Showing posts with label Johnson Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnson Street. Show all posts

Monday, February 19, 2024

Continuing Decline, Johnson Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi



Red outline shows Johnson Street (from ArcGIS Online) 

Johnson Street is one of many semi-hidden narrow Vicksburg roads whose location was dictated by the area's complicated loess topography. Many roads followed the crest of ridges. Johnson Street follows a ridge that sweeps downhill from South Washington Street (just north of Lee Street) into the valley that is now occupied by the Vicksburg High School ball fields. Many people probably never go down Johnson unless they specifically planned to see a resident there or possibly turned in by accident.

Twenty years ago, many of the houses along Johnson were occupied. But one by one, they were abandoned or the city condemned them because of dangerous or unsanitary conditions. Then the city razed the buildings. Here are photographs of the remaining houses in April of 2023.  



This is the site of the former 748 Johnson Street after the city demolished it. A bulldozer graded the dirt down the hill. Contractors do this work. According to a 2020 article in The Vicksburg Post, it cost the city about $25,000 to raze a simple wooden house and clear the land of debris.  


728 Johnson Street (Kodak Ektar 100 film, Pentax Spotmatic F camera, 28mm SMC Takumar lens)
728 Johnson Street

This little mid-century house at 728 had a serious gullying problem below the front right corner of the foundation. The gully served as a convenient trash dump. I looked in the door and a homeless guy was sleeping in one of the bedrooms. He and some other guys called this place home. 


733 Johnson Street (28mm SMC Takumar lens)
733 Johnson Street (28mm SMC Takumar lens)
Parlor of 733 Johnson Street (35mm Super-Takumar lens braced on a window ledge)

No. 733 was a typical Vicksburg house where the front door was approximately at street level while the back projected out over the gully, supported by wood pilings. Hundreds of houses like this were built early in the 20th century, and they survived for decades despite their precarious supports. Once the house is abandoned or condemned, the lot cannot be redeveloped.

Downhill side of 733 Johnson Street

This is the gully (valley) just north of Johnson Street. This looks wild and impassible, but deer, raccoons, and possums wander these wooded spaces throughout the city. Snakes do, too.


735 Johnson Street (28mm SMC Takumar lens)

This is another modest mid-century house. I assume it was built on a lot once occupied by an older early-20th century cottage. The back was perched over the valley like other houses on Johnson Street.


Church bus, Holly Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 746 Johnson Street
754 Johnson Street (50mm Hasselblad lens)

This ends out short walk on Johnson Street. All these houses have been demolished since I took these photographs. Slowly but surely, Vicksburg's older neighborhoods are becoming less densely populated as these older houses are torn down.

The 2023 photographs are from Kodak Ektar 100 film from my new/old Pentax Spotmatic F camera.


Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Danger: GAS and a Review of the Pentax Spotmatic F

Good things come in a box

The Danger of GAS


Yes, I know, I have no discipline. I have enough cameras to last the rest of my days and swore that I would not buy any more hardware except for specific accessory items, like filters. But Jim Grey, my friend from Indiana, extolled the virtues of the Pentax Spotmatic F body. This was the last version of the famous 35mm camera line that accepted 42mm thread-mount lenses. The F featured open-aperture metering, meaning the viewfinder did not darken as you stopped down the lens. My older regular Spotmatic uses stop-down metering. This seldom posed any inconvenience, but the option of open aperture metering sounded tempting. Well, you know the story, GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome, not flatulence) overcame me. Soon, a handsome Spotmatic F along with the magnificent 50mm ƒ/1.4 SMC Takumar lens appeared in a box. Total cost was $49 including shipping. You can buy this level of craftsmanship and excellence for $49 in 2023?

After an initial test, I sent the camera to Eric Hendrickson, one of the best-known Pentax repair people in the USA. It and the 50mm lens came back clean and ready to go. He emphasized that the light meter will work correctly with 625A (alkaline) batteries. Internet "experts" go back and forth about which batteries will and will not work, but I trust Mr. Hendrickson. The original specification was for 625 mercury cells, but these have not been available for at least 25 years. The 625S (silver) cells are also now gone. The 625A batteries do not last long in this camera, so possibly there is a minor current drain. But the cells are inexpensive, and I remove them when I am not using the camera. (General camera rule: ALWAYS remove batteries when you will not use a camera for weeks or longer.)


