Down in the Alley* (in Olympia) (Oly 11)

View east from Colombia St. NW (40mm ƒ/4 Distagon Lens)

Some streets in downtown Olympia have alleys that run behind the commercial buildings. The alley gives access to loading doors, dumpsters, maybe the sewer. Some of the older housing neighborhoods, like Bigelow and South Capital, also have alleys. The latter are handy for utilities, trash cans, and, sometimes, access to garages. They are a bit boring, so I will concentrate on the city.

Between 4th and State Avenues, an alley runs east-west for about one km. The west end is pretty interesting with art works and some graffiti. This was too good to resist, and on an overcast April day, I took a walk with my Hasselblad and Fuji NPS 160 film. This was also a chance to use my new/old 40mm Distagon wide angle lens in tight quarters. 

Something is fishy at the rear door of Old School Pizza, 108 Franklin Street (40mm Distagon lens)

Walk east for a block, and there is more good stuff.

Loading dock of 312 4th Avenue (40mm Distagon lens). There was probably a hoist once in the apex of the overhang.

Turn 180º, and a carpentry shop has a door that leads to the alley.

Carpenter shop door with shiny new paint - already decorated (40mm Distagon lens)

Rear of 308 4th Avenue (100 mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens)

Parking lot off State Avenue

Empty lots like this once had industrial or commercial buildings. Maybe a local reader can remember what once stood here. Some lots are empty because pollutet soil has been capped, but I do not know if that is the issue here.

View north to Billy Frank Jr. Place (318 State Avenue) (40mm Distagon lens)

I will show more alley pictures soon. 

215 Thurston Avenue (100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens, 1/30 ƒ/8.0)

Two blocks north is this interesting door. Some of you readers may remember it from a 35mm frame that I took with T400CN film.  

7th Avenue tunnel (100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens)

This is not quite an alley, but rather the grungy 7th Avenue railroad tunnel. An occasional train with petroleum tank cars trundles through here heading for an industrial area in west Tumwater. 

I took these photographs with my Hasselblad 501 CM camera using Fuji NPS 160 film. This was my last roll, and it is no longer available. Photoland at The Evergreen State College developed the film. 

* With apologies to Elvis Presley, who recorded Down in the Alley on May 25, 1966 on Spinout Records. The lyrics are not pertinent to my article, just the title. 

Danger: GAS and a Review of the Zeiss 40mm ƒ/4 Distagon CF FLE lens for Hasselblad (Oly 10)

Zeiss 40mm ƒ/4 lens with filter holder and 93mm UV filter in place

40mm Distagon ƒ/4 lens without filter holder

40mm Distagon lens mount. The slotted circle with a red arrow is the shutter cocking screw. The contacts were for the 200 series cameras (not used by my 501CM body)

The GAS Attack

Yes, yes, I know, I utterly lack discipline. I suffered an explosive bout of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and bought an ultra-wide lens for my Hasselblad 501CM camera. I already owned a 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens, but sometimes I wanted to be closer or be right inside the scene and capture it. 

My 50mm lens provides a diagonal view similar to a 27mm in the 35mm format. This new 40 provides a 22mm view (note, the frame proportions are not the same, square versus rectangle, so these are approximations only). I have already learned that this 40 is hard to use and need to take advantage of its unusually wide view. 

Zeiss made four generations of 40mm lenses to fit Hasselblad V bodies. These are the mid-20th century mechanical bodies that use 120 film, usually for the 6×6 format. It is difficult to find production years, but this is an approximate summary of the 40mm lenses: 

Distagon 40mm ƒ/4 C with Bayonet 104 filter. This is a huge optic, computed in the 1960s. It was a pioneering retrofocus lens at the time. Single coat 1967-1973, multi-coated T* 1974-1982. These C lenses are said to be front heavy and hard to focus. Zeiss also made versions of this 40 for Rollei SL66 and Rollei SLX/6006.

Distagon ƒ/4 40 mm CF (FLE). Newly computer smaller lens with floating element, 93mm drop-in filters, 1982-1998.

Distagon ƒ/4 40 mm CFE (FLE). Newer style body (see the pictures above), 1998-2003.

