ARGUS
Argus is an American camera company that manufactured and sold cameras from 1936 to 1966. It's most well-known camera was the world-famous Argus C-3, lovingly known as "the Brick" due to its shape, size and weight!
However, in 1991, Popular Photography magazine reported that a new
Argus camera was soon going to be produced. They stated that it would
be marketed by the photographic distribution company, Concord Camera Co.,
which owned the rights to the name "Argus" -- at least when it came to cameras,
anyway. The only picture ever seen of the new Argus SL 900 shows that
it is definitely a rebadged Seagull DF-300 (model 1) which, of course, would
be manufactured by Seagull and sold by Concord -- with no involvement from
the defunct Argus company. The target market would likely have been
the USA where Argus, and Concord (to some extent), were well known. In the end, Concord liquidated (AKA, "went bankrupt")
in 2009.
Argus SL 900
It would make sense if you assumed that the Argus SL 900 had something in common with the Sakar SL-90MD, but it doesn't. The Argus SL 900 is a Seagull DF-300 variant with an electronic shutter, while the Sakar SL-90MD is a Seagull DF-1 variant with a mechanical shutter. The Argus SL 900 may have never made it into full production -- or saw a quick name change, and sold as the Argus DF-300.
Argus DF-300
While the Argus SL 900 may never have made it to market -- or only on a limited scale -- it did appear under a different name -- the DF-300. This may have been licensed by whoever bought the rights from Concord Camera Company. In any event, it looks like the SL 900 -- and came with a Seagull lens. Production apparently ended in 1993.
It had all of the features of the Seagull DF-300 (model 1), such as the film tab holder on the back of the film door, a dedicated flash shoe, and a sensa-switch.
| Shutter | Shutter speeds |
Flash synch speed |
TTL meter- ing? |
ISO settings |
Auto expo- sure? |
AE lock? |
View- finder info |
Flash shoe |
Sensa- switch? |
PC plug? |
Multi- expo- sure? |
Cable release plug? |
Stop down button? |
Self timer? |
Mirror lock-up? |
Motor drive option? |
Battery used for |
Film indicator |
|
| Argus SL 900 | metal, vertical |
1-2,000 B |
1/125 | Y | 25- 3200 |
N | N/A | 3 LED's | Hot | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | meter | Tab holder |