Olympia with Fuji NPH400 (Abandoned Films 12) (Oly 03)

Dear readers, we will continue our irregular series on Olympia, Washington. 

Moving to a new home in a new state was quite an adventure. Closets and boxes in our former home revealed all sorts of treasures (much of it junk). How did we accumulate all this stuff? Is this the curse of American suburbia? 

But I found some goodies. The depths of the freezer disgorged a box of 120 size Fuji NPH 400 film. The box expired in Feb. 2005. The last time I used a roll may have been in 2018, when I drove to Asheville, North Carolina, to The Vintage car show. Six years later, was it this NPH still viable? 

Being a 400 film, I thought it would be useful for hand-held work with my Rolleiflex, which has a ƒ/3.5 lens. One drizzly January morning, I walked around west Olympia while waiting for car repair. 

Eagan's Drive-In, 1420 Harrison Avenue - not yet open for the day

Eagan's toilets, maybe not available today

The dancing burger, Eagan's Drive-In

Division Street view north

Taco trucks ready to roll, Harrison Avenue

I took the Rolleiflex out on a cheerful sunny day. The NPH film responded much better.

Swantown Boatworks, Marine Drive NE 

Conclusion: Semi-success, this long-expired NPH 400 was still viable. But some of the frames were slightly underexposed, some more extreme. My Luna Pro light meter is working correctly because other rolls of film from 2024 are properly exposed, frame after frame. Could this old NPH film be more sensitive to reciprocity failure because of its age?  (Reciprocity with camera film means that the film sensitivity is not linear over a standard light range. Therefore, darker scenes need more exposure than a light meter might indicate.) For this roll, I set the Exposure Index at 320, but next time, I will use EI=200 or even lower. Regardless, it is time to use it up. Even frozen, it will not last forever.

Thanks for enduring another adventure in expired camera film. 

From the Archives: Washington Avenue, Houston, 1981 (TX 09)

In the long-ago earlier life, my wife and I moved to Houston, Texas, in 1980. The big city! There was so much to see and explore! 

Having a real job and some income, I bought a used Rolleiflex 3.5E camera at Southside Camera Center (long gone). What do you do with your first medium format camera? Well, start looking for interesting urban decay topics. Back then, Houston was full of grunge and decay. (Some critics say Houston is still full of grunge, but we better not go there this time.) As you long-term readers can see, I have been doing this decay topic for a long time. 

My 1956 Rolleiflex 3.5E camera with its superb 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens - why did I stupidly sell it when I though digital might be the next great thing?

Washington Avenue runs approximately east-west out of downtown Houston, Texas, through the former Sixth Ward. Washington Avenues in US cities are typically older streets that run through well-established and often run-down neighborhoods. This one fit the pattern in 1981. Here are some samples. Please click any frame to see it enlarged.

Turney Motor Company occupied a 1920s gas station building. You could drive a Chevrolet Nova for $35/week - it says so!

The building is gone, and the lot provides parking for the trendy Ivy House cocktail bar next door. Washington Avenue was not very trendy in 1981....

Houston Junk, now possibly Rose Recycling on Center Street

Time for a 50¢ beer, corner of Center and National Streets

Historic 1872 Glenwood Cemetery, an oasis of green and peace in the city

June 1980 view of Houston from Glenwood Cemetery (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Nikkormat FTn camera, 28mm ƒ/3.5 lens)

Early 20th century brick commercial building, 1722 Washington Avenue 

In the mid-20th century, all American cities had commercial buildings of this type. The families who ran the shops or small businesses often lived in apartments on the second floor. White flight to the suburbs after World War II destroyed many traditional and mixed inner city communities that would have depended on local shops in such buildings. 

This building is gone and a modern town house/condominium is in its place. At least in Houston, the cycle is turning and professionals are returning to live within the city. 

Early 20th century wood cottage Washington Avenue. 

This was one of my early examples of photographing dilapidated houses. This building is gone, probably demolished years ago. A large framed print of this scene has hung in my house for four decades, but the print has changed colors and faded.  

This handsome old fire station is still extant

Gent with his laundry, 1712 Washington Avenue

This is another example of an early-20th century commercial building. Note the formerly handsome tall arched windows. The lower floor had ventilation transoms. 