Spotmatic Cameras


Mike Johnston wrote about the Spotmatic in The Online Photographer in 2017 and explained why the Pentax 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens was one of the finest 50s in the film era. The table below lists the various Spotmatic models.


Asahi Pentax Screw-Mount Cameras 1     

Model 2

Date

Features

Original

1957

Modern appearance, right side wind lever, instant return mirror. ≈ $199 with 55 mm f/2.2.

S

1957

Contemporary geometric sequence of shutter speeds. 9 lenses available.

K

1958

Semi-automatic diaphragm

Asahi S3 (identical to Honeywell H3)

1960

Fully automatic diaphragm.  $199 with 55 f/1.8 lens.

Honeywell H1

1961

 $150;  1/500 top speed.  World's first clip-on CdS meter available ($32).

Asahi S3v (Honeywell H3v)

1963 1969

Added self-timer and automatic frame counter.

Asahi S1a  (H1a)

1963 - 1969

Added auto frame counter.  14 lenses available.

Spotmatic

1964 - 1971

Through-the-lens CdS meter.  $299 with 50 f/1.4.  Very popular!  Most chrome, some black paint.  Motorized model made in 1970 (uncommon).  Rare 250-exposure model.

SL

1969

Same as Spotmatic but without CdS meter.

Spotmatic 500

1971

Lower cost, 1/500 top speed, supplied with 55 f/2.0 lens.

Spotmatic II

1971

Added accessory shoe; sold with multi-coated lenses with extra indexing levers.

Spotmatic IIa

1972

Sensor for automatic Honeywell flash.

ES

1972

First Pentax auto exposure camera with electronically-controlled shutter.

Spotmatic F

1974

Finest manual Spotmatic; open-aperture metering, $375 with 55mm f/1.8.

SP 1000

1974

No self-timer

ESII

1974?

Improved reliability over ES. End of the era for Pentax screw-mount bodies.

Notes:

1.  Sources: “A History of Pentax” articles by W. L. Fadner in Shutterbug (1988)

2.  U.S. cameras had the Honeywell name and logo on the prism.  International models were labeled with the Asahi name and logo. 



M42 thread mount


M42 refers to the thread mount of 42×1 mm used to attach the lens to the camera body. This was a common size in the 1950s through the 1970s. European, Russian, and Japanese companies made hundreds of M42 lenses in various focal lengths. Many people consider the Asahi Optical Company's examples to be among the best optically and mechanically in the 1960s and 1970s. It is common to buy an old Takumar lens that will still operate perfectly, while a drastically more expensive Leica lens of similar age will often have haze or film on the inner elements and need professional cleaning and re-lubrication. Takumar lenses have a following among serious photographers today because they can be mounted on most mirrorless digital cameras. The M42 mount lost popularity in the 1970s because it was slow to exchange lenses, while companies like Nikon, Minolta, and Canon used faster bayonet mounts on their cameras. 



Simplicity and meticulous craftsmanship
Utter simplicity: rewind knob, flash shoe, shutter speed dial, shutter release, and wind lever. No baffling 400-page instruction manual needed.
Set the film speed in the window within the shutter speed dial. Note it is still shown as ASA.
SMC (Super Multi Coated) 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens, mid-1970s.

Examples with Kodak Plus-X Film


Jim Grey sent me two rolls of Kodak Plus-X film. He bought a brick and said the first two rolls performed correctly. I used Plus-X in the 1970s but rarely since then. Plus-X was a traditional cubic-grain film, not one of the more modern T-grain emulsions like T-Max 100. I will write more about Plus-X in a later article. Here are some examples from Vicksburg, Mississippi, during March of 2023. On some of my walks, I even wore the camera in its handy leather camera case (also known as a never-ready case). 


