The Argus C3 was tremendously successful in each year after the war through the end of the 1950s when sales started to decline.  Although Argus never kept any detailed production numbers, we can reasonably estimate based on known serial number ranges that average annual sales during this time was somewhere around 150,000 cameras a year which is pretty incredible considering how long it was produced. Today, the Argus C3 remains one of the most iconic cameras ever produced.  Not only is its appearance unmistakable, but it is a popular prop used in motion pictures which portray photography in the early mid 20th century.

By 1958, Argus was struggling to stay profitable and was on the verge of bankruptcy.  Although they had released a few other, more advanced cameras such as the C33 and C4 series, people kept buying C3s, and Argus wanted to freshen up the design to make the camera more relevant, so that year, they released two new models, one called the C3 Standard, and the other the C3 Match-Matic.  Both cameras got a redesigned Cintar lens with a more attractive and larger barrel, an accessory shoe on the top plate of the camera, a new shutter release, and came with an Argus selenium exposure meter for the accessory shoe.

In 1959, Argus would be bought out by Sylvania Electric Products Inc. who themselves had merged with General Telephone to form General Telephone and Electronics (GTE).  Under new leadership Sylvania started to outsource production of new Argus cameras to other German and Japanese companies such as Certo, Iloca, Petri, and Mamiya.  The Argus V-100 was one such camera, which is just a rebadged Iloca Rapid IIL. By the mid 1960s, the Argus Match-Matic and Standard were the only Argus cameras still manufactured in the United States, and in 1966, after a run of 28 years, production came to an end. By the late 1960s, Argus would close up shop in Ann Arbor and relocate to South Carolina.