A look back at the Argus C44 rangefinder camera

A look back at the Argus C44 rangefinder camera(notes.ericjiang.com)

17 points by erjiang 3 years ago | 6 comments

ofalkaed 3 years ago |

I love rangefinder cameras and have owned and used quite a few over the years including the C44. My favorite will remain the odd little Mercury II [0] with its movie camera style shutter and half frame format, it just took amazing photos and is a very robust camera in every way that is simple to work on with no specialty tools or micro surgery required.

0: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Mercury

erjiang 3 years ago | |

Looking at the photos, that calculator wheel on the back looks wonderful. Certainly better than the contemporary paper calculator wheel that I got with my Argus.

ofalkaed 3 years ago | | |

It is really great and always where you need it. The shutter on these things is amazing and solves all problems with leaf shutters, filth has little effect on it and even if it gets dirty enough to inhibit function you can just open the back of the camera and click the shutter and stop its rotation with your finger so you can clean it, it is like 1/16" thick steel so you are not going to hurt it unless you actively try. The only real problem with the shutter is the spring will need replacing every 10k photos or so, but that is a simple matter and even if you ignore it all that happens is that the shutter speed is slightly slower than it should be. This camera convinced me that leaf shutters should not exist.

peterbmarks 3 years ago |

Is "anyways" part of written English these days?

MikeDelta 3 years ago | |

Not sure about this word, but the English language does not have a body that decides what the official words of the language are (unlike the French [0]). It seems that if a word or construct is used often enough, it becomes part of the English language by being included in official dictionaries like the Oxford Enflish Dictionary [1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acad%C3%A9mie_Fran%C3%A7aise

[1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-how-oxford-e...

Edit, it is part of written English: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/lets-talk-abou....

ofalkaed 3 years ago | |

Anyways is in the OED with its first recorded usage being in 1560, but it does have this use as any ways, we have to wait until 1784 for it to become a the single word anyways. This use is different than the common modern use and is more a synonym for always, in anyway, in any respect, etc. The modern use does not become common for another 50 years or so and by 1865 we get Dickens putting it to use with the rather good "Anyways, I am glad, etc." Anyhow is also in there along with anywhat and anywhen but no anywho but I am still working from the old Second Edition and not the continuously updated online/soon to be third edition.

Anyways, I think it is safe to say that anyways has been a word in written English for quite some time now.