f-stop Settings And Spacing
In the early models of the Argus camera, the early As and AFs, the aperture settings are listed as f/4.5, 5.6, 8, and 11. This undoubtedly caused confusion because the difference between f/4.5 and f/5.6 is about a half stop, whereas the other differences are full stops. Remember this if you are using such a camera.
Later models switched to an older European method for denoting
This may not have been the only reason for the change, however. Argus had always been plagued by rumors that the lens on the A was slower than the stated f/4.5, and that the shutter speeds were retarded to compensate for this error. To make their camera settings more accurate, the Argus engineers may have retested their lenses and decided that the iris was choking off more light than originally thought. To fix this mistake, they may have relabeled the settings and increased the size of the largest aperture setting.
When the Argus FA was introduced in 1950, the
In any event, extensive picture taking using all three
Holding The Camera Upside Down
When the Argus first appeared in 1936, “candid” camera photography was still a new hobby. As such, people were unused to using cameras that were small and portable, and not immobilized on a tripod. Many amateur photographers shook the camera as they took pictures, got fuzzy prints, and blamed the camera. After all, it couldn’t be their fault!
The Argus corporation, faced with this problem, decided to tell its customers to take pictures with the camera
Argus quickly rescinded its recommendation, for this
Fig. 5-5: Holding the camera upside down. (Taken from an early Argus A manual)
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