I took these photographs on 120-size Kodak Vericolor II Film with my Rolleiflex on September 5, 1981. The colors are a bit muted, but all in all, the film survived the decades quite well. In those days, you could buy 120 film in many camera stores, but professional emulsions, like Vericolor II, came from larger stores with a film refrigerator. This roll probably came from Southside Camera Center on Bellaire Blvd.

Thank you for joining me for this look back to 1981. I also wrote about Main Street in 1982 (click the link).

Verichrome Pan Film in Mississippi and Louisiana (Abandoned Films 06b)

In 2020, my friend from Indiana sent me a roll of the long-departed Kodak Verichrome Pan film in 120 size (for medium format cameras). I used it on a snowy day in Vicksburg in early 2021 and loved the results. It was high resolution and just perfect for my type of photography. I never tried Verichrome Pan when it was in production, but now I wish I had. 

I have had surprisingly good results with discontinued black and white films such as Kodak Panatomic-X and GAF Versapan. But it is always a gamble with expired film and I decided to only buy fresh product from now on. Well, as you can guess, I was unable to stick to my own advice. A seller on eBay claimed two rolls of Verichrome Pan had been frozen for years, so I succumbed to temptation.

Of the two rolls, the first was perfect. The other was so thin, it was useless. That is the risk of buying expired film. I used that first roll in the Mississippi Delta on a blazing hot June day with harsh and unforgiving light. The camera was my Rolleiflex 3.5E with its 5-element 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. Even today, this 1959 camera is totally usable and optically excellent. Used Rolleiflexes in good condition sell for serious $$s on eBay or via auction houses now. Click any photograph below to see it expanded.

Louise, Mississippi

Louise is a small agricultural town in Humphreys County west of Yazoo City. It consists of a small core of houses with silos and former shops along Main Street. It may have been busy decades ago, when the railroad ran through town. But today, it is forlorn.

Main Street view north, Louise, Mississippi (1/30 ƒ/11, Rollei orange filter)

Main Street, Louise

Silos (1/15 ƒ/16, orange filter)

Main Street stores, Louise (1/30 ƒ/16, yellow filter)

Lee Hong Grocery, Louise (1/60 ƒ/11.3, yellow filter)

Quiet afternoon in Louise

Yazoo City, Mississippi

Yazoo City was the "Gateway to the Delta." It is still a busy town with a harbor on the Yazoo River. Timber is a major product. But the town is a bit rough.

Fixer-upper store, West Broadway, Yazoo City (1/60 ƒ/11.5, yellow filter)

Garage and gin, 301 West Bridge Street (1/125 ƒ/8, yellow filter)

Tallulah, Louisiana

The last stop on our Verichrome Pan trip is Tallulah, Louisiana. Tallulah is just off I-20 about 20 minutes west of the Mississippi River bridge.

Former Tallulah High School, Bayou Drive (1/30 ƒ/11.5, orange filter)

This was a blazing hot (95º + F) afternoon with harsh sun. I had one frame left and stopped at the old Tallulah high school. Much of the roof has collapsed, but the brick walls remain. The ball field to the left out of the picture view is still in use. It is sad that these handsome brick buildings are abandoned.

This ends our short Verichrome Pan tour. I probably should have dialed back from the orange filter to deep yellow or just plain medium yellow. Internet users claim that Kodak's discontinued Plus-X film was very similar in tonality and grain. My friend will send a couple of rolls of 35mm Plus-X for me to try. I'll post the results later.

Note: some film users on the internet believe the new Kentmere 100 in 120 size looks much like Verichrome Pan. I need to try it. Kentmere is made by Ilford company, and the 120 size is a recent (early 2023) introduction. 

Architecture from our Industrial Past: Bates and Androscoggin Mills, Lewiston, Maine

Undated post card showing Bates Mill and canal, Lewiston, Maine (from Wikimedia)

Outflow canal, Upton Mills, Mill St., Lewiston (Kodachrome 64 film, Rolleiflex camera, 75mm lens)

Northern New England (USA) is full of former mill towns with amazing 1800s brick mill buildings. Most of these were built in the early- to mid-1800s on rivers, where water power could power the machinery. Most of these mills spun cotton or wool into textiles, while other factories produced shoes. These industries represent the early flourishing of the industrial revolution in the United States. 

