First results from C3 - More questions

[toylas]

Hi All,

I got the first roll from my cleaned Argus C3 back. There are some problems of light leaks but I'm surprised with the fact how nicely the lens has rendered the colors and how sharp it is for its age.

Question: How do I figure out where the light leaks are and what would be the best way to fix them?

Question: How do I check the accuracy of shutter speeds? 1/300 and 1/10 seem to be fine as we can see in the pictures but I haven't tried the intermediate speeds and the movement of the shutter speed adjustment lever seems a little weired to me.

Here are some pictures:

Some images with light leaks:

Same as the first image

ciao,
Tulasi

 

[ZeissFan]

One way to check for leaks is to remove the film, remove the back, go into a dark room and shine a flashlight on the front of the camera and look for rays of light.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Great pictures Tulasi, especially the trees and reflection in the water one.

With exception of the third image, the light leaks appear to be coming from the same spot. I would suspect the shutter. Mike's suggestion of holding it up to a bright light should confirm that. If not, then it is probably the back that's not sealing properly.

 

[payasam]

The colour of the leaked light tells you where to look. If you don't mind lack of elegance, you could try masking tape.

 

[Proteus617]

Hi All,

Question: How do I check the accuracy of shutter speeds? 1/300 and 1/10 seem to be fine as we can see in the pictures but I haven't tried the intermediate speeds and the movement of the shutter speed adjustment lever seems a little weired to me.

Tulasi

Accuracy from the C3 shutter? Hah! It's the sort of mechanism that works when it works, and it just about always works. Behind the rim of the speed wheel there is a ramp. As you move from 300 to 10, the ramp forces down a linkage that connects to the escapement that retards the shutter. As you go past 10 toward 300, the linkage pops back up to the lowest part of the ramp again. The ramp is not indexed in any way, so "in-between" speeds also work.

 

[Dwig]

Question: How do I figure out where the light leaks are and what would be the best way to fix them?...

1. Load a roll of film in complete darkness
2. Wind and fire up to roughly frame 2-3 while still in complete darkness and leave the camera wound and cocked.
3. Take the camera into the light and expose it to bright light on all sides for a minute or so
4. Take one somewhat underexposed picture but DO NOT WIND the film.
5. Take the camera back into the dark and rewind the film for processing asking the lab to return the film uncut.

Since the film never moved while the camera was exposed to light its a simple matter to determine where the light leak is. If its on the exposure frame its coming through the shutter chamber somewhere. If its located elsewhere simply loading the stip back in the camera aligning the exposed frame with the film gate will place the fogged spot near where the light leak is.

 

[nikon_sam]

Accuracy from the C3 shutter? Hah! It's the sort of mechanism that works when it works, and it just about always works. Behind the rim of the speed wheel there is a ramp. As you move from 300 to 10, the ramp forces down a linkage that connects to the escapement that retards the shutter. As you go past 10 toward 300, the linkage pops back up to the lowest part of the ramp again. The ramp is not indexed in any way, so "in-between" speeds also work.

That's what I was thinking and hoping for...
I've had this C-3 Color-Matic for years but never done anything with it until yesterday...
When I figured out how the shutter speeds changed I thought that I could get speeds in between the ones marked..
Interesting little camera...
Now that it's cleaned up and I've had a chance to play with it...it's kinda fun to use...
If I like the results I'm going to re-skin it...😀😎