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In the late 1970s, my first "real" 35 mm camera was a sturdy Argus C-3 Standard that my father handed down to me after I demonstrated a basic proficiency with a Kodak Pocket Instamatic 10.

The C-3 was an excellent camera to cut my teeth on as it was rugged, solidly constructed, and had real camera controls for setting the exposure and focus.

The Argus Camera Company (formerly known as IRC for either International Research Company or even earlier, the International Radio Company) of Ann Arbor, Michigan produced the C-3 for twenty-seven years from 1939 through 1966. Although minor improvements were made to the camera over the years, it remained essentially the same throughout its long production run.

There C-3 was preceded by the Argus C, produced during 1938 and 1939 and the C-2, which was produced from 1938 through 1942. Appropriately dubbed "the brick," any of these C-bodied Argus cameras are easily recognizable by their distinctive rectangular shape and sold heavy construction.

The Argus C differed from both the C-2 and the C-3 as its rangefinder was not coupled to the lens. A photographer shooting an Argus C would use the rangefinder to determine the distance from the film plane to the subject and then set the focus by setting the calibrated lens to the same distance setting. The earliest Argus C cameras featured a fast/slow exposure switch located on the front of the camera beneath the shutter-cocking lever. The Argus C did not have flash contacts and the serial number range for this camera ran from 1000 to 19077.

The Argus C-2 differed from the C by virtue of its couple rangefinder. Like the Argus C, the C-2 did not have contacts for the attachment of a flash unit, although about the time that the C-3 began production, Argus offered to retro-fit C-2 cameras with flash contacts. The serial number range for the C-2 ran from 19078 through 91945.

The Argus C-3 was the first brick to feature its own flash unit, with attached to the left side of the camera by way of two sockets into which the prongs of the flashbulb gun were inserted. Early model C-3 cameras were synchronized for flash bulb exposure only, with no provision for electronic flash. Colormatic C-3s which feature color-coded shutter speed, rangefinder and aperture dials were the first C-3s that were synchronized for electronic flash.

C-3s produced between 1939 and 1958 basically all looked the same but actually had varied features and finish over this period. The earliest C-3s had 10 shutter speeds printed on the shutter speed dial. This was later reduced to seven and then five. The five-shutter-speed C-3s with color-coded guide numbers were known as Colormatics and were intended to allow the photographer to quickly match a shutter speed to aperture to existing light conditions for different varieties of film.

Other cosmetic differences in the C-3s produced between 1939 and 1958 included:

• Early C-3s had silver-colored exposure counters with black numbers while later models had a black dial with white numbering.
• The earliest C-3s had no accessory shoe while later models had a cold shoe.
• Later C-3s also had the Argus nameplate beneath the shutter-cocking lever.
• Early C-3s had seven screws on the door hinge while later models only had five screws.
• Early C-3s had either Weston or ASA film speed reminder dials on the back of the camera while later models had none.
• Early C-3s had three strips of leatherette divided by chrome on the back of the camera while the back of later C-3s was plain leatherette.

Prewar C-3 serial numbers ran from 031001 through 03690326 and postwar models numbered from 10699 through 1736925.

Starting in 1958, in what eventually proved to be a futile attempt to keep up with Japanese and German camera advances, Argus manufactured four distinct modern variations on the basic C-3. They were the Matchmatic, the Golden Shield, the Standard, and the C-33.

The Matchmatic, Golden Shield and Standard all look similar from a distance, and are all easily distinguishable from all previous C-3s due to significant cosmetic changes. All three featured flattened film wind and shutter speed knobs, a larger concave shutter release button, a larger window on the rangefinder dial, a teardrop shaped shutter cocking lever, and a distinctively different 50mm lens. The new Cintar-coated lens on these three cameras saw the aperture dial move from the front of the lens to around the barrel of the lens.

These three C-3s can be distinguished from each other quickly by the color of their finish. The Matchmatic and Golden Shield had two-tone finishes, whereas the Standard had completely black Leatherette. The Matchmatic had two tone black and tan Leatherette and the Golden Shield had a metallic silver Mylar finish and an orange Argus label beneath the shutter-cocking lever.

The Matchmatic and Golden Shield also featured a unique method of setting exposure, intended to simplify the exposure-calculation process. This non-traditional method relied on the matching exposure meter and a series of index numbers (actually EVs or "exposure values") on the shutter speed dial and aperture ring. Without the custom-matched exposure meter, however, this can be tricky for a photographer who is not knowledgeable of the EV table.

These three variants of the C-3 were produced from 1958 through 1966. The serial number range was 182180000 - 1821813368 for the Matchmatic and 1921800000 - 1921803726 for the Standard. Serial numbers for the Golden Shield started with 182000000 but neither the ending serial number, nor the actual last year of production are known.

Finally, the Argus C-33, which was basically a tarted-up C-3, was produced between 1959 and 1961. This final variation of the C-3 featured a lot of chrome and other nifty features such as a film advance lever, a film rewind crank, bayonet mounted interchangeable lenses, combined rangefinder and viewing window, and a coupled light meter. It was also the only C series camera to feature a faster f/ 2.8 50mm lens; all other C-3s had f/3.5 50mm standard lenses. The C-33 serial numbers began with 1519100101, but like the Golden Shield, the ending serial number is not known.

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