The New England States and northern New York provided a perfect geology for our early industrial expansion because of the steep terrain, dependable rainfall, and hard rock geology. Rivers flowed down over numerous waterfalls where water wheels could be placed and a factory established. Flowing from hard rock terrain, the rivers flowed clean, and hydro projects were not plagued with silt and mud accumulation. Bustling towns grew up around these factories. Being close to the coast, merchants shipped manufactured textiles and other goods to ports like Portland, Portsmouth, Boston, or Providence for transshipment to Europe.

1910 photograph of the Androscoggin River (from Wikimedia)

Lewiston is the largest city in Androscoggin County, Maine. This part of Maine was populated by Quebec families and was incorporated as "Lewistown" in 1795. With the development of mills and the arrival of the railroad, the town boomed economically during the mid-late 1800s, attracting thousands of Quebecers to migrate. French is still commonly spoken. 

The textile industry's profits declined greatly after World War I. Starting in the 1950s, Lewiston's mills started to close (an example of early outsourcing, where textile companies shifted manufacturing to the US South, where labor was cheap and non-unionized). 

The status of these huge mill buildings has been fraught with economic and historic preservation issues. According to Wikipedia:

After a difficult economic period in the 1980s that saw high unemployment and downtown stagnation, several key events have led to economic and cultural growth, including the transformation of the historic Bates Mill Complex. Because the city took over the complex in 1992 after back taxes went unpaid, years of taxpayer frustration in the city's need to maintain the 1.1-million-square-foot (100,000 m2) behemoth led to two referenda (one non-binding vote, the other binding). Voters soundly supported the need to pursue redevelopment by maintaining the property and selling it to private developers. In 2001, the city sold three mill buildings to local developers. In 2003, Platz Associates sold the Bates Mill Complex, with the exception of Mill 5 and a small support building. For the next four years, a number of business enterprises expanded after Platz redeveloped the mill building. The Bates Mill complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2010.

A relative who lives in Lewiston knew the manager of one of the redevelopment projects. His foundation intended to find new tenants for one of the magnificent old Bates Mill buildings. She made the connection and we all had the chance to tour the building and learn about the development plans. He generously let me take photographs inside.

Bates Mill #1 or #5, Canal Street, Lewiston (Ilford XP2 film, Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar, 1 sec. exposure)

These views of the cavernous halls give you a sense of the size of this building. Iron posts support huge timber joists, and the tongue-and-groove flooring felt solid enough to support tons of machinery. This was construction from an era when we were proud of what we built, and it was made to last decades.

This photograph shows how the iron posts hold up the ceiling joists. The fluorescent light fixtures would have been a post-World War II addition. The outer wall were brick bearing walls.

Sink for workmen (or ladies) to clean up

Hot water boilers

Former cooler or freezer (unknown purpose)

What an impressive building. I could spend hours wandering around and photographing the structure. The machinery had been removed long before we were there, and none of it was left.

Undated photograph of Androscoggin Mill, photographed by Drew & Worthing, 22 Tremont Street, Boston (from Historic New England, photograph number OVP0241)

After our tour, I drove a short distance west to the old Androscoggin Mills. At its peak, this was another massive complex of buildings, roads, and canals. I do not know how many of the buildings are still standing or which one I tried to check out. The one I approached was locked, but several out buildings were open or partly collapsing.

I tried the door, but it was jammed or locked. And the signs of a security service were a bit ominous.

Heat exchanger? Power House, Androscoggin Mill, Lewiston

Boiler in power house, Androscoggin Mill, Lewiston

This has been a very short tour of the two of the mills in Lewiston, I have more photographs from other towns along the Androscoggin River, but I need to scan them. Some are 120 size Kodachrome transparencies, which are mounted and do not fit in my scanner. A project for the future...

The black and white photographs above are from Ilford XP2 film exposed with a Rolleiflex 3.5E camera. I exposed the film at EI=400. Most exposures were 1 sec. long, and I placed the camera on beams or furniture to brace it. The XP2 has a long tonal range and is very sharp, perfect for this type of subject matter. Problem: when I recently looked at the negatives, they were deep purple color and seemed to be fading. Possibly the film had not been fixed properly. I decided to scan them before they deteriorated further. This is a chromogenic film (like color print film but monochrome only) and is usually considered to be less stable than traditional silver-based black and white film. 

