The Argus A cameras were simple, yet important American cameras. Due to their relatively low cost thousands were manufactured in Ann Arbor over the years. Since they used 35mm film, the A series played a major part in making the 35mm cartridges the standard format that dominated the market till the arrival of digital This is the A2F model, manufactured from 1939-1941. The A2F was one of the most advanced models. It had two features of note, it incorporated an extinction meter for determining exposure and it had a variable focus lens. Most Argus models lacked the meter and had a fixed or two position focus.
My copy is a bit of an anomaly. It is clearly marked "A2F" inside the body. However, on this example the exposure calculator on top of the camera is painted black with chrome numbers in a style that is typical of the post-war Argus A2B. The A2F was manufactured with a removable plunger button for the shutter, this copy has a regular trigger button, as seen on the original Argus A. Since there were so many different models in the A series, it's possible this model could have had parts replaced from other cameras in the series, or maybe it was manufactured using left-over parts in the Argus factory.
The viewfinder is small but really not that bad compared to some of my other cameras. In keeping with the spirit of the camera, I used the built in extinction meter to set exposure, it seemed to be more or less accurate.
ArgusArgus AArgus A2Fblack and whiteclassic cameraddxneopan acrosnorman oklahoma
With no rangefinder the A2F requires focus to be set by guessing the distance, not something I'm very good at.
ArgusArgus AArgus A2Fblack and whiteclassic cameraddxneopan acrosnorman oklahoma
The A2F isn't exactly your typical wildlife camera, but I managed to get the rabbit before he ran off, although I misjudged the distance and didn't get him quite in focus
ArgusArgus AArgus A2Fblack and whiteclassic cameraddxneopan acrosnorman oklahoma
Norman Oklahoma
Spring 2010ArgusArgus AArgus A2Fblack and whiteclassic cameraddxneopan acrosnorman oklahoma
