winding knob (7, Fig. l)
sto ps rotatin g. Never op en th e camera back
un t il th e film has been rewo und .
CAUTION: When winding or rewinding
the film be s ur e that its movement is not
8
.
,-,'
MAKE YOUR OWN PRINTS
FOR LESS THAN A CENT EACH
Album prints. in 2% x 41 /4 Argus stan-
dard size. actually cost you but a pen -
ny apiece when you use an Argus
Speed Printer and Argus Bromex Paper.
EASY. ECONOMICAL. FAST
No focusing. no trimming of paper:
merely insert film in slide and place
paper as shown in illustration. Press
handle down for desired exposure. Pa_
per is then developed in the usual
manner.
See next page for example of pic-
ture made with Argus Speed Printer.
THE
"AUTOMATIC"
, .$15.00

ACTUAL SIZE OF STANDARD ARGUS PRINTS
from 35 mm_ film with an Argus Speed
HERE is the actual size of pictures
Printer on Argus Bromex paper.
Argus Bromex paper comes in single or double weight. g.lossy. semi-matt or silk finish.
in soft. medium or hard. It is cut to the size illustrated. with allowance for an eighth of
an inch border around picture. made specifically for use in Argus printers.
Both the Argus "Automatic" printer , and the Argus "Electromatic" (illustrated on fol-
lowing page) operate on IIO,120 volt AC or DC and handle strip film or single negatives.

NEW ARGUS ELECTROMATIC
TAKES All GUESS-WORK
OUT OF PRINT-TIMING
The "Electromatic" Speed Printer is
equipped with a photo-electric "eye"
which "reads" the density of your nega-
tive and gives proper exposure or tim-
ing in making prints. Merely set one
indicator for negative density. another
for paper surface being used. and flip
the starting switch. When print is cor-
rectly
exposed. the light goes off. Save
paper by getting a GOOD PRINT EVERY
TIME; eliminate trial and error methods.
List price
THE "ELECTROMATIC" .. .$35.00
restrained by pressing the hand aga in st the
free moving knob. Do not atte mpt to force
the film after the counter dial has stopped or
the full numb er of exposures are reached.
Atte mpting to get more pictures may pull
the film from the magazine, and prevent re -
winding.
If this should occur it will be neces-
sary to remove the
fi lm in total darkness.
SHUTTER SPEEDS
Shutter speeds are set by turning the
knurled ring (3, Fig. I) until the indicat or
mark is directly above the desired speed. A
setting midway between marked speeds will
re s ul t in that fract ion of a second. For ex -
amp le with the indicator between 1/ 50 and
1/ 1 00 the s hutt er will operate at 1/75 of a
secon
d. T he shutter speeds are as follows:
1
/2 5, 1/ 50, 1/ 1 00 , 1/ 200 , "B" and " T".
The "T" is the proper se tting for time ex-
posures. When
the s hut ter is set for "Ti me"
one s tr oke of the lever (2) will cau se the
s hut ter to open and remain open until a
second stroke of the lever
is made.
When the s
hu tter speed ring is se t oppo-
site
"B" the s hutter w ill remain open as
long as
th e lever is depressed and cl oses as
the pressure is re leased. When either a "B"
or 'T" se tt in g is used the camera mu st be
he
ld on a tripod.
The high s hutt er speed is for stopping
m
ot ion, but the fastest s hutter speed pos-
sible shou ld be u se e! which wi ll permit stop-
9

ping th e lens down sufficiently to obtain the
depth of field desired. 1/ 1 00 seco nd is the
be st a ll aro und speed for miniature camera
work. The adva ntage of fast s hutter speeds
is in
cont rolling camera mo ve ment.
F I
GURE 4
EXPOSURE METER
The Model K Argus Camera has a built-in,
coupled to
th e len s, exposure met e r. The ex-
posure met
er is of th e extinction typ e, and
is mechanica ll y coupled to the diaphragm
"stop opening" of the len s.
To u se th e meter , first decide on th e proper
s hutt er speed as describ ed in th e paragraph
above. Then set the dial pointer (25, Fig. 4)
10
on th e b ot tom of the exposure meter to this
speed
on scale (24). Pu sh the little knob (26)
clear back to th e position opposite f:4.5 on
sca
le (23). Turn th e camera so that th e ex-
posure met er window (8, Fig . I) is turned on
the object desired to photograph. Point the
m ete r at the subject of intere st and be care-
ful
not to include more sky or backgro und
than nece ss ary. If the degree of brightn ess
of the su bject va ri es conside rably or sh adow
detail is desired aim th e meter at the sh aded
part s and app roach as clo se as po ssi bl e to
th e m. Now l ook in to the exposure meter
tu be (10 , Fi g. 2). A light dot will be n oted
at the end of the tube.
Pull the knob (24, Fig. 4) back toward th e
f: II position until the li g ht dot ju st disap-
pears or " ext in g ui shes." Set th e knob at the
exact point where the dot disappears. The
lens is now set for proper exposure if the
shu tt er speed dial is set to the speed at which
point er (25) is set.
If th e li g ht dot in the tube is not visible
at th e f :4.5 position of lever (26) it means
too fast a s hutter speed has been chosen for
the amount of light available. Turn the
shutter speed indicator pointer to a low er
speed. In th e same mann er if the dot will
not disappear even if the lever is pulled
clear back
to f: II it means that the s hutt er
speed is
too slow for the amount of li g ht .
Thu s th e meter will not permit a bad expo-
s
ure .
11

