ARGUS f / 1.9 50mm COATED CINTAGON,
Steinheil Munchen Germany 1668484
Mounted in Argus C 44 Serial No. 0044072350

This is one of the rarest of the classic Argus lenses. Seldom seen. Fastest lens design ever for a classic American made Argus body?
When I recently received this lens, I was disappointed to find significant coating damage on the lens surfaces, especially the rear surface. Such damage will sometimes make a lens unusable.

Today with beautiful weather, I decided to give it a test.
Field test area was either side of the lower Meramec River in Eastern Missouri.
The old Gravois Road bridge connects the cities of Fenton and Sunset Hills.
When that bridge collapsed in Minnesota recently, engineers took a close look at this Meramec River bridge as well as many others throughout the USA. With their report, this bridge was closed immediately to vehicle traffic. In these images, you can get a sense of "why."

Anyway, I was SURPRISED, in consideration of the extent of coating damage on this lens, how well it performed. I tried it under several types of lighting, into the sun, away from the sun, and in deep shadow. It tried to flare a little, with bright objects in full reflective sun, but really not that terribly bad.

Please remember to click on thumbnail images to see them enlarged.
All images are ©2009 E.J.Kowalski.