Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

By Kodachromeguy

35mmc started out with an emphasis on compact film cameras. Over time, it’s grown, and so have the cameras featured on it. The subject of this article is a splendid bear of a camera: the Fuji GW690II rangefinder, also known as the Texas Leica. It has a similar morphology to a Leica rangefinder, except it is, well, really big. The name is most appropriate. As you know, everything in Texas is larger: the vast open spaces across which you must drive, the enormous pickup trucks with dual rear wheels, the oil pumped from the  Permian Basin, the out-sized personalities like President Lyndon Johnson, the magnificent mansions in the River Oaks section of Houston, and the credit card bills of the ladies who occupy said mansions.

I usually do not photograph magnificent mansions, unless they are falling apart. My favorite photographic topic is urban (or rural) decay, and the big Fuji, with its large film area, is perfect for recording textures and details of old houses, gloomy factories, and decayed hospitals. Mississippi and the surrounding states have a wealth of subject matter. I will show examples of an old cotton compress in Vicksburg, Mississippi below.

Notes on the Fuji Rangefinders

Fuji’s original medium format cameras using 120/220 film were the Fujica G690 and GL690 from the late-1960s and mid-1970s. These had interchangeable lenses, and examples in good condition are highly coveted now. They provided a generous 6×9 negative area (actually, about 55×82mm). The GW690 Professional followed in 1978. This differed from the earlier models by having a fixed 90mm ƒ/3.5 lens. The GSW690 Professional had the same body but was equipped with a wide-angle 65mm ƒ/5.6 lens.

In 1985, Fuji made minor revisions and introduced the GW690II, GSW690II, and GW670II. My Texas Leica is the GW690II, which I bought new in 1991.

In 1992, Fuji introduced version III in sizes 6×7, 6×8, and 6×9. It is confusing to keep them all straight, but all are excellent picture machines; choose the negative size you want and look for an example in good condition. The leaf shutter is in the lens, and all controls are in the lens. On mine, the filter size is 67mm.

The GW690II camera is a handful. The rangefinder is not as contrasty as one in a Leica, but the Fuji one works well. The body does not have the über-precise meticulous craftsmanship feel of a Rolleiflex or a Hasselblad, but the optical results from the 90mm ƒ/3.5 EBC Fujinon lens are stunning. It is a five-element design with  four groups, all multi-coated. The film moves flat across the film gate and may lie flatter than in the Rolleiflex or Hasselblad. With the 690, you get 8 exposures on a roll of 120 film. When 220 film was in production, a roll would yield 16 exposures.

The main feature I miss in the GW690II is a self-timer. Because I often take pictures in old factories or buildings, I like to place the camera on a shelf or platform for a long exposure. But the lack of a timer means I need a cable release to avoid vibrating the camera. The older Rolleiflex is more handy in this respect.

The classic Panatomic-X Film

My favorite black and white film is the long-discontinued Panatomic-X. Eastman Kodak Company introduced Panatomic-X in 1933 and discontinued it in 1987. The film had been reformulated during its five-decade existence, so my late production was likely different than the original. It was designed to be an extremely fine grain film, which meant it could be enlarged for large prints and still retain details. This was of value to architectural, fine-art, and aerial photographers. Some 9-inch aerial photography film was a version of Panatomic-X. The version I have in 120 size was rated at ISO 32, but I shoot it at 20 and develop it in Rodinal at 1:50 dilution. Agfa’s Rodinal was a developer that retained the grain structure and therefore looks “sharp” (i.e., it does not have solvent action to partly dissolve the edges of the grain clumps). Used with good lenses and careful technique (that means a tripod), the detail in a Panatomic-X negative is astonishing, even in this age of high-megapixel digital cameras.

My stock of Panatomic-X expired in 1989, but the rolls have been in the freezer and seem to be perfect. Unfortunately, only 15 rolls are left. Eventually, all good things come to an end. And honestly, Kodak TMax 100 or Ilford Delta 100 seem almost as fine grained and will be a suitable replacement.

Kodak Panatomic-X film, exp. 1989

The Vicksburg Cotton Compress

A cotton compress was a facility that compressed raw cotton into dense bales. Early compress facilities were steam-powered and were active in Autumn, when the cotton was being harvested. Decades ago, compresses were found throughout the US South when cotton was king. The cotton bales were transported away by rail or by steamboat. When I visited Łódź, Poland, a major textile and industrial center in the 1800s and early 1900s, I was surprised to learn that much of their raw cotton had once come from the USA South. I assume cotton bales from compresses in towns like Vicksburg were shipped down the Mississippi River and then transferred to ocean-going vessels in Baton Rouge or New Orleans.

In recent years, cotton production in Mississippi has greatly reduced and has been replaced with corn (for ethanol) or soybeans (export to China). The Vicksburg compress at 2400 Levee Street was in business through the late 1990s or early 2000s. I wish I had asked the operators if I could take photographs when it was in action. The historic brick buildings, which date back to the mid-1800s, now are almost completely gone. Around 2010-2011, a company bought the buildings and removed the vintage bricks for use somewhere else. Newer steel sheds are still standing but abandoned. There is no obvious action to reuse them.

I took the Panatomic-X photographs in this article on a cold, gloomy day in late December of 2010. In my usual clumsy way, I forgot to develop the film until recently. All exposures were in the range of ½ to several seconds, all tripod-mounted. I scanned the negatives with a Minolta Scan Multi medium format film scanner, operated with SilverFast Ai software.

