Big Skies, Silos, and Farms - Eastern Washington 2026 (Part 1)

Eastern Washington is topographically and climatologically so different than the Puget Lowlands of western Washington. It is so much fun to head east of the Cascades and explore farm roads and byways. In June 2026, a friend and I took a road trip to look at the Channeled Scablands, the geological remains of the immense floods from glacial Lake Missoula. But here, we will look at farms and cultural features. 

We started our trip in Hood River, Oregon, and proceeded east along the south bank of the Columbia River. This was the route that my dad took in 1949 when he stopped at the famous Celilo Falls. We drove through the Wallula Gap and emerged in eastern Washington. 

Umatilla

 

The cowboy of 6th Street

A giant cowboy! Did we drive to west Texas? No, just an enthusiastic advertisement for Harvest Foods. Chicken drumsticks only $1/lb. 

 

Lamar 

 

Lamar is a farming community on the Touchet River. This is wheat-growing country, so there are silos to store the produce. 

  

Palouse Falls State Park

 

Palouse Falls is in one of the coulees gouged out to the basalt by the great floods. The Palouse Falls State Park Heritage Site is on Palouse Falls Road in LaCrosse. It is a drive but really worthwhile. You need a Washington State Discover Pass for entry. We saw marmots everywhere, quite tame. But that means tourists feed them. Don't do that!

2025 view SW of the Palouse River

(Portra 160 film, Pentax MG, 50mm ƒ/2 Rikenon lens)

Washtucna

Forgotten farmhouse, Rte 261 north of Washtucna

Washtucna is pretty quiet. I stopped in town during my 2025 road trip. For this 2026 trip, we continued north. I want to return to this area with B&W film, maybe with a 4×5" camera.

 

Ritzville

 

Ritzville is in the heart of wheat farm country. I remember when a college roomate and I stayed with his family in Ritzville in the early 1970s. US farmers had just begun to sell wheat to the Soviet Union, and Washington farmers were happy and buying new combines and other farm machinery. These wheat sales were an admission by the Soviet regime that they were unable to feed their own people. The sales started trade in other commodities with the Soviet Union. They were an element of Richard Nixon's program of détente during the height of the cold war.

 

North Division Street

North Division Street

The Top Hat, 210 East 1st Avenue

No more food here, 509 West 1st Avenue

I am really enjoying eastern Washington. It reminds me of my road trips through west Texas or other farm areas in the Southwest. The big sky dominates the scene, and lonely houses or silos pop up as you round a bend in a road. The people you meet are friendly, but it is a lonely terrain.

I took these photographs on Kodak Gold 200 film with a Rolleiflex 3.5E twin lens reflex camera. It has a 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens (5 element version). Glazer's Camera in Seattle developed the film and scanned the negatives with a Noritsu system. 

 

Danger: More GAS and the Zeiss Ikon ZM Rangefinder Camera

Self-control Failure

Yes, I utterly failed GAS control again. I bought another rangefinder camera, a Zeiss Ikon ZM. I used Leica M3 and M2 cameras for 40 years. They did not have built-in light meters, and I wanted extra convenience in a busy setting, such as city photography (or when the relatives were impatient). What camera body would provide auto exposure with M-mount lenses? Choices in 2025 were limited.

1. Minolta CLE from the 1980s. No, too old.
2. Leica M7. The luxury option - tempting! Nice!
3. Zeiss Ikon ZM from 2005.
4. Bessa R2A or R3A. My friend in town said repairs were an ugly experience, and he thought they felt rather discount. And now they cost $1200+ from the Japanese vendors. No.
5. Konica Hexar RF. Rare and may not be totally compatible with Leica M lenses (a controversial topic among internet warriors). No.
6. Rollei 35RF "Classic Edition," 2002. Special edition of the Bessa R2 camera. Rare.  

In 2025, Glazer's Camera in Seattle, Washington, listed a clean ZM for an acceptable price. I drove north and bought it. 

Zeiss Ikon ZM with 21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss C-Biogon lens and Leica 21mm viewfinder

Zeiss Ikon ZM

Zeiss started selling the ZM in 2005-2006. The camera was about the same size as a Leica M but was a bit lighter. It has a brilliant clean viewfinder. The auto-exposure function allows quick field work. Cosina in Japan manufactured the body, but it was significantly different than the Bessa bodies that Cosina also built. I will not review the technical details of the ZM because they are available on sites such as at Camera-Wiki and Casual Photophile. 

Some users complained that the rangefinder patch blanked out if their eye was not directly centered in the finder. This seldom was a problem for me. 

