Old Vintage Cameras: Argus Bakelite Camera

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Argus Bakelite Camera

This Vintage Argus Bakelite Camera is the Model A2B, it was in production from 1939 to 1950 by Argus of Ann Arbor, Michigan USA. It has a 50mm F4.5 Coated Lens, and built-in Extinction Meter and Exposure Calculator. This A2B is in OK to fair age specific condition, the silver exposure chart is missing from the top of the camera, the shutter cocks and fires, knobs turn, the built-in pop-out lens tube with a simple bayonet locking mechanism extends and retracts. There is an Argus A2B currently available at the Daytona Vintage Market.

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What is a Camera Obscura?

The camera obscura (Latin; camera = vaulted chamber | obscura = dark, thus darkened chamber or room) is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside where it is reproduced, upside-down, but with color and perspective preserved. The image can be projected onto paper, and can then be traced to produce a highly accurate representation. Using mirrors, as in the 18th century overhead version (illustrated in the History section below), it is possible to project a right-side-up image. Another more portable type is a box with an angled mirror projecting onto tracing paper placed on the glass top, the image being upright as viewed from the back. As a pinhole is made smaller, the image gets sharper, but the projected image becomes dimmer. With too small a pinhole the sharpness again becomes worse due to diffraction. Some practical camera obscuras use a lens rather than a pinhole because it allows a larger aperture, giving a usable brightness while maintaining focus.