Distagon ƒ/4 40 mm CFE (IF FLE). Internal focus, final 40mm model (rare and expensive), designed for use with digital backs, 2003-?

Hasselblad also offered a 38mm Biogon type of lens permanently mounted in a special body, the SWC. This is said to be the least distortion super wide lens. I was tempted but wanted a lens that would mount on my 501CM body and let me frame through the viewfinder. 

My 40mm CFE model accepts 93mm unthreaded filters, which are held in place by a retaining ring. These are the same concept as traditional series filters. But the 93mm units are rare, rare, rare. My lens came with a clear UV filter. Amazingly, I saw an orange 93 for sale at KEH and grabbed it instantly. Yellow and green 93s are unobtanium. If you buy a used 40mm lens, make sure that it includes the retaining ring/shade, the items that hold a 93 filter in place. 

Upper ring adjusts the internal floating element

My lens has an internal floating element, meaning one that can be shifted separately from the other elements. A focus dial lets the user select the subject distance. This is designed to improve optical quality for close-ups. Most of my pictures are of mid- or far distance, so I have only needed to adjust this extra setting a few times. The procedure for close subjects:

1. Focus on the intended subject.
2. Adjust the floating element ring to see the best sharpness across the frame.
3. Readjust the main focus ring. But it may not need to be moved at all.

Focus with ultra wide lenses can be tricky with any reflex camera. But with my Acute Matte viewfinder screen, focus pops in and out precisely. I do not know how the view would be with the older, dimmer Hasselblad screens. Minolta developed the technology for these screens, and Minolta camera viewfinders were known for being easy to use. As far as I know, new Acute Matte screens are no longer available, and used screens in good condition sell for around $500 now. Other companies offered brighter screens for the Hasselblad, (e.g., Beattie IntenScreen, BrightScreen) but the consensus is the Acute Mattes are the best. 

Fuji NPS 160

Cylinder man, Olympia Avenue, Olympia

Carpentry shop, alley between State and 4th Avenues, Olympia, Washington

Unused locomotive permanently (?) parked next to Deschutes Parkway SW near Capitol Lake

Black and White

Former Georgia Pacific Building, Capital Way, Olympia

The Seattle architectural firm of Naramore, Bain, Brady & Johanson designed this mid-Century modern building in 1952 for the Georgia Pacific plywood company. The architects made extensive use of plywood in the furnishings and construction. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife now occupies the building. 

West Bay dock on a gloomy afternoon

Summary

Well, I am happy with my new/old 40mm Distagon. Optically, this 40 is amazing. I see minimal light falloff at the corners of the frame, and the resolution is fine center to edge. I can focus it without hunting back and forth with both the 501's fold-up finder or the prism finder. This lens is wonderful with color film (stand by for more examples soon). 

It takes practice to use a lens this wide well. It helps to be right inside your scene. In the same way, I had to learn how to get the best effects from the ultra-wide 30mm lens on my friend's Hasselblad XPan panoramic camera. I also recently bought a 21mm Zeiss Biogon lens for the 35mm Leica - this will require a learning curve, too.

But this 40mm Hasselblad lens is a heavy chunk in my camera bag. I bought a small LowePro backpack to experiment carrying all this stuff. And I have yet to find 93mm yellow or green filters. 

More examples to follow. But no more equipment GAS. I promise.......

Railroad Crossing at Tower 26, Houston, Texas (TX 02)

Houston from Tower 26,West Street, 5th ward (250mm ƒ/5.6 Hasselblad Sonnar lens, yellow-green filter)

Three railroad lines cross at a junction in northeast Houston called Tower 26. There is no tower there any more, but the name has lingered. It appears to be a popular spot for railroad photographers because it has public access via West Street. Serious freight trains thunder by on regular intervals. 

I had been looking for an interesting place to photograph railroads and drove to Tower 26 on December 17 of last year (2022). A fellow came up to me rather excited and asked if I was there to see the classic xxx rail cars. I was not quite sure what he was describing, but in a few minutes, the Polar Express trundled by, complete with restored passenger cars containing kids wearing their pajamas and at least one Santa Claus. OK, I had not expected that. What timing. 

