{"id":182,"date":"2007-02-08T14:34:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-08T14:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/?p=182"},"modified":"2026-06-15T01:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T01:35:16","slug":"brash-american-1956-argus-c44-versus-precise-german-1952-zeiss-ikon-contax-iiia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/?p=182","title":{"rendered":"Brash American 1956 Argus C44 versus Precise German 1952 Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nMy second vintage camera in as many months. This is a dangerous trend!<\/div>\n

\"Brash<\/a>
\nBrash American 1956 Argus C44 versus Precise German 1952 Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa<\/b><\/u>
\nLens<\/b><\/i> German f2.8 versus<\/b> German Zeiss f1.5
\n flash<\/i><\/b> x-sync versus<\/b> strange cable
\nMaximum shutter speed<\/b><\/i> 1\/300 versus<\/b> 1\/1250 of a second
\nMinimum shutter speed<\/b><\/i> 1\/10 versus<\/b> 1\/1
\nMeter<\/b><\/i> No versus<\/b> Yes
\nSelf timer<\/b><\/i> No versus<\/b> Yes
\nRangefinder<\/b><\/i> slight edge to the Zeiss
\nSmoothness of focus, film advance and speed<\/b><\/i> clunky versus<\/b> as smooth as silk
\nDistance scale for hyper focal length<\/b><\/i> easy to read by looking down at camera versus<\/b> badly placed hard to read scale.
\nSetting f stops<\/b><\/i> easy because end of lens does not rotate versus<\/b> difficult because end of lens with f stop rotates making the controls rotate around the camera also because of the smoothness of the focus unless you lock the focus (easy to do) changing f stop could affect focus position.
\n Sound of shutter<\/i><\/b> starter pistol versus<\/b> silencer
\nEase of changing lens<\/b><\/i> very difficult versus<\/b> less difficult
\nEase of loading film<\/i><\/b> better design and built in takeup reel versus<\/b> removable take up reel and clumsy loading partially outside the camera
\nCost<\/b><\/i> $55 versus<\/b> $280
\nFun factor<\/b><\/i> Argus as the Zeiss is just too  precision crafted to use as a fun camera
\nReliability  <\/b>Zeiss still going strong but the Argus is dead  may it  RIP<\/i> <\/b><\/i>
\nImage Quality<\/b><\/i> You be the judge but I suspect the legendary Zeiss f1.5 will win out
\n
\n<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Which<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Which is Which: Canon 350D, 1956 Argus C44 or 1952 Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa? <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n
<\/h4>\n

\"Highway<\/a>
\nArgus<\/p>\n

\n\"Flag<\/a>
\nArgus<\/p>\n

\n\""The<\/a>
\nArgus<\/p>\n

\n\"Ivy<\/a>
\nZeiss<\/p>\n

\n\"Sea<\/a>
\nZeiss<\/p>\n

\n\"Ilford<\/a>
\nZeiss<\/p>\n

\n\"Art<\/a>
\nZeiss<\/p>\n

\nAnswer to which is which lens question:<\/h4>\n

Top: 1956 Argus C4 50mm lens at f11 at 1\/100sec
\nMiddle: 1952 Contax IIIa at the same setting
\nBottom: Canon 350D 24 – 105L set at 40mm equivalent f9 1\/40sec with polarizer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My second vintage camera in as many months. This is a dangerous trend! Brash American 1956 Argus C44 versus Precise German 1952 Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa Lens German f2.8 versus German Zeiss f1.5 flash x-sync versus strange cable Maximum shutter speed 1\/300 versus 1\/1250 of a second Minimum shutter speed 1\/10 versus 1\/1 Meter No […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,37,2,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-argus","category-camera","category-photo","category-zeiss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions\/183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrix-x.rraz.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}