Argus (camera company)

Argus
IndustryCameras
Founded1936; 89 years ago (1936)
Defunct1969; 56 years ago (1969)
HeadquartersAnn Arbor, Michigan, U.S.

Argus was an American maker of cameras and photographic products, founded in 1936 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Argus originated as a subsidiary of the International Radio Corporation (IRC), founded by Charles Verschoor.

History

The International Radio Corporation was founded in 1931 by local businessman William E. Brown Jr., George J. Burke (who was a judge at the Nuremberg trials),[1] and Charles Albert Vershoor.[2] IRC started out selling a line of radios, developed by Verschoor, that had a body made out of molded plastic instead of wood. The Model A, the company's first camera, was introduced in May 1936.[2]

In August 1942, the company stopped all domestic production and focused on producing military optics and radio equipment for the armed forces during World War II.[2]

The company changed its name to Argus, Inc. in 1944. Argus introduced the Argus A Model in 1947, a metal-bodied camera and the company’s first model with an automatic shutter cocking to prevent double exposure and a hot shoe for flash.[3]

By the end of World War II, Argus had won the Army-Navy “E” award five times for “excellence in design and manufacture of war-related material".[4][5] Argus Inc. changed its name to Argus Cameras, Inc. in 1949.[6]

Its best-known product was the C3 rangefinder camera, which enjoyed a 27-year production run and became one of the top-selling cameras in history. The company's Model A was the first low-cost 35 mm camera in the United States.

In 1956, the Argus 50mm f/2.8 Cintagon lens, designed for the C44 camera, was one of the first commercial lenses designed with the aid of a computer.[3]

In 1957, Sylvania Electric Products acquired the company but continued to operate as Argus. In 1962, Sylvania sold the company to Mansfield Industries, an importer of photography products.[3] By 1969 it had ceased camera production (some rebadged cameras continued to be sold under the Argus name through the 1970s).[citation needed]

More recently, the Argus brand has been reestablished, and is used on a variety of inexpensive digital cameras made by Argus Camera Company, LLC., located in Inverness, Illinois.

Models

Argus C3

A series

  • A (1936–1941)
  • AF (1937–1938)
  • B (1937)
  • A2B (1939–1950)
  • A2F (1939–1941)
  • AA (1940–1942)
  • FA (1950–1951)

C series

Argus 21
  • C (1938–1939)
  • C2 (1938–1942)
  • C3 (1938–1968)
  • 21 (1947–1952)
  • C4 (1951–1957)
  • C44 (1956–1957)
  • C3 Golden Shield (1958–1966)
  • C3 Matchmatic (1958–1966)
  • C3 Standard (1958–1966)
  • C44R (1958–1962)
  • C4R (1958)
  • C33 (1959–1961)

Argoflex

Argoflex Seventy-Five
Argus Seventy-Five (Australian made)
  • Argoflex E (1940–1948)
  • Argoflex
  • Argoflex II (1947)
  • Argoflex EM (1948)
  • Argoflex EF (1948–1951)
  • Argoflex Seventy-Five (1949–1958)
  • Argus Seventy-Five (made in Australia)
  • Seventy-Five (1949–1958)
  • 40 (1950–1954)
  • Argoflex Forty (1950–1954)
  • Super Seventy-Five (1954–1958)
  • 75 (1958–1964)

Autronic

Argus Autronic 35
  • Autronic 35 (1960 only)
  • Autronic C3 (1960–1962)
  • Autronic I (1962–1965)
  • Autronic II (1962–1965)

Other models

Argus Lady Carefree, plastic camera for 126 mm film cartridges, c. 1967
  • K (1939–1940)
  • M (1939–1940)
  • A3 (1940–1942)
  • CC (1941–1942)
  • Minca (1947–1948)
  • A5 (1953–1956)
  • A-Four (1953–1956)
  • C-Twenty (1957–1958)
  • Lady Carefree (126, circa 1967)
  • Carefree (126)

Digital

Argus DC1500
Argus DC3000
  • DCV-011
  • DCM-098
  • DCM-099
  • DC-1088
  • DC-1500
  • DC-1512E
  • DC-2185
  • DC-2700
  • DC-3000 (May 2000)
  • DC-3185
  • DC-3190
  • DC-3195
  • DC-3270DV
  • DC-5190
  • DC-5195
  • DC-5340
  • DC-6340

Awards

Argus had two cameras for children developed in partnership with TEAMS Design. The cameras, the Bean and Sprout, won a Bronze 2009 IDEA award[7] from Bloomberg BusinessWeek and the Industrial Designers Society of America in addition to an Appliance Design 2009 EID award.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "George Burke Dies Suddenly | Ann Arbor District Library". aadl.org. Archived from the original on 2024-04-19. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  2. ^ a b c "Argus Museum Ann Arbor". www.argusmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2024-07-03. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  3. ^ a b c "Argus Cameras; The American Firm That Made Miniature Photography Affordable Page 2". Shutterbug. 2006-03-01. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  4. ^ "Argus Eyes for Victory | Ann Arbor District Library". aadl.org. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  5. ^ Argus Camera Co. (1943-06-26). Argus Eyes 1943 June 26.
  6. ^ "Argus, Inc., Is New Name | Ann Arbor District Library". aadl.org. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  7. ^ "TEAMS Awards". TEAMS Design. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Appliance Design EID Awards". Archived from the original on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
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