Argus (C44) 35mm f/4.5 Cintagon by Steinheil

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

Lens Review � 35mm f/4.5 Argus (C44) Cintagon by Steinheil

I thought I would start my look at Argus C3 and C44 lenses on the Sony Nex 3 with the 35mm f/4.5 Cintagon.

Description. The lens is marked Argus f4.5 Coated Cintagon. Indeed, my sample exhibits what appears to a single blue coating. It has detented f/stops at 4.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16 and 22, plus a �yellow delta� stop between f/5.6 and f/8 which corresponds to a �snapshot setting� of 10 feet on the distance scale. The diaphragm with 9 leaves resulting in a fairly circular aperture. The action is very smooth, despite a little bit of oil on the blades. The lens is 1.5� in length and 2� in diameter. The nicely machined chrome plated lens shade increases the diameter to 2-3/8� and the overall length to 2-1/4�. The lens body is nicely finished with unique scallop-shaped knurls machined in a ring, just behind the aperture scale. The lens is solid feeling and heavy for its size � most likely it is constructed of chrome plated brass. There are some other parts that might be black anodized aluminum on the lens mount.

In use on the NEX. The Cintagon handles well on the NEX. Changing the aperture is easy as the entire front nose of the lens is the part rotates. I actually find it easiest to use the lens shade. This could be an issue if orientation-specific polarizers or split density filters are required. Adjusting focus is another story altogether. Only the thin black rear stage of the lens which has the distance scale engravings on it rotates to focus. This narrow band is just shy of �� and could be very problematic for anyone with large or stubby fingers. Thankfully that is not me. However, in the future, I may replace on the small grub screws in the focus ring with a longer thread screw and use the screw as a quick focus handle. (I always used one on my Pentax 6X7!)

Performance. I have only had a bit of time with this lens, so this is by no means an exhaustive scientific analysis, just a quick, informal test.
Sharpness. This lens is by no means the sharpest tool in the shed. It is quite soft wide open, and becomes acceptable around f/8. I would say it is quite average. I have many much sharper 35mm f/2.8 and f/3.5 lenses. The Pentax 35mm f/3.5 Super Tak, for one, and the the 35mm f/1.9 Vivitar Auto wide Angle for another. Sharpness was set at +1 on my NEX, no sharpening was done in PP.

Contrast. Contrast is quite good. Contrast was set at +1 on the NEX, no enhancement except levels adjust in PP.

Color. I like the rendering of colors with this lens for an evening outdoor image. I have not tested it for skin tones or in other situations. This is a difficult parameter to judge. The NEX was set on Cloudy color balance, saturation at +2 and VIVID color rendering. That all has an effect. How much of the image�s color comes from the lens and how much from the camera�s computer? In any case, I can produce an image whose colors are pleasing to me and remind me of the original scene � so the color rendering seems fine to me.

Flare. I didn�t shoot any images into the sun directly, but in a few images (the bokeh shots), the sun was low in the sky and just out of frame. I noticed some loss of contrast, but nothing too bad � about par for this class of lens in its time period.

Bokeh. The bokeh this lens produces wide open is, different. It is at once restrained, yet very organic and natural looking. It is not what I would call �swirly� or �dreamy�, nor is it perfectly circular and well behaved. It is different, but not unpleasant � at least to me.

Chromatic aberrations (purple fringing), vignetting and distortions. Vignetting and barrel/pinscushion distortion is not out of line to my eye. Purple fringing is evident in modest amounts wide open, but again, to my eye, doesn�t seem to bad at f/8.

Conclusion. The lens performs adequately, but is no better than average. It sure looks cool, and it is made well. It is fun to use and produces adequate images with a definite individuality. I think it is a keeper.

Best,

Paul

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

These lenses are unknown in the UK. Very pretty looking one, Steinheil sure did make pretty lenses.

I really like the colours and the bokeh. Shame it's not sharper though, looks like one to use on close subjects rather than landscapes.

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

Thanks, Ian,

These lenses pop up from time to time on Ebay, but they are not all that easy to find, even here, where they were sold.

The Argus C44 (1956 - 1957) and C44R (1958 - 1962) were only made for a couple of years in the late '50s to early '60s and they were not a sales success. This is a shame, since the C44 was one of the few bayonet-mount, interchangeable lens rangefinders made in the US. The C44 sold for $99.50 in '58, and the C44R for $120 when it was retired in '62. Both prices are with the 50mm f/2.8 normal lens. The pricier 50mm f/1.9 Cintagon added an extra $50 in '62.

It has been speculated that it was the Argus name (long associated with amateur film and movie cameras) that caused serious photographers to dismiss the sophistication and overall pleasant performance of the camera. I used mine with film for a number of years before a moving/packing mishap ended the life of the C44R body I had. The only thing that still worked on the camera was the lens mount - which I pulled out of my spare parts bin to fashion the NEX adpater you see in the above pictures.

I too, wish I could have coaxed a bit more sharpness out of this lens!

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Kudos for the work on the adapter, it is a very neat job.

Argus were never sold here, from time to time a very abused looking C3 will appear on UK ebay.

There is no UK equivalent really, the Corfield RF cams were expensive, but the lenses were poor quality Ennas or later Japanese. Some Wray lenses appeared for them but those are poor too. I have the 100mm made by Wray for it and it's not good at all.

Attila · Expire: 2021-11-18

Very nice review! Many thanks!

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Nice writeup, very interesting conclusions.

I had this lens with a set of Argus C44's I sold a year or so ago.
I thought the lens was quite decently sharp, on film.

The Enna Lithagon lenses for the C3's and C4's (Geiss version) aren't half bad either.

The C44 had a rather clumsy bayonet.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

CaptainVideo · Last edited by CaptainVideo on Fri Mar 02, 2018 3:35 am; edited 1 time in total

I just got an adapter to work with my Argus lenses and started by trying out the Argus 35mm f/4.5 Cintagon. It's been raining here so I haven't been able to do any general photography with it yet so I put an extension ring on and tried some macro's with it.

While this doesn't say much to overall sharpness or the flare issue mentioned, I think it shows good enough contrast under more controlled lighting -- this was a mix of daylight window spill and incandescent. I think it also presents very nice color.

Argus 35mm f4.5 Cintagon Lens, made by Steinheil München, f4.5, 1/20th sec (hand held) @ ISO 640 on Sony A7RII

Argus 35mm f4.5 Cintagon Lens adapted onto Sony A7RII

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Pretty, isn't it?
The SLR lens makers rarely did such interesting things in their design.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1036