Virjune Manufacturing Co: Inside Waterbury's Vacant Factory

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J and I were already having a rough day. We'd just driven across town to check out an old industrial site he hadn't visited in a while, only to find it erased. Nothing left but a slab of concrete and chain-link fence. So we took a detour. Sometimes you salvage a disappointing afternoon with a backup plan, even if you're just ticking a box. The former Virjune plant hides in plain sight off Thomaston Avenue. If you drive past in summer, you'll miss it completely. Trees and shrubs swallow the building whole, nature reclaiming what industry left behind. Come winter, though, when the branches go bare and the world turns gray, the red brick skeleton reveals itself. Even then, you have to know where to look. I pulled up old Sanborn maps to trace the building's history. The earliest tenant was an auto body shop in 1922. By February 1950, something bigger had moved in. The map labels it simply "Stamping Wks." No company name. No flourish. Just function. That namele...
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eBay Vintage Lens Buy: Asahi Super-Takumar 55mm 1:2


Opened up my new lens out of the box and upon close inspection found a cluster of dust resting all around the back lens element like shampoo in the eye. It made me cringe. Just a bit of moisture or water inside and those huge dusk particles could turn into the dreaded fungus spores they can be. Unfortunately I paid around $16 dollars for this gem and returning could be prohibitive. Asahi Super-Takumar lenses go upwards from $30 from average to around $160+ for those with apertures of f1.4.

A quick test below shows that the dust particles do not affect image quality as I thought but useable for my purposes for now. The lens Gods have been merciful on my soul. So double check and scrutinize eBay listing pictures of lenses before you bid or buy.

Ashai Takumar @ f2.0, ISO 100, 1/125

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