Argus C-4....Sunny 16??

[bucks11]

Evening All...

I uncovered a minty C-4 from some of my grandfather's belongings today and have been researching them all day. I cleaned up the dust and I must say it's in excellent condition for 50+ years old...seemingly accurate shutter, clean lens & internals...

Anywho, I thought I really lucked out because I found a Weston meter with it, but it's dead. With such odd shutter speeds on this camera, whats the best way to predict an exposure. I don't really know how much of a difference there would be using an EV chart 1/250 settings and shoot the argus at 1/300...would this really affect exposure that much?

I'm still new to shooting fully manual film, so should I just load up some 100 film and shoot at 1/100 using sunny 16? What does anyone think would be the best? I would test on my own, but it's been raining the past couple days, so any input would be appreciated, Thanks....

 

[former member]

Sunny 16 rules work well, maybe add an f-Stop as modern films have a lot of latitude. Better to expose for the shadows, at least that's what I do. The latitude of modern film is more than enough to cover the difference in old-style shutter speeds. The difference in 1/250th and 1/300th is insignificant for print film.

Handheld meters can be picked up readily on Ebay and Photo forums. My accurate Weston II was $4 on Ebay. Look for one that shows full meter swing.

It's nice to see your grandfather's Argus back in use.

 

[edward calvey]

I'll second Brian Sweeney's suggestion about opening up a stop, assuming I understood him correctly.

From my experience, 300th at f/11 would be great in direct sun, which means f/5.6 or even f/4 would work for shady scenes.

They are better cameras than people think!

 

[raid]

The normal lenses for the Argus are great with B&W film.
I regularly overexpose by one f stop with negative film.

 

[bucks11]

Thanks for the responses guys...

I can't wait to try this thing out, I'd never heard of a C-4 until today and read how they were somewhat the Cadillac of domestic cameras in the 50s...

I figured it went through its last cycle when I first fired the shutter, but then I realized it's supposed to sound like a rifle when it fires!!

Edward, I assume you're talking about 400 film when using 1/300 and f/11? I was just laying in bed and thought this would be my best combination, so it's a relief to see someone else mention it...

 

[IBEHOLDV]

Film Speed r/t Exposure time...

Film Speed r/t Exposure time...

Kodak 400 TX B/W film, TOTALLY works well with the C4 !

 

[oftheherd]

Congratulations on the find. Hope you are happy with using it. You might have to experiment a little with it, but it should give good photos.

 

[Proteus617]

I shoot quite a bit without a meter. Sunny 16 can work very well. Check out Fred Parker's page. It's also useful to borrow an SLR or a meter and spend a day waving it around. It wont take you long to be a good judge of how many stops away from sunny16 you are. Take notes and bracket!