photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
edmund j. kowalski | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Argus Autronic II and the St. Louis Zoo tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Argus Autronic II and the St. Louis Zoo

The Autronic II was offered by Argus Camera in the early 1960's.
Compared to other Argus cameras, I am guessing that the Autronic series was not as well loved.
It is boxy, heavy, and the controls are unusual. You focus by turning a knob where you would expect a speed dial to be located. The shutter is released with a button up front in the middle of the focusing dial. And all the values for distance, aperture, and shutter speed are in "code" rather than traditional numbers.
However, I have found that once I cracked the code" and get used to the feel of the camera body, it can actually be a pleasant enough user camera.

This example cleaned up fairly well for its age.
The rangefinder still works accurately.
And the focus passed a film plane test.
The shutter speeds are all there.
The exposure meter, which normally runs the automatic functions of the design, is completely dead. But knowing the "codes" makes it perfectly capable as a manually controlled picture taker.

The first weekend of January we had a little thaw and so I loaded it with Kodak 200 film, shot a few images in the front yard, took it on a visit to the St. Louis Zoo, then back home again to finish off the roll.
That low in the sky winter sun gave my subjects an interesting "look."
And the camera did fine indoors as well, with electronic flash, and with available light.
The film went off to Dwayne's in Kansas for processing after I shoveled out from our big snow.
And today I finally got back my results.
I was happy with what I got.

Please click on thumbnails to see enlarged.
All images are ©2019 E.J.Kowalski.
Thanks! Ed
00.JPG
00.JPG
01.JPG
01.JPG
02.JPG
02.JPG
03.JPG
03.JPG
04.JPG
04.JPG
05.JPG
05.JPG
06.JPG
06.JPG
08.JPG
08.JPG
10.JPG
10.JPG
12.JPG
12.JPG
15.JPG
15.JPG
16.JPG
16.JPG
17.JPG
17.JPG
18.JPG
18.JPG
19.JPG
19.JPG
20.JPG
20.JPG
22.JPG
22.JPG
23.JPG
23.JPG
25.JPG
25.JPG
label.jpg
label.jpg
P0001.JPG
P0001.JPG
P9995.JPG
P9995.JPG
P9996.JPG
P9996.JPG
P9998.JPG
P9998.JPG