From Excelsior Needle Co. to Timken: The Rise and Fall of Torrington's Standard Plant

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The Standard Plant and a Century of Making Things It was a hot May week in 2023, and J and I were already sweating through our shirts before we even made it to the entrance. We turned into the driveway off North Elm Street and passed a large Caterpillar backhoe holding up the red, white, and blue at the top of the arm. Patriotic machinery. Only in Connecticut. We moved toward the back of the complex with our eyes open, scanning for any sign of people or activity. We found cameras instead. A few of them, well-positioned across one of the buildings and up on an electrical pole, covering angles that made our original entry plan useless. We backed off, found a Plan B, and stepped into a dark room washed in tinted green light, then took the stairs down to ground level. The former Standard Plant sits along North Elm Street at a sunken grade, one story, with another building rising over the roadway to the far right when you're standing in front of it from North Street. It's the kind o...
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Samigon 35mm f2.8 Manual Focus Prime Review




Close-up of a Samigon 35mm f/2.8 vintage camera lens, with the aperture visible through the glass. The lens is set against a softly lit indoor background, highlighting its metallic body and engraved details, showcasing the classic design and build quality of traditional photography equipment.



We have here the Samigon 1:2.8 35mm M42 mount lens with an M42 to EOS adapter for the Canon Rebel T3i.








As you can see the lens is all metal construction. The light pro-consumer T3i succumbs to the hefty weight of the well-made almost indestructible Samignon lens. Made in Japan means quality.








This lens will be in use for my summer photography gunning. Unfortunately, the weather is still a bit windy and cold for me to take my precious DSLR outside to really open the aperture on a bright sunny day like today. I am amassing a nice collection of vintage glass for my camera bag and personal collection. The quest for cheap vintage glass for a modern DSLR is really making my wallet happier but a little bit slimmer. Shipping is a killer in the final price.



Nifty Fifty is in focus with an aperture of f22.






Playing around with the lens today showed me the lens is sharp with enough surrounding light it brings out great detail. It has a bit of softness but overall not too much. I realize some of these lenses will naturally have a soft glow in the final pictures. It will make a great walk-around lens and a wide-angle lens for long-exposure shots in the city. I can't wait to test out this baby during the night in NYC. All the samples below have been unprocessed and not cropped.

Samigon 35mm M42 mount Sample Pics



Sunny couch with nifty fifty blurred with an aperture of f16.




More sample pics to come later once school comes to an end.

Camera: Sony HX9V, Canon Rebel T3i, 

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