Waiting for a ride, 2620 Washington Street (50mm ƒ/1.4 SMC Takumar lens)
Monroe Street view south (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar, ƒ/5.6)
Minor trouble at the corner of Marshal and Harris Streets (35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

I really like this 35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens. This is one of the older versions that must be stopped down for the light meter measurement. The Spotmatic F is supposed to be capable of both open-aperture as well as stop-down metering. But mine gives the wrong exposure for the latter mode. I sent the body back to Mr. Hendrickson to check, but it still does not meter quite right. That is a minor inconvenience because I usually carry a hand-held meter. The newer Super-Multi-Coated and SMC Takumars all have the tab for open aperture metering on the F and ESII bodies. 

Garage on Polk Street in unoccupied but not abandoned house (50mm ƒ/1.4)
Cottage at 733 Johnson St. It has been demolished since I took this picture (50mm ƒ/1.4).
Silos, Hwy. 80, Delta, Louisiana (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar, polarizing filter)

The meter in the Spotmatic F measures correctly with a polarizing filter mounted on the lens. This camera works perfectly well with a linear polarizer. Many novice photographers insist that they need a CPL or circular polarizer (after all, they saw it on YouTube). No, usually they do not. A CPL is required for cameras that use a beam-splitter for auto-focus function.

Examples with Fuji Acros Film



House on Bethany Street, Shreveport, Louisiana (24mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens, Fuji Acros film).

The Spotmatic F meter seems to work correctly with a wide lens, in this case, 24mm. But this was not a severe test because the light was soft and overcast that day. Spotmatic meters are have a broad coverage area, so you need to point the camera slightly downward to avoid having the bright sky fool the meter. 

The Little Shanty art store, Line Avenue, Shreveport, Louisiana (28mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens)

Summary


I am pleased with my Spotmatic F. The open aperture metering is certainly convenient, and the measurements closely match reflected light readings from my Gossen Luna Pro digital hand-held light meter. The camera feels good and fits my hands perfectly. It is compact and only slightly more bulky than a Leica M camera. It demonstrates meticulous 1970s craftsmanship and precision, the finest of Japanese production. What is not to like?

And I like the gritty feel of Plus-X film. It is grainy, but that is suitable for this type of subject matter. 

Appendix


Here is my wife's 1971 Spotmatic camera with the superb 55mm ƒ/1.8 Super-Takumar lens. As you can see, it looks very similar to the 1974 or 1975 Spotmatic F. This camera has been to USA, Europe, the Middle East, and the Nile River and has always performed flawlessly. This 55mm lens is single-coated and has at least one element with thorium salts. The lens had yellowed over the years, but treating it with a small table lamp from Ikea cleared the yellow tone. Many manufactures added thorium salts to their glass mixtures in the 1940s through the 1970s. No studies have ever demonstrated any health effects from the minor amount of radiation. 




Sunday, January 31, 2010

Deconstruction, Johnson Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi

Johnson Street runs from Washington Street east down a hill steeply, turns right, and joins Lee Street near the Vicksburg High School football field. Like may other streets in town, it follows the crest of a loess ridge, the only practical pathway in a complicated topography. In the 1980s, this was a vibrant neighborhood with a church and tens of houses. Over the years, most of the shotgun shacks have been demolished, and today, I think only five houses are occupied. The Vicksburg Post recently printed a list of houses on the City's demolition list, which inspired me to record them. The first Johnson Street property on the list was 723, which is perched precariously over the gully. This was a common practice in the early 1900s. Because streets ran along the ridges, houses were built with the front door approximately at ground level while the rear of the house was supported with posts high over the gully below. Most of the condemned houses are pretty rough. The City demolishes them and places a lien on the owner to cover the cost. Over time, more and more lots are being cleared off - deconstruction. Some of my family members in other states and countries find it hard to believe that there is no demand for the land. The MB church has an engraved cornerstone which states that the congregation first organized in 1863. I met a gent in a nicely-painted house near the church who pointed out places where shotgun shacks formerly stood. No. 753 below is the last of this architectural style left on Johnson. Someone is repairing it. The following two houses, nos 715 and 751, are still occupied. The neighborhood was quiet and there were birds everywhere. I took these photographs on 31 January, 2010 with a Sony DSC-R1 digital camera, tripod-mounted. 

Update July 30, 2011: Here is a 2007 photograph of the cheerful blue house at 752 Johnson.