Argus CC
The Argus CC camera enjoys two distinctions within the Argus family of cameras. First off, it may well be the shortest-lived camera of the whole Argus lineup. It is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Argus C3 which had a production run lasting 27 years, while the Argus CC was produced for only about one year between 1941-1942. The other quality that makes it kind of unique among Argus cameras is it is the only one with a built-in (but uncoupled) light meter.
At its heart, the Argus CC (which stood for Color Camera, perhaps to help promote it alongside the rising popularity of color film at the time) is really an Argus A3. Where the A3 had an extinction meter, the Argus CC replaced it with an uncoupled, selenium cell light meter. It is easy to overlook look the value of this today where pretty much everything has a light meter, but at the time the addition of the light meter, especially on such a low-cost camera, would have been as futuristic as the camera's sleek chrome styling. Even though the light meter was not coupled to changes in shutter or aperture settings the camera boasted a rather robust calculator on its back door that not only allowed the user to quickly extrapolate shutter speeds from 1/150 to 60 seconds, but to also factor in up to 5 stops worth of filter factor at the same time. These days we may have apps to do all that but odds are a seasoned Argus user could probably reach the same conclusions faster using this calculator disc.
Beyond that though, the Argus CC had the same features as the A3 in that it used a 50mm f4 Anastigmat lens mounted in a simple Argus leaf shutter that has shutter speeds of 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/150 - plus Bulb and Time. The lens and shutter were fitted to a collapsible barrel that recessed into the camera body to help reduce the camera's profile and make it a bit easier to carry around. Expanding the lens is really simple and is done via the same mechanism used for focusing. The Argus CC is a simple viewfinder camera, so there is no rangefinder for measuring distance, nor does the viewfinder provide framelines. What you see may be about what you get... that sort of thing.
There are some out there who have a particular soft spot for Argus cameras, and we have met more than one or two Argus collectors in our time. If you count yourself among that group, keep your eyes peeled for the Argus CC, it is a bit of a gem to have in the Argus collection.
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