Lost to Fire: Powers Country Store, Grangeville, Louisiana

In early 2017, I visited the extremely interesting Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Livingston, Louisiana. This is the research facility that helped confirm the existence of gravitational waves. A similar laboratory is in Hanford, Washington, and the two confirm each other's observations. On my way home, I drove west and north on the way back to Mississippi. Passing through Grangeville, I saw Power's Country Store on LA 37. Quick stop. The proprietor generously let me take some photographs inside with my Rolleiflex. This was one of these handy stores that sold munchies, drinks, hardware, and various other supplies. It was active with customers coming and going.

The outside looked like an old building with many additions over the years. Its not possible to tell what was there in the late-1800s.

The steps led to the part of the store with hardware, seed, and feed

The inside was a fascinating look at an older time. Mounted deer on the walls. Miscellaneous snacks and groceries. Tools, seeds, and automotive supplies on a higher level. Bare light bulbs and fluorescent tubes - nice stuff. Old-timers, bubbas, and children milled around.

These interior scenes were 1-second tripod-mounted exposures on Kodak Tri-X 400 film. I bought some cold juice, thanked the folks at the counter, and headed home.

I forgot about these negatives and did not scan them until July of 2020. Then I looked for information about Powers Country Store and was horrified to learn that it burned down on June 26, 2018, only a year after I visited. From WAFB 9 (Baton Rouge):

GRANGEVILLE, LA (WAFB) - An old neighborhood grocery store that has been a staple in St. Helena Parish for more than a century is gone. Powers Country Store in Grangeville was destroyed by fire Monday night. 

Flames shot nearly 20 feet into the air as firefighters battled the massive blaze at Powers at around 10:30 p.m. Cell phone video taken by someone who witnessed the destruction spread quickly on social media, perhaps because the old store holds a piece of rich history. It has been open since 1896. An old, rusted sign bearing the store's name and the couple, Frank and Ramona, that started a restaurant some 60 years ago is all that remains.

From The Advocate (Times-Picyune, New Orleans):

Until the fire, the Powers Store remained a vibrant place for people living and working in the area, including the local gravel pit workers, Graves said.

“Usually at lunch time the parking lot is packed,” Graves said. “Now I don’t know what they’re going to do, I guess go to the truck stop a little farther south. It is going to really sting not having it there.”

Suzanne Hornsby Hobgood was among several people who stopped by Tuesday to extend condolences. She said she remembered buying candy from Frank and Ramona Powers when she was a kid. As an adult, she brought her family to do the same.

“I’d come out here and bring my children. And now I’ve been bringing my grandchildren,” she said.

Hobgood said the store was filled with history, including an antique cash register, deer mounts from hunting trips and old photographs. 

I am sad; this is how we lose out cultural heritage. As time goes by, people forget. Within a few years, almost no one will remember that Powers Country Store once existed and served the community.

Older Urban Decay articles about country stores (please click the links):

Lorman, Mississippi
Lorman, Mississippi in 2019
Farnham, Virginia
Roy's Store, Chatham, Mississippi
Onward, Mississippi
Learned, Mississippi
Betigheimer Store, Edwards, Mississippi
Willis Store, Edwards, Mississippi
Yates Store, Utica, Mississippi
Twin Arrows, Arizona (Route 66)

Demolished: Historic House/Office on Clay Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi

In early December (2019), my wife told me that she saw a house on Clay Street being pulled down. That was odd but not unique for this city. I headed over with my Rolleiflex, and sure enough, the back of the house was already crushed. I had not previously paid any attention to this house. It looked like many others that formerly lined Clay Street, built in an era when there were many residences on this road. It was gloomy and wet, perfect for this type of scene (and my favorite photography light). The Vicksburg Post reported:

Vicksburg Post, Dec. 9, 2019:

If you are one of the hundreds of drivers who pass along Clay Street each day and happened to notice what looked like a home that had collapsed, don’t worry; it’s collapsed on purpose. 

The now-vacant building, located at 2603 Clay St. that was once a chiropractic clinic, is being torn down by its new owners. 