Remaining brick walls, Cotton Compress, Vicksburg, Mississippi
Abandoned steel sheds, Cotton Compress, Vicksburg, Mississippi

I especially the textures and shapes of tool shops and parts bins. This urban decay at its best.

Parts bins, Cotton Compress, Vicksburg, Mississippi
Workshop, Cotton Compress, Vicksburg, Mississippi
Time to wash up, Cotton Compress, Vicksburg, Mississippi

The massive timbers were probably old-growth pine or cypress. I hope they were recycled and not just burned or dumped in landfill. Wood like this is no longer available unless it is from an older building.

Timbers, Cotton Compress, Vicksburg, Mississippi

This mechanical press did the pressing work. I do not know if it was steam or hydraulic-powered.

Cotton Press, Vicksburg, Mississippi

The following postcard from Mississippi Department of Archives and History shows bales of cotton on a rail car. I assume these were the output from the Levee Street compress. Date not specified.

From Souvenir of Vicksburg, Miss. Cotton transportation by rail. Sysid 91614. Scanned as tiff in 2008/11/19 by MDAH. Credit: Courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Thank you for looking at my pictures. For more examples of urban decay, please see: https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com.
For some photographs of Mississippi taken on Ektar 25 film, please see this post

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About The Author

By Kodachromeguy
Retired coastal and marine geologist, photographer since the late-1960s. Current resident of Mississippi, USA. Cameras in rotation: Leica M2, Leica IIIC, Pentax Spotmatic, Voigtländer Vito BL, Rolleiflex 3.5E, Hasselblad 501CM, Fuji GW690II, and (rarely) a Tachihara 4×5".
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Comments

Terry B on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 25/10/2018

Andrew, quite a beast of a camera!
If the lack of a self-timer is a real concern for you, have you thought of something like the clockwork Haka Autoknips II, which connects to the cable release bush in the shutter release button? Not only does this model act as a self-timer, but also provides a range of slow shutter speeds. This latter function operates using the "B" setting, so may not work in "T" mode. There are other versions which only operate as self-timers if you can't utilise the variable shutter function.
I don't know how the two films compare, but Ilford's Pan F is still a current film, in the UK at least, and is available in 120.
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Kodachromeguy replied:

Comment posted: 25/10/2018

Thank you, Terry. I have one of the self-timer devices that mounts on the shutter release button. Mine is from Kalart, which was the house brand of K-Mart stores, who once sold rather serious camera equipment. I have not tried the timer with the Fuji GW690 yet, but mine does work on my Leica IIIC. But you are right that the T mode might be problematic.

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Daniel Castelli on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 25/10/2018

Beautiful work. That's it, just beautiful work.
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Kodachromeguy on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 25/10/2018

Thank you, Daniel. That is very kind. Soft light, a tripod, a big negative, and Panatomic-X - how can one foul that up?
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220mya on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 27/10/2018

As a fellow geologist, I was wondering if there has there been any interesection between your film photography and geology interests?
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Kodachromeguy replied:

Comment posted: 27/10/2018

Many years ago, I did a lot of aerial photography of barrier islands and other coastal features. This was hand-held work, not formal vertical photography with 9×9-inch professional cameras. If I lived in Utah or Arizona, I would probably take photography of the grand landscapes and rock formations, as did Weston and other greats decades ago. I have a 4×5 camera but could always pick up an 8×10. Hmmm......

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Daniel Morris on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 11/12/2018

I own a Fuji GS680III in the 90mm lens and the wider 690II with the 65mm lens. Both lenses are amazingly sharp. Dante Stella has an excellent article on the 65mm lens, which he calls the sharpest 6x9 lens available then offers multiple examples at 42x enlargement. The results are amazing.
http://dantestella.com/technical/gsw690iii-res.html

I really like your shot of the cotton press.
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In Praise of Kodak Tri-X; Five Decades and Counting - by Andrew Morang - 35mmc on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 11/05/2020

[…] Tmax 100 and 400, and Fuji Acros 100. My favorite fine-grain emulsion is still the classic Kodak Panatomic-X, but it was discontinued years ago, and my stock in the freezer is […]
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KC on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 21/05/2020

these are beautiful. to be honest, I've been on the fence about the Fuji MF rangefinders, because every pic I've seen from them looks washed out, with very little contrast... until now- fantastic shadows and contrast in these. I can actually see the color black!
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Kodachromeguy replied:

Comment posted: 21/05/2020

Thank you for the kind words. Washed out suggests user error or lab/processing error. There is no flaw in the camera body flaw or any optical reason to not achieve the right exposure. I had the advantage of using Panatomic-X film - nice stuff!

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Steve Fretz replied:

Comment posted: 21/05/2020

I own a GM690 and "washed out" isn't an adjective I'd use. They're not as in your face as say, a Zeiss T*, but are very sharp.

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Michael Jardeen on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 15/12/2020

I had a GSW690 and loved that camera -- one of my all time favorites. I could take that thing anywhere and loved the wide angle. I shot a lot of Reala and some Ilford through that camera. So sharp and so so much detail from that combo.
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Kodachromeguy replied:

Comment posted: 15/12/2020

Thank you and the other readers for commenting. It is amazing how high resolution are these lenses are on these 670, 680, and 690 Fuji cameras. I have used my GW690II a few times this year and really need to get it out and exercise it more often. Of course, I say that about all my cameras!

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Steve Fretz on Fuji GW690II – Urban Decay in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the Texas Leica – By Andrew Morang

Comment posted: 09/10/2022

I own a GM690 and "washed out" isn't an adjective I'd use. They're not as in your face as say, a Zeiss T*, but are very sharp.
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