Zeiss also introduced a series of ZM lenses in Leica M mount. Many reviewers say the ZM lenses offer similar performance to Leica lenses but at lower price. I have the Zeiss ZM 21mm ƒ/4.5 Biogon lens and love it. As of 2026, some of the ZM lenses are still available new. The 50mm ƒ/1.5 C-Sonnar is a modern update to the classic Sonnar formulation. 

Alas, despite the technical excellence, the ZM body did not sell well, and Zeiss ended production in 2012. Their timing was rough because the digital tsunami was overwhelming the photography world during the early 2000s. Very few new film cameras sold then, and the market was awash with used film cameras that people were clearing out from their homes and studios. (That was the time to buy great bargains.)

 

But today, the ZM appears to be selling well. It is an alternative to the much more expensive Leica M7. 

 

Zeiss Ikon body with 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens

Top view showing large shutter speed control

 

Incompatible M-mount Lenses 

The Zeiss Ikon body will accept most Leica M mount lenses as well as older thread-mount lenses with the appropriate LTM-M adapter. I have used mine with my 1950 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens and a 1962 Soviet Юпитер-8 lens. In fact, the Summitar performs better on this ZM body than it does on my Leica IIIC body (the latter has some problem in its lens mount). 

Leica M bodies have a rangefinder base length (meaning the distance from the middle of the viewfinder window to the middle of the rangefinder window) of 69.25mm. Leitz set this in 1954, and all Leica M cameras since then have used 69.25mm. The ZM has a base length of 75mm. Therefore, Leica lenses with auxiliary goggles will not work properly because the goggles will not align with the ZM's windows:

• 35mm ƒ/3.5 Summaron-RF
• 35mm ƒ/2.8 Summaron-RF (6-element design with lanthanum glass)
• 35mm ƒ/2 Summicron-RF (the famous 8-element design)
• 135mm ƒ/2.8 Elmarit

From personal experience, I know that the 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR (dual-range) lens will not mount correctly on the ZM body. That is my favorite 50mm lens. Instead, I can use the Type 4 Summicron.

 

The body of the ZM is about the same width and depth as a Leica M. But the ZM is a bit taller. The film rewind is on the bottom, so the left side of the ZM is smooth. A Pentax MX camera is smaller in all dimensions except for the hump of the prism. 

 

The Pentax MX really is a gem of compact engineering. (I like geeky pictures like this. But, of course, they have little to do with real photography out in the field.)

 

Minor Repair

 

The shutter speed control lost its click detents. I do not know what shutter speeds it set, and I ruined part of a roll of film. Fortunately, the technician at Camera Solutions in Portland, Oregon, was able to repair it. But this was a simple mechanical issue; what about a more major failure, such as the electronic shutter?? 

Film Examples

 

Here are samples from Oregon and western Washington with various lenses. Click any picture to enlarge it.

 

 

Gift store, Newport Beach, Oregon (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

Post office, Menlo, Washington (5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens)

House with posters, Naselle, Washington (21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss Biogon-C lens)

Attack flamingos guarding the property, Central Street, Olympia (21mm Biogon-C lens)

Graffiti, below Henderson Park Lane, Olympia (21mm Biogon-C lens)

Rail line, Henderson Park Lane (90mm ƒ/4 Elmar-M lens)

Motel, 1st Street, Shelton (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron (Type IV) lens)

Alley off Broadway, Aberdeen (35mm ƒ/4 Summicron lens)

Former Reliable Steel, West Bay Drive NW, Olympia (21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss Biogon-C lens)

Zenker Valley Road, Centralia (90mm ƒ/2.5 Leica Summarit lens)

Autumn on Zenker Valley Road, Centralia (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

 

Summary

 

This camera is fun. The Zeiss Ikon ZM is easy to use and is lighter than Leica M bodies. All my lenses focus correctly. Even my 1950 Summitar lens performs remarkably well when mounted on this body. The auto exposure system seems foolproof. 

 

Final thought: Highly recommended so long as you can accept the fact that the ZM is an electronically controlled device. It does not seem to be as robust as Leica M film cameras. If the ZM breaks, possibly only Zeiss in Germany will repair it (and at quite a price). 

 

Grunge and Color in Olympia, Washington, Winter 2025-2026 (Oly 29)

Olympia is fun to walk and check for new stores, signs, and graffiti. Fourth and Fifth Avenues are rich with material, if you like grunge and messy American city vibe.