Monday morning, a track hoe was working on the rear of the sloping building that once faced the Firestone Auto Care Center on Clay St. 

“I acquired this property back in early spring, and was hoping to save it, but it just wasn’t worth saving. I wished it was,” property owner Pat Daughtry said. “It was too close to the street; it was right up on Clay Street.” He said the property will be up for sale after the building is removed. 

According to Vicksburg city directories from 1958 and 1966, the building housed the practice of chiropractor John W. Donovan. Daughtry said the building was built for Donovan’s practice before Clay Street was widened from two to four lanes and had room for cars. 

“It was set back just enough to where they had an entrance and enough room to park,” he said, adding the clinic was at street level and the living area downstairs under the clinic.
According to county property tax records, the most recent use of the building was as a duplex.

I spoke to Mrs. Daughtry one day at the supermarket. She said her husband had hoped to restore or move the building, but it was just too badly decayed. Also, there was almost no space in front after Clay Street had been widened to four lanes.

The photograph above is from a Rolleiflex 3.5E medium format camera with 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens on Kodak Panatomic-X film. Praus Productions in Rochester, NY, developed the film in Xtol developer. I scanned the negative with a Minolta Scan Multi medium format film scanner.

On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - west Jackson, Mississippi (MS-03)

Hideaway Club, 200 Oklahoma Street (Hasselblad 501CM camera, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar lens, Kodak Panatomic-X film)

Introduction

Dear Readers, I have written about US 80, formerly known as the Dixie Overland Highway, before. I covered it in three chunks: east Mississippi, west Mississippi, and east Louisiana. This time I will cover west Jackson between State Street and I-220.

In the post-war era, the Dixie passed south of downtown Jackson and served as a urban industrial and commercial zone. General Electric and other companies built factories there. Preservation Mississippi wrote about the Jackson Lamp and Glass Works in a 2016 article. On a recent MPB (Mississippi Public Broadcast) talk show, some reporters remembered how during the 1980s, 80 was the place to go for good restaurants and other activities. I recall a restaurant called the Green Derby.

What Happened?

Today, US 80 in west Jackson is horrifying. Hotels and motels are closed or cater to a rough clientele. Stores are shuttered. Factories are empty shells. Trashy cars crash over potholes and gaping expansion joints in the crumbling pavement. Payday loan stores occupy storefronts in seedy strip malls. Former filling stations have been converted into various functions or abandoned entirely.

Former gasoline station (possibly Pan Am or Amoco), Gallatin at Oklahoma (at US 80), Jackson (Moto G5 digital file)

Example of Pan Am gasoline station, location unknown (from 1961 MSU yearbook, provided by Thomas Rossell)

Over the years, a coworker and I both lamented the decline of Jackson. He experienced it personally, having lived in west Jackson in the 1970s and early 1980s. A pertinent article from City Journal by Aaron M. Renn, titled, "The Lifeblood of Cities," describes the decline of so-called middle neighborhoods.

"The media tend to portray urban neighborhoods as either booming gentrified districts or zones of impoverishment. Neighborhoods in between get overlooked. But these older urban and inner-suburban “middle neighborhoods” may be where the next generation of urban problems—or solutions—will be found. Cities once held vast tracts of such neighborhoods, populated by workers in manufacturing or the civil service. With what analysts call a “barbell” economy dividing increasingly into rich and poor, it’s no surprise that urban middle-class neighborhoods are feeling squeezed."

In the post-war period, especially the 1950s and 1960s, Jackson was a bustling and thriving industrial and commerce city. (So were Greenville, Meridian, and other Mississippi cities). Thousands of modest homes were occupied by traditional middle class families, where dad was the main breadwinner and mom was at home or working part-time. Former middle neighborhoods, neither slum not wealthy, went downhill when the demographics changed as a result of loss of jobs, crime, drugs, deteriorating schools, and changing social conditions.

The author noted how today, there are an increasing number of single women households, and those families are often low income. The houses are not maintained and deteriorate. Soon, the entire neighborhood looks degraded. Therefore, people with means move to the suburbs, which, in USA, means white flight to government-subsidized suburban developments (i.e., socialism for developers). The older neighborhoods are left behind with diminished tax base, crumbling infrastructure, and crime.