Modified Polar Express rail car with picture window (80mm Planar-CB lens, no filter)

Polar Express en route back to Galveston

View east from Tower 26 junction (80mm Planar-CB lens)

Rail line junction, view east to downtown Houston (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Tower 26 is northeast of the downtown in the district formerly known as the Fifth Ward. Some of it is pretty rough. I saw some abandoned cottages near the tracks of the type that remind me of west Jackson (Mississippi).

1510 West Street (med. yellow filter)

Facing the tracks, no address

Ready to move in, 2404 Brooks Street

Update March 26, 2023: These little cottages have recently been demolished. The land is bare and freshly scraped. Tractors and trucks were parked near the site. 

Standby for more photographs in the Fifth Ward. 

I took these photographs on Kodak Panatomic-X film with my Hasselblad 501CM medium format camera. Praus Productions in Rochester developed the film. I scanned it on a Minolta Scan Multi film scanner using the Tri-X 400 6×6 profile. The Silverfast software does not have a Panatomic-X profile, but the Tri-X showed the right tonality.

My Hasselblad 501CM with 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens and correct hood

Update April 15, 2023: I returned to Tower 26 on March 26. I met a gent (an MD from MD Anderson Hospital) taking photographs. When I told him I had taken some frames of the Polar Express, he said he was on that ride with his young son. He sent me a clip from the video he took during the ride. It can be a small world among photographers.

Dorky photographer with his Hasselblad at Tower 26

Good Stuff in the Basement: the Coca Cola Bottling Plant, Vicksburg

1938 Coca-Cola bottling plant, 2133 Washington Street, Vicksburg

Dear Readers, you likely know that I like old industrial sites with machinery, pipes, tubes, tanks, and other remnants of industry. The basement of the former Coca Cola bottling plant at 2133 Washington Street in Vicksburg, Mississippi, fits this criteria. This was the last bottling plant that the Biedenharn family built in Vicksburg. This sturdy 1938 brick industrial building stands at the corner of Washington Street and Bowman Street. 

Note, this is not the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum in downtown Vicksburg, where Coca-Cola was first bottled in 1894 (back when it still had coca in the secret ingredients). The family also operated another plant on Grove Street, later the site of the Vicksburg Steam Laundry. I have negatives of this building to scan one day (you know that fairy tale - one day....).

Here are some photographs of the basement from February of 2022. Mr. Anthony Cripps, a carpenter and cabinet maker, was renting the basement and generously let me photograph the old fittings and machines. He had run new fluorescent lights to illuminate the gloomy space. Most of the frames below had side-lighting from the dusty windows. Enjoy the shapes, patterns, and forms - industrial art.

Air compressor (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens, 1 sec. ƒ/11)

Compressor with a beer (80mm Planar-CB, 1 sec. ƒ/11.5)

Water-cooling jacket (80mm Planar with Proxar no. 1 close-up diopter)

Lubricator, manually cranked? (80mm Planar lens with Proxar no. 1 close-up diopter)

Back cap and bolt patters (80mm Planar-CB lens, 1 sec. ƒ/11)

GE electoral control box (80mm Planar-CB, ½ sec. ƒ/11)

Hot water boiler (1 sec. ƒ/11.5)

Fuse panel (4 sec. ƒ/11)

Among the hundreds of valves (1 sec. ƒ/5.6)

Stairway to upper shop (40 sec. ƒ/8 with minor fill flash on right)

The stairway was challenging. It was lit with a dim lightbulb above on the ceiling. My incident light meter measured 10 seconds at ƒ/8 on the center of the stairs. I used a 40 sec exposure to accommodate reciprocity of the film. I also added fill flash on the right, but it likely added very little light. 

Long-forgotten icebox (1 sec. ƒ/5.6½)

I took these photographs with my Hasselblad 501CM camera, most with the 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, on Kodak Tri-X 400 film. I stabilized the camera on a tripod because of the long exposures. Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine, developed the film. I scanned it with a Minolta Scan Multi medium format film scanner.   

Standby for the attic in the next article.