 

Thurston County Food Bank (Oct. 2, 2025, Ektar 100 film, 90mm ƒ/2.5 Elmarit lens)

Some mornings, I eat breakfast at Bread Peddler on Capitol Way N. and then walk home along 4th or 5th Avenues.

Parking lot, Capitol Way at State Ave.

Parking lot, Capitol Way (Feb. 28, 2026, 50mm F/2 Summicron lens)

Thai restaurant, not open yet?

Voyeurs, 404 4th Ave. E. (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

Vintage clothing, 707 4th Ave. E (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

Espresso Station, corner of 4th Avenue and Plum Street

More random scenes around town.

The Flamingo House! 503 Central Street.

Surviving wood traditional houses, view south from Legion Way

Alley, Legion Way 314 (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

Pink restaurant at 430 Legion Way

Gas meters, Olympia Ave, (50mm ƒ/2 Jupiter-8 lens)

I took this photograph with my 1962 Soviet-era ЮПИТЕР-8 lens. It has field curvature and is therefore is more suited to scenes with depth. But I continue to be impressed with how well this Sonnar design works in mid-distance scenes. It is a thread-mount lens, but with a Leica M-LTM adapter, it mounts perfectly on my Zeiss Ikon ZM camera. 

Massage shop, Fir Street

A friend told me that this little building might be a Sears kit home. It definitely resembles some of the Sears houses with the raised attic room on one end. But I checked with SearsHouses.com national database, and one of the curators wrote that Sears did not sell houses this far west. However, there were west coast kit house manufacturers, so who can tell about the origins of this modest little house on Fir Street. 

 

 

Smoke shop, 3730 Pacific Ave., Olympia

When you are done exploring and photographing, where do you go? Why, to Ranch House BBQ on Rte 8 west of Olympia. Brisket, ribs, sauce - for the hidden carnivore inside.

 

 

Ranch House BBQ (Portra 160 film, 50mm F/2 Summicron lens)

 

This ends our winter 2025-2026 random exploring around Olympia. 

I took most of these photographs on Kodak Ektar 100 film using my Zeiss Ikon ZM camera with various lenses. The ZM has a remarkably accurate aperture priority automatic exposure function, especially when the light is soft. Point, focus, click. I will write more about the ZM in the future.

Small Cities in western Washington: Raymond

Raymond is one of the larger cities in Pacific County in the state of Washington. It was incorporated in 1907 and economically driven by logging, timber mills, commercial fishing, and oyster culture. Logging and fishing declined in the mid-20th century, as did the city's prosperity, but after 2012, marijuana cultivation and sales partly revived the city. As of 2025, the city still looks rough. 

Willapa River and unused railroad swing bridge

Raymond was built next to the Willapa River. This allowed lumber vessels to access Willapa Bay and hence the open Pacific Ocean. However, the mouth of Willapa Bay is once of the more treacherous openings along the Oregon and Washington coast because of waves and shifting shoals. I assume this may have somewhat limited Raymond's commercial growth compared to Aberdeen in Grays Harbor. 

Willapa Bay is still a major oyster harvesting area. Raymond calls itself "The Oyster Capital of the World." 

 I explored the streets near the west end of downtown.   

Commercial building on 1st. Street (Kodak Tri-X 400 film, Rolleiflex 3.5 E camera)

Apartments on 1st Street

Two wood houses remain at the corner of 2nd and Ellis Streets. The Weyerhauser wood mill beyond the buildings includes a log yard, sawmill, planer mill, kilns, and planer machines. 

 

Former department store, 2nd Street at Duryea Street

Rear of commercial building facing 3rd Street

Commercial building at 2nd and Duryea Streets

HAVA no-kill cat shelter for homeless, abandoned, or abused cats, 431 2nd Street

439 2nd Street

Golden Lion Inn, 524 3rd St.

 

These photographs look rather bleak. There were very few people about.  

The Golden Lion Inn is a modest establishment on 3rd Street. One of the building has a distinct 1960s motor court look with horizontal bricks and wide overhang roof line. I doubt I would stay there, but the property looked well-maintained.

I took most of the photographs on Dec. 29, 2025. The square frames are Kodak Tri-X 400 film from my Rolleiflex 3.5E with 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. The rectangle frames are Ilford XP2 film from my Pentax MX camera and a 50mm ƒ/2 Rikenon lens. This Ricoh lens is a remarkably good plastic-bodied consumer lens sold with many Sears cameras in the 1980s. It is a standard 6-element double Gauss design, multi-coated. I am still deciding if I like XP2, which is a C-41 film (like color print film but monochrome only). It is easy to use and flexible with exposure.