If it is des ir ed to make shots without using
th e exposure meter , se tting l ever (26) to th e
figures on scale (23) sets
the diaphragm in
the shutt
er to the stop indic ated on the scale.
There is no diaphragm or "stop opening" scale
on
th ~ s hutt er itself as this wo uld be a dup-
li cat ion.
The exposure meter is se t for u se wit h
films
of a Weston rating of app r oximate ly
48-50 daylight . This takes in the mo st popular
a ll aro und films such as Agfa "S upr eme"
and East man "Plus X" . For th e very fast
films s top down to the next stop figure on the
dial in a counter-clockwise direction
th an
that w hi ch th e met er indicates byexti ng ui sh-
ing
the dot. In th e same m anne r when using
th e slower films such as East man Pan ato mic
X and Agfa Fin opa n and Plenichrome set
the diaphra gm opening to th e next s top figure
in
th e dial in a clockwise direction indi cated
by the mete r. Thu s, if th e meter stopped at
f:8 and Agfa Fin opa n is in th e camera mo ve
th e lever to f :5.6 before taking th e pi ct ur e.
I
f the dia l is al ready at th e end of the
scale tu
rn to th e n ext sl ower shu tt er speed,
reset
th e meter by th e d ot a nd move one
sto p in a clockwi se direction (for a slower
film ).
Wh en using Kodachrome the lever sh ould
be se t thr ee stop figures on the dial in a
clockwi
se direction fro m that w hi ch th e meter
indic ated. As this is n ot possible d ir ectly
unless
the meter should st op at f: II , n ote the
12 ·
numb er of figu res that th e le ver could be
moved including f :4.5 then s ubtr act thi s fig-
ure fro m 3. Set the l ever at the numb er of
fi g ur es fro m the f: II end, inc lu ding f: II,
indicated by the result of the s ubtracti on a nd
set th e shu tter speed to one speed slowe r.
Thu s if the meter s topped at f :5. 6, 1/ 100
sec. the dia phr agm should be set to f:8 a nd
th e s hutter to 1/ 50 sec. (f :4.5 is the only
st
op l eft. Su btrac ting I fr om 3 leaves 2.
f:8 is the second s top from the f: II end, in-
cluding
f: II. 1 /50 sec. is the next slower
s
hutt er speed. If the meter had sto pp ed at
f :8, 1/ I
00 sec. th e pro per sett ing would be
f:l l, 1 /50 sec. etc.)
Rememb er lever (26) se ts the diaphragm on
th e lens but lever (25) does 110t set the s hut-
ter speed of the camera. Thi s is done on
the front of the camera as described.
THE DIAPHRAGM
The iris diaphragm regulates the amo unt
of l ight passing th rough the lens. It is set
di
rectly by turn ing l ever (26, Fig. 4). The
diaphr agm size is indicated on scale (23) as
follows f :4.5, f :4.6, f :8,
and f: II. The f : 4.5
is th e gr eatest aper atu re possible and ad mit s
th e m ost li ght. Eac h smaller stop ad mits
abo ut on e- half as much li g ht as the preceding
one . Decreasing the diaphragm ope ning in-
creases
th e depth of field. Scenes an d la nd-
scape should always be sto pped down to at
least f :8.
13

In this camera the dia phr agm wi ll usua ll y
be
se t by th e u se of the exposure meter as
described above. However, s hutt er sp ee ds
should be
se lected which will let the meter
stop the diaphragm at openings which give
th e requi re d de pth of fie ld.
FOCUSING
T he lens is fo cu se d by turning of ring
(5, Fig. 1). T he lens is
se t to focus on an
obj
ec t at the distan ce fr om the camera which
appea rs on
th e ring opposite the arrow on
the core. For q
ui ck focusing on candid sh ots
the focusing scale is di vided up i nt o "zones"
of d iff erent color s. T he zone from in fi ni ty to
18 feet be in g for dista nt and landscape work,
the 18 to 6 foot zone for nearby groups and
object
s, and the close up zone from 6 feet
to
3.5 feet is for po rtr a itur e and very cl ose
objects. T he de
pth of fo cu s of the Argus lens
is
so great that very good results can be o b-
tained by just focus in g to th e pr oper zone
an.d shootin
g. T hi s permits of gr eat speed in
uS In g the camer a. Wh ere critical sharpness of
a certain obj
ec t and where maximum e n-
lar ge me nt is d es ire d. se t th e scale to th e
exact foota ge .
TRIPOD SOCKET
. T he tripod socket (2 2, Fi g. 4) is tapped
with the standard Ame
ri can thr ead. Any Am-
e
ri can or Argus tr ipod wi ll fit Argus Cameras.
14
AIM AND SHOOT
Th e camera is aimed at the subje ct by
hold
lI1 g th e back of the camera firmly against
the face or fo rehead and sighting
throu gh
the rear vI
ew finder ( 1I, Fig. 2). Th e vi ew
fin der sh ow s the subj ec t as it will appear
when photographed.
Th e view fin der is pur-
posely d
es igned to cover s li ghtly less of the
subj
ec t th an that actually photographed.
Thi s di ffe ren ce pr ovides a safety factor and
jJreve
nt s c uttin g o ff parts of i nt er es ting sub-
Jects.
Wh en th e subject has b ee n corr ec tly ce n-
tered and composed in th e view finder you
are ready to make the actual
ex pos ur e.
T he s hut ter sho ul d be operated with a
steady squeezing action on the
le ver, (2, Fi g.
1) while the camera is held fi rmly against
the face.
INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIES. INC.
Ann Arbor. Michigan . U. S. A.
CD"47
Printed in U.S.A.
15