This is a complex topic with numerous factors at play, such as tax policy, zoning codes, subsidy of developers, political corruption, and cheap land in the far suburbs. Regardless of the reasons, we have grossly mismanaged urban and suburban growth in the United States. Many American cities look more shoddy, dirty, and dilapidated than cities I have visited in the Third World, let alone anywhere in Europe.

Former Gipson Discount grocery store, 1420 Hwy US 80 (Panatomic-X film, 80 mm Planar lens, yellow filter)

BelAir shopping plaza, 1999 US 80 (Rolleiflex 3.5E Xenotar camera, Panatomic-X film)

This sign for Bel Air has a 1960s moderne appearance. The shopping plaza is pretty seedy, and some of the stores suffered a fire in 2011. The "Land of Sleep" has been gone for decades. However, the Patel Brothers store has an excellent selection of Indian and Pakistani groceries and spices.

Jackson Southwest Hotel, 2649 US 80 (Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 50mm F/4 Distagon lens, 1 sec. exposure at ƒ/5.6)

I saw a rutted driveway that went up a hill just west of Ellis Avenue. At the top, an urban decay treasure: the former Jackson Southwest Hotel at 2649 US 80. It was horrifying. The window frames and wiring had been looted by metal scavengers. I did not venture too far into the building by myself, but the lobby was worth capturing. (Click any photograph to see the gruesome details enlarged.)

An article from WLBT Channel 3 on May 31, 2013, stated:

JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) - The former Holiday Inn and Jackson Southwest hotel on Highway 80 in Jackson was once a popular spot for dinners, meetings and social functions -- now it's a dilapidated eyesore. 

"It makes everything around it look like Beirut. Does this not look like somebody bombed it. People leave their properties and go somewhere else and we allow them to do this," said Nina Holbrook of the Metro Area Coalition. Many windows on the building are broken, and the 14-acre property is overgrown. Recently someone broke through the gates and thieves have been rummaging for metal and copper. 

Holbrook says the building was sold at auction to P & N Properties in Hattiesburg for about $50,000, and the owner was hoping to flip it for a huge profit, which never happened -- and now probably never will due to it's condition.

The Pearl Street AME Church purchased the wreck around 2015, but all plans for renovation have been thwarted by vandals and homeless occupants.

Former Green Derby Restaurant, at the corner of US 80 and Ellis Ave., built in 1955 in a very post-war modern architecture. Post card courtesy of Preservation Mississippi.

Best Western Metro Inn, 1520 Ellis Ave., Jackson (Panatomic-X film, 250mm Sonnar lens, yellow filter)

On the way back to I-20 via Ellis Ave, I saw another decay treasure, the former Best Western Metro Inn. The sign proudly proclaims "Gorgeous Atrium and Indoor Pool." Oops, what happened to the windows? This dump closed in 2015. WLBT Channel 3 reported on April 26, 2018:

JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) - Properties along Highway 80 in Jackson continue to be targeted by metal thieves. The abandoned Metro Inn on Ellis Avenue and Highway 80 is the latest property to be hit. 

Metal thieves have ripped the entire front off the rooms, including windows and doors, just to get to the metal frames. 

Thursday, people were seen loading their haul into a truck and taking it to the nearby Can Man where it appeared they received cash for the stolen metal. 

Jackson - on its race to the very bottom....

UPDATE, April 26 2021: The Metro Inn is being crunched up and demolished!  WLBT Channel 3 wrote on April 20, 2021:

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - It’s been the scene of numerous crimes and an eyesore for years, but this week the old Metro Inn is being torn down. 

It’s a sight many locals were happy to see this week. The demolition of Metro Inn on Ellis Avenue is in full swing. 

The property, which went into foreclosure in 2015, has been the sight of numerous crimes since then. Vagrants moved in tearing off scrap metal.

To see earlier articles, please type "Jackson" in the search box.

The square photographs are from Kodak Panatomic-X or Tri-X 400 film, exposed in Rolleiflex 3.5E or Hasselblad 501CM cameras. Praus Productions in Rochester, NY, developed the film. I scanned it with a Minolta Scan Multi medium format film scanner controlled by SilverFast Ai software.