Argus C3 Ad from November, 1949 issue of US Camera
Do you have an Argus camera? Maybe an Argus C3 aka “the brick”? Or the slightly more elegant Argus C-4 rangefinder? Maybe you prefer 120 film and use an Argoflex E TLR? Whatever your Argus of choice, it’s time to dust it off and load some film because Sunday, 12 August, 2012 is Argus Day!
Argus was an American camera company founded in 1936 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company made some of the most well-known American-made cameras in history. The Argus C3 rangefinder was manufactured for 27 years and was one of the best selling 35mm cameras ever made.
Back in 2001, James M. Surprenant, Marcy Merrill and other members of the Argus Collectors Group wanted to create a fun way to raise awareness of Argus cameras and encourage people to use them. They came up with the idea of a new camera holiday called Argus Day. It works like most other camera holidays; the idea is to get out and shoot a roll of film with any type of Argus camera. Afterwards you can scan the film and post them online. Some years the ACG holds a contest for the best photos. Even when there’s no contest, you’re welcome to post your results to the Flickr Argus Camera Group, so others can enjoy them.
What is a little different about Argus Day compared to other camera holidays is that the date changes each year. There’s a simple mathematical formula to find the date on which Argus Day falls. Take the current year and subtract 2000 from it. Add the result to July 31 and you’ve got the date of this year’s Argus Day. For example, in 2012 we’d do it like this: 2012 – 2000 = 12. so add 12 to Jul 31 and get Aug 12. The calculated date is sometimes referred to as “Argust n” where “n” is the numerical value derived from the above formula. So, in 2012 the day is called “Argust 12” and falls on August 12, 2012. In 2040, the day will be “Argust 40” and fall on September 9, 2040).
If you’re interested in Argus cameras and haven’t done so already, consider joining the Argus Collectors Group. And, of course, consider helping us out with the Argus camera articles here at Camera-Wiki.org! We also need more editors to improve our articles, more photos of cameras to use in articles, and donations to help keep the site online!
Argus C-4 (left) and Argus C-44 (right). Photos by Flickr user Inspiredphotos, used with permission.
Photo shot with Argus C3 on Argus Day 2010 using Ilford ISO 100 film.
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