NO KINGS! in Olympia, Washington (Oly 20)

On June 14, 2025, over 5000 Olympians and other Washingtonians gathered at the Washington State Capitol to protest against the Trump administration and show solidarity with millions of protestors around the country at other rallies. 

I headed up the hill on my bicycle and took photographs, stopped at the booths, spoke to people, and sent a postcard to an eligible voter in Georgia, urging her to register to vote and support Jon Ossof. Several protesters and I commiserated how we now have a lot more respect for  Richard Nixon.

Signs and costumes lined Capitol Way, turning it into a honkfest from supportive motorists. 

I saw more policemen at the periphery of the Capitol grounds than during the previous protests, but they  were just standing around and chatting.

Recall how Jeffrey Epstein just sort of committed suicide while under supervision in a prison cell in New York State. Hmmm....

Less greed? Could it possibly be that this administration has become a giant state-sponsored kleptocracy? Naw, not our USA.....

This protest was one of hundreds held around the United States and even abroad. 

840 protests in USA (from ACLED)

I took these photographs with my Fuji X-E1 digital camera and the Fuji 18-55mm zoom lens. These are jpeg files from the camera with some cropping for display here. I used the Fuji Astia emulation (Astia was one of their later transparency films).

I photographed the Not My Presidents Day protest with black and white film. It has a different aesthetic look compared to the color digital frames above.

Not My Presidents Day Protest with Presto 400 film (Oly 19)

Last Monday, May 26, 2025, the USA celebrated Memorial Day to commemorate fallen service members. Many died in action to help maintain the federal form of government that we now enjoy. We all benefit from their ultimate sacrifices.

I thought it was appropriate to show pictures from the "Not My Presidents Day" protest that was held at the Washington State Capitol on February 27, 2025. That these people can gather and express their feeling and beliefs is a key element of our form of government. Will we be able to continue protesting in the months ahead? When will the repression start? It has already begun on some university campuses.

Read the posters and signs below and consider what they are saying. The people in individual or group portraits gave me permission to take their pictures.

The Olympia State Capitol

SNAP refers to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Oozing into Gilead

The Handmaid's Tale is a horrifying allegory of a totalitarian state (The Republic of Gilead) where white women become breeding machines for the ruling class. "The novel explores themes of powerless women in a patriarchal society, loss of female agency and individuality, suppression of reproductive rights, and the various means by which women resist and try to gain individuality and independence." (from Wikipedia).

"It Takes All of Us to Make the USA" 

Checking out Truth (Fraud) Social?

The protesters were vocal and energetic, but largely mellow. No fire bombs or torching buildings. 

I took these phortographs on discontinued Fuji Presto 400 film, the same emulsion as Neopan 400 Professional. The camera was my little Pentax MG with a 50mm ƒ/2 Pentax-A lens. My Indiana friend, Jim Grey, sent me some boxes of this superb film. Based on limited experience, I think it resembles the classic older style of Tri-X. I will write about Presto in more detail in a later article. Thanks for the film, Jim!

This is Abandoned Films no. 14 and Oly no. 19.

Inexpensive Gem: My $13.50 Canonet GIII QL17 Camera (Oly 18)

Long-term readers know that I periodically suffer from uncontrollable episodes of GAS. That is Gear Acquisition Syndrome, an ailment that most photographers suffer. 

Well-used Canonet G-III QL17 camera

Background

I have been bicycling more, and with the approach of dry spring weather, a compact bicycle camera might be handy. A logical choice is one of the compact rangefinder cameras from the 1970s and 1980s. But which model? The Japanese companies made millions of these cameras. But many have succumbed to age, fungus, moisture, corroded batteries, or gummed up lubricants. They were designed as mid-range consumer products, and it is amazing that so many are still functional 50 years later. 

The best summary of compact rangefinder cameras is on Steve Gandy's Cameraquest site. PetaPixel presented a summary of the Canonet models. 

I have experience with compact cameras:

• Some four decades ago, I used a Rollei 35S with an excellent 40mm ƒ/2.8 Sonnar lens. Why did I sell it? 
• About 20 years ago, I had a Canon Canonet QL19 camera, which took superb Kodachrome slides. But I sold it in the foolish days when I thought I would switch to digital. 
• For a few years, I used a Yashica Electro 35CC, but it failed via the infamous "pad of death." 
• My Olympus Trip 35 developed a lens alignment issue, so off it went. 
• My Voigtländer Vito BL is compact but has small fonts on the controls and has only a ƒ/3.5 lens. Optically, it is superb, but a bit too fiddly.
• Last but not least, my 1949 Leica IIIC is a compact jewel, but is also fiddly in the field. It is a deliberate tool, so maybe not quite right for a bicycle grab-and-take camera.

