Geiss-Modified Argus C4

[ppro]

I just joined rangefinderforum.com though I am a longtime rangefinder owner. I went from a Minolta Hi-Matic 7s to medium format and 35mm SLR's, not to mention a nice German rangefinder. My Dad gave me his Argus C3 a while back and recently showed up at my house with a C4. In exploring this cameras history I discovered the Geiss connection. I had occasion to acquire a pretty complete kit just last week. After removing all the nicotine (which has the interesting benefit of preventing corrosion), I found a beautiful camera and lens. Here's a picture of the meaningful parts I got.

 

[rogue_designer]

very nice! And a much better set than the later C-44 which had the worlds worst bayonet.

Now go show us what it can do. 😉

 

[ppro]

In progress

In progress

I am in process of testing the unit. There appears to be some stickiness of the shutter when it's cold. Could be one of the down-sides of nicotine deposits...

 

[rogue_designer]

could just be old springs and gunk on the shutter too.. these are pretty easy to clean and work on iirc. It may be that just exercising it a bit will work out the kinks too.

 

[J.Ed]

If the shutter is acting sticky - STOP using it until you clean all the oil and accumulated junk out of the shutter assembly. The link that drives the shutter open and closed is fragile and made from unobtanium. If this part breaks the only source for a spare is another camera.

 

[ppro]

cleaning info

cleaning info

is there any place to find manual for servicing the shutter?

 

[rogue_designer]

http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-128.html

 

[ppro]

Thanks. The actual sketch and some comments are located here
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-127.html

Probably a tad different for the Geiss but not enough to bother about

 

[D.Land]

I am new here and purchasing a C-4 very soon... I hope... and I was looking for something that could tell me how to work on the shutter system as I have read this is kind of a major problem with these cameras. I think that the work required on these old cameras is part of what makes them so much fun.