Argust Day is a yearly event when lovers of classic Argus cameras record images of their day with their favorite camera or cameras.
The first one happened Argust 1 in 2001 and was organized by members of the Argus Collectors Group.
Predictably, Argust 10 occurred on the 10th day of August, 2010.

This year I loaded up with a recently acquired "hybrid" camera. Someone in the past had combined the lens and shutter assembly of an Argus Model AA with the body and film transport of an early Model A.
Camera needed extensive repair and cleaning before I could use it.
Because of fractures in the middle glass lens element, I swapped out front and middle elements with one of my Model M examples (the Model M, although a different film format, used the same lens and shutter parts as the Model AA... but did not use the flash capabilities of the Model AA).

The Argus Model AA type lens and shutter are very simple. Focus is fixed at one preset point. Shutter has only one speed, about 1/40. And the aperture has a limited range of openings, widest is f/6.3.
Although shutter has internal flash switching, it was not used in this hybrid, and the wiring was cut short.

The inside of the camera back is inscribed with the letters "WPA" with a four digit number and a name.
Could this camera have seen use under the Works Progress Administration before WW II?

I loaded with Fuji 100 print film, and in the morning headed out to Byrnesmill City Park on Big River, then out to Cedar Hill, Missouri.

I also shot film with a second camera for backup, one of my favorite examples of Model C4, the one that I had recovered in red vinyl "birdskin" material. Images from that camera will be in a separate gallery.

Please click on thumbnail images to see enlarged.
All images are ©2010 E.J.Kowalski.