Being familiar with my Canonet of 20 years ago, I decided to try one again. Some of the later models cost serious $$$ from KEH and other vendors. The days of finding such a camera at a garage sale for $5 are long gone! On a whim, I bought a GIII QL17 for $13.50 plus minor shipping from the big auction site. $13.50?

Canon made a series of these fixed lens rangefinder Canonet cameras starting in 1961. They were  outstanding commercial successes. The earlier Canonets were big and heavy cameras. In 1969, the company redesigned the line to be smaller and lighter. Canon sold 1.2 million of the last version, the GIII QL17. QL meant Quick Load, a clever mechanism to make loading the film easier. And 17 represented the maximum aperture of ƒ/1.7. Canon also sold lower price 19 and 28 models. All had excellent coated lenses. The lens on the ƒ/1.7 model is a 6-element double-Gauss design, single coated.

A problem with all of these 1960s and 1970s cameras is they depended on 1.35 volt mercury batteries to power the light meters. The mercury battery had a steady voltage output until the cell was close to exhaustion. As a replacement, many people now use a Wein Cell, which is 1.4 volts. Hearing aide batteries, which are inexpensive, also work. 

Clean design with settings visible from above

Film path with Quick Load panel on the right. I removed the old foam light seals.

My camera was dirty, but some alcohol wipes cleaned it. The foam light seal strips had deteriorated into a sticky tar. Alcohol on Q-Tips and some toothpicks cleaned most of the glop. Although the viewfinder was a bit hazy, the rangefinder was accurate horizontally and aligned vertically. Best of all, this body did not suffer from the common sticky Canon shutter blade syndrome. The shutter speeds from 1/4 to 1/500 sounded reasonable, especially after some exercise. Even the self-timer was reliable.

Trouble: the light meter was comatose. I cleaned the contacts in the battery compartment, but there was no electrical activity of any kind. Instead, I can temporarily use my Reflx Lab light meter, a compact unit that slides into the flash shoe. At least ten Chinese companies have recently introduced small shoe-mount light meters with various types of displays and button configurations. I assume many of these meters share a sensing unit and integrated electronic package. 

Olympia

One early morning in March, after breakfast at Bread Peddler and while waiting for a car repair, I walked around 4th avenue and Capital Way. The light was soft. I loaded a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 in the Canonet. (Click any picture to expand it to 2400 pixels wide)

The parking lot located off Capitol Way at the alley that runs between State and 4th Avenues is usually dirty and trashed. But the graffiti is colorful. 

116 State Avenue

Capital Way view south

Capital Way power box

Conclusions

The 40mm ƒ/1.7 lens on this little Canonet is terrific! It is high resolution and shows little or no distortion. No complaints here. However, Canon used a filter mount of 48mm, which was semi-unique to Canon products. I ordered a 48mm vented hood from one of the Chinese vendors.

The Ektar 100 film was a pleasant surprise. In the past, I had trouble with the Ektar colors in bright sunny conditions. But in overcast, the contrast and bright colors are just right. I scanned these negatives on my Nikon Coolscan 5000 film scanner, while with previous rolls, I used a Plustek 7600. Possibly, the Nikon does some internal data processing in a different way, more suited to the Ektar color palette. Regardless, I'm pleased and will use Ektar 100 again.  

  

HANDS OFF! in Olympia, Washington (Oly 17)

Blog Note:  I just posted an article about my Volkswagen Squareback car. I will withdraw it and repost it in the future because I want to share some pictures from the April 5 Hands Off protest.

The Hands Off protest gathered in front of the Washington State Capitol on the afternoon of April 5, 2025. This mirrored hundreds of similar protest around the country and even internationally. People here and around the country were protesting the loss of medical research, funding for agencies, the gutting of scientific staff at federal research agencies, a chaotic tariff program, and potential threats to social security and medicaid enacted by Elon Musk and the felon traitor in the White House. I cannot predict if the protests will have any effect at all, but real American patriots are angry and are speaking out. 

View of the Capitol steps

The speakers were on the north steps of the Capitol. It was a bit hard to understand what they were saying. My wife and I walked around and admired the signs. The crowd was in a good mood - no Molotov cocktails, burning effegies, or tear gas.

Here is a sampling of the signs, many quite clever.

A bit further north, sculpture and some handsome mature trees.

It was a sunny hot afternoon, almost a hint of summer. The crowd was peaceful and not too noisy. Several people commented to me that the current president made Richard Nixon and George Bush II look good. I did not hear anyone compliment Ronald Reagan. Hmmm.......

I took these photographs with my Fuji X-E1 digital camera with the compact 27mm ƒ/2.8 Fujinon lens. I set the jpeg output to be black and white but later realized that color was much more effective on this glarey sunny day. The pictures above are from the RAW files as opened with XNView MP software.