 

Another Film Treasure: Ilford Pan-F Plus

This short review is for a film that is still in production (yes, I do sometimes use modern film):  Ilford Pan F Plus. According to the manufacturer:

ILFORD PAN F PLUS is a slow speed, high contrast, black & white film offering exceptionally fine grain, sharpness and detail.

Suitable for bright conditions from sunny days to controlled studio lighting. It suits subjects ranging from architecture and still-life to portraiture and fashion.

PAN F PLUS is perfect for enlargements as negatives show an outstanding range of tone, high-edge contrast and extreme sharpness. It is therefore also suitable for a range of specialist or scientific applications such as photomicrography or the production of black and white slides.

This is a traditional cubic grain film, like the Kodak Panatomic-X that I normally use when I want a fine-grain traditional film. Pan-F has been in production for decades, but for some reason, I never tried it. My friend in Indiana, Jim Grey generously sent me a roll of Verichrome Pan film, but he also included a roll of Pan-F in 120 size and said Go At It. Most reviewers write that it is contrasty, so I loaded it in my Hasselblad and set out for Port Gibson on the last day of 2020, a gloomy day with drizzle (my favorite light). Because of the low light, these are all tripod-mounted exposures. I exposed it at EI (exposure index) of 32.

I sent the film to Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine, to develop, and scanned the negatives with my Minolta medium format film scanner. To the eye, the negatives looked too contrasty. But the Silverfast Ai scanning software has a profile for Pan-F, and the resulting files looked just about right, with little need to manually adjust the contrast. Here are some examples, all full-frame. Click any frame to expand it. Please tell me what you think via the comments.

US 61

Unusual shed at 3316 US 61S, Vicksburg, Mississippi (80mm Planar lens)

Unknown shop or warehouse at Cedars Road, Vicksburg

Former Sonny's BBQ and gasoline, Yokena

I remember driving by this shop/gas station many times and thinking I should take some photographs. But I never did and now it is closed. Bogus.

Port Gibson

Fixer-upper truck, 1097 Shiloh Road, Port Gibson (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens, ⅛ ƒ/11)

Fixer-upper cottage, Back Grand Gulf Road (50mm Distagon, ⅛ ƒ/8, minor fill flash)

North of Port Gibson, some shaded narrow roads wind through the woods. One of these leads past the popular Warner Tully YMCA summer camp, known by generations of summer campers. I want to go back and explore some more. You see many of trailers with beat-up cars and trucks abandoned on the lots.

Abandoned cottage, Vandeventer Street, Port Gibson (80mm Planar-CB, ⅛ ƒ/11)

Abandoned house, Vandeventer Street (80mm Planar-CB, ⅛ ƒ/11

Store/commercial building, Carrol Street

Port Gibson is pretty rough. Despite its fine architectural heritage, much of the town looks beat-up and dirty. The downtown has hollowed-out, like so many small towns in the US heartland.

House belonging to an artist, Farmer Street (80mm Planar-CB, ⅛ ƒ/11, minor fill flash)

I chatted with the gent who lives here. He graciously let me take a picture of his house. He had interesting items on the porch and in the yard.

Old Hwy 61 bridge over Little Bayou Pierre

This is the old Highway 61 bridge. Looking west, you see it from the current 61 bridge. I tried to find a viewpoint. Some gents at a car shop/garage graciously escorted me through the shop to the muddy banks of the Little Bayou Pierre. I slipped - mud everywhere. They said when the river overtops its banks, they get nasty water in their garage (and snakes). Note the water level stains on the concrete pier.

This is the end of my short experiment with Ilford Pan-F. This is nice film! It is very fine grain, similar to the Kodak Panatomic-X that I like. On this overcast, drizzly day, I did not have any issues with contrast and cannot comment on its performance on a sunny day. Of course, you can modify development to make a black and white film more or less contrasty. I am not sure when I will use it again because I still have 10 or 12 rolls of Panatomic-X in the freezer as well as some Fuji Acros 100 film. For hand-held use, Tri-X is more convenient. Regardless, thanks, Jim Grey, for sending me a roll of this Pan-F!

This is no. 07 of my irregular series on different films, but this product is still in production, unlike the other emulsions in the series.