After successfully completing some medical treatments, I was overcome with a serious bout of GAS. That is Gear Acquisition Syndrome, although the other gas was also present.
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| Hasselblad 501CM with 100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar CSi lens and correct hood |
For over five years, I used an 80mm Planar lens on my Hasselblad. But sometimes, I wanted just a bit more reach. With 35mm cameras, I liked the 55mm ƒ/1.8 Super-Takumar lens on the Pentax Spotmatic. This was just marginally longer than the more common 50mm. Hasselblad's 100mm Planar lens would provide a diagonal coverage on 6×6 approximately equal to 55mm on 35mm, so I started looking at online vendors in USA. Soon, this gorgeous 100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar CSi lens came in a big padded box from Camera West. This is a 6-element Planar design and is reputed to be the highest resolution Hasselblad lens for distant subjects.
On a foggy and drizzly January day (my favorite light), I loaded a roll of Fuji Pro 160 NS film in the holder and headed out. This is a neutral color balanced film designed for wedding, fashion, and commercial product photography. Fuji did not distribute 160NS in the USA and discontinued it in the Japan market in October 2021.
I posted these frames at 2400 pixels wide, so click any picture to see the details. Most were tripod-mounted.
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| Polk Street view east, January 7, 2023, 1/15 ƒ/11 |
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| Monroe Street looking south from China Street. The former Junius Ward YMCA is to the right. |
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| Pearl Street near Fairground Street, 1/15 ƒ/16 |
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| 2521 Pearl Street, still occupied (taken from railroad tracks) |
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| 501-509 Fairground Street (taken from railroad bridge), 1/15 ƒ/16 |
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| Floodwall and Bunge Corporation, Levee Street, view south (hand-held) |
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| 1109 Mulberry Street, view east, 1/30 ƒ/11 |
LD's Restaurant is in a building that formerly housed a club/bar (closed several times because of shootings) and a liquor store.
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| Railroad yard from Levee Street - 250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens, 1/4 ƒ/22 |
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| 2427 Washington Street - 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens |
I added two frames that I took with my 80mm and 250mm lenses. Hasselblad's 100mm lens is considered to be their "sharpest" (whatever that means in internet fantasy-land), but all the Zeiss lenses are superb performers. My Planar-CB is a 6-element design, in contrast to the more common 7-element models. My 250mm Sonnar is a 1960s silver barrel model with single coating, but it is just fine.
I found a very handy padded bag to hold my camera on the car seat next to me or on the floor. The rest of the kit stays in a larger camera bag. This is a Ruggard Onyx 35, only $17.95 from B&H. $17.95? That is the cost of a roll of film now. The original idea came from a WalMart lunch box that my wife suggested, but this Onyx is well-sewn and protective. Highly recommended.
Thank you all for joining me on this semi-random tour of Vicksburg.
3 comments:
I noticed how the red in the second photograph just jumped out at me, including the tiny leaves on the tree. Then I saw that the red shades in all the photographs seemed to stand out. I don't know diddly about film, but the colors in this film were definitely interesting!
I like that shot of all the little houses in a line going up the hill. All those stairways look intimidating though.
Vicksburg once upon a time had hundreds of houses on steep hillsides like this. Many have been demolished or lost to fire over the years. Some lots can not be reused for residential structures. Builders were more brave (or foolhardy) about hill construction a century ago.
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