Camera spotting: Carol

Whateverist

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I recently saw the trailer for a drama movie called Carol, about an aspiring photographer in the 1950's. Looks like a certain brick is co-starring.

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The legendary Argus C3. The only famous photographer I can think of who started with one is Duane Michals but no doubt there have been others.
 
Famous, but a photographer? A C3 used by U.S. President Jimmy Carter is on display at the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta.
 
An Argus C3 is used in the movie U-571, The Philadelphia Story (1940), & Sky Captain of Tomorrow (or something like that). There are others I can't think of at the moment.
 
The photographer, Therese (played by Rooney Mara) says that her camera (the Argus C3) is not good enough for the work she wants to do. Carol (Cate Blanchett) gives her a new Canon LTM rangefinder which Therese then uses extensively.
 
Read the review of this in, I think, The New Yorker. It's not in wide release, which means "not in Colorado". Now I have an extra reason to see it. 🙂

My first "real" camera was a C3. I used it until my parents bought me a Minolta 126 something-o-junk for my 10th birthday, and then all of my photos got blurry. The only real issue I had with the brick was there was no latch to secure the back. Just a springy clip. The back popped open every now and then.
 
The photographer, Therese (played by Rooney Mara) says that her camera (the Argus C3) is not good enough for the work she wants to do. Carol (Cate Blanchett) gives her a new Canon LTM rangefinder which Therese then uses extensively.


They don't foley in the whirr of an SLR when she shoots, I hope? There's a terrible Julia Roberts movie where her Leica lets out a mighty mirror slap.
 
Nope, no shutter sound effects as I recall. The film appears to be accurate and true to the period in most every detail.

The cinematography successfully evokes the 50s timeframe and sensibility. It reminded me of Saul Leiter's early color work -- street scenes, often shot through rainy windows and glass with muted colors. Afterwards I read a review reporting that the cinematographer acknowledged being inspired by the work of Vivian Maier.
 
In the course of the film we see Therese printing in the darkroom and assembling a portfolio that gets her a job with the New York Times. Once she's at work, there's a scene with PJs and editors poring over contact sheets and marking them up. Now that I think about it, I'm wondering if it is period-accurate to show newspaper photographers using 35mm RF cameras in the early 50s. In any event, it works and feels right in the context of the film.
 
Now that I think about it, I'm wondering if it is period-accurate to show newspaper photographers using 35mm RF cameras in the early 50s.

35mm SLRs didn't really take over till the introduction of the Nikon F in 1959. Up till then it was either RFs or else Rollei or Graflex.
 
I own several C-3's, and can commiserate with the Therese character. I only bought a couple of them myself, as most were given to me by friends and family. My father owned one, but sold it a long time ago, so I never got to experience one of my own till much later in life. One can do good work with them, if you accept the limitations of the lens mount system. The black Soligor 135mm (not the earlier fat silver one) is an excellent lens, but Argus never had a finder for it (the Zeiss 438 is nice if you modify the mount on the C-3). I'm not impressed with the Sandmar lenses, but would like to try the Lithagons.

PF
 
The Argus C3 is apparently the all time 35mm rangefinder sales leader
with over a million sold.

It is for that reason Argus has its own forum at RFF.

True, Mr. Bartender, but many folks who bought them never took the 50mm lens off for any reason. I know my Dad never did because he didn't have any other lenses for it. It was marketed to the masses as a simple camera to take good photos with, and it filled it's purpose. Most people probably took months to finish a roll of film, and they were satisfied with the images from the Cintar 50. Zooming was done with the feet, and if you wanted to see minor details, likely you were shooting with Kodachrome, and could just expand the image on the projector screen.

There are those of course who will suffer through the lens changing routine for a better image, such as myself. But I still don't like it.

PF
 
True, Mr. Bartender, but many folks who bought them never took the 50mm lens off for any reason. I know my Dad never did because he didn't have any other lenses for it. It was marketed to the masses as a simple camera to take good photos with, and it filled it's purpose. Most people probably took months to finish a roll of film, and they were satisfied with the images from the Cintar 50. Zooming was done with the feet, and if you wanted to see minor details, likely you were shooting with Kodachrome, and could just expand the image on the projector screen.

There are those of course who will suffer through the lens changing routine for a better image, such as myself. But I still don't like it.

PF

I agree with this. I have a couple C3s, and both are in nice shape... But I have had the same roll of film in one for over a year. I went through the ritual of changing the lens only once. I just don't enjoy using it so it sits.
 
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