Category Archives: Railroadiana

I picked this old camera up at a Sally Ann today for $12; only $2 more than the same thing cost me in 1968. The Argus C-4 was my first 35mm camera, and I bought it from my Dad for $10 when we went on a cross Canada train trip from Montreal to Vancouver. Those were the days when trains ran across Canada for the purpose of taking passengers to destinations. Nowadays this same train runs for the sole purpose of luxury sight-seeing at a ridiculous cost! I was fortunate to have had the experience in the days when it was “affordable”. I’m sure it was expensive, but not like a cruise on the QEII.

These days, nothing is affordable, by most definitions. But a classic camera for $12 was irresistible, especially since it was in working order. I used the Argus for a year or two before my mother bought me a far better camera as a present with her inheritance from my Grandpa, a Minolta SRT101. Like the Argus, I eventually sold that, but not until I had used it for 25 years and worn it out. Years later I acquired another SRT101 as a nostalgic replacement for the original, and it still takes great pictures. Film costs are high however, so I don’t indulge very often.

That’s me, here in Victoria BC on holiday with my Mom and sister, about to take a photograph with the Argus C-4. One had to be careful to set the shutter speed and aperture correctly as everything was done manually. I soon learned how to take pictures. It was expensive to use film, and one didn’t take ten shots to ensure that one was good. One shot had to suffice. Everyone on the planet now has a far better camera in their pocket, but most of them have no clue about the underlying function or science or what “exposure” means, etc, so they take dozens of pictures when one would do.

That said, there are many skilled photographers, and lots of them use phones to take great pictures. But we lost something along the way, and hence my nostalgia for the old camera. This camera was a treasure in its day, and it still feels like a treasure now, looking at it and taking empty photos, using the split image rangefinder, winding the shutter and pressing the release button, not only hearing the shutter but feeling it snap open and closed. These tactile sensations have been lost with the miracle of digital tech, which now produces a fake shutter sound when one “snaps” a photo with a phone.

One more observation; this was made in USA. I bought it anyways. Canadians and Americans should be friends! It has been said that this camera was the poor man’s Leica, even though it sold for $90, a good sum of money in the 1950’s by any measure. So at $12 today it’s a heck of a bargain.

An old camera has similarities to old typewriters; they both rely only on mechanical parts, and they seem to appeal to people who appreciate their aesthetic qualities, despite the fact that these old machines are obsolete technically and in general are either impossible to get repaired, or else very expensive to maintain, if a repairman can even be found. The old sleeping cars have gone away too, and only a few remain. How great would it be to go on a trip on a train with a portable typewriter and an old rangefinder camera loaded with film. One could write a book, and fill it with photos!