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Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.
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Miranda Soligor 5cm f/1.9
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:09 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:09 pm
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Just messing with close focus and aperture... Miranda D, Kodak Portra 400


Messing with the Miranda: f/1.9 by Nesster, on Flickr

Wide open, sharpness is there though the DOF is minimal...

@f/4 the sharpness is up, contrast more so


Messing with the Miranda: f/4 by Nesster, on Flickr

This was at closest focus, I forget the f/stop but it was 5.6 or wider


Lilies in the sky by Nesster, on Flickr


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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:42 pm
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:42 pm
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All very good. Thanks.

The miranda 1,9, the first version. The second was F/1,8. But they seem to be the same lens.

In the 60's and 70's the miranda with the 50 lens was so cheap that his reputation never was high, but your images tell us that not true.

Thanks for sharing.

Rino.


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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:20 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 10:20 pm
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I got this lens in batch today , looks a bit 'overbuilt' handsome lens mine serial numbers start with 50 I don't think so this lens made in 1950 , do you have any information about production years?


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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:12 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:12 pm
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Quote:
do you have any information about production years?



The 50mm/5cm f/1.9 Miranda lens I have (with S/N 502xxxx) must come from the early to mid 1960s (Miranda F, G, etc. era).

Some of the earlier ones (for the A, B, C, D, etc.) have Exakta-style PADs, and their serial numbers start with Y or K. These are from the late 50s and early 60s. Even earlier are the preset lenses without PADs.


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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:48 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:48 pm
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Many thanks!


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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:19 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:19 am
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I have one of the earlier 1.9/50s with PAD, need to fix it as the aperture is sticky, otherwise it's mint.


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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:57 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:57 am
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I also have one of the PAD-type 1.9s. It's the 2nd PAD type -- mostly black, "large type", with Y14xxx serial number that belongs on a Model C. The iris is oily, and is very sluggish.

Long ago, my father had one of the first PAD-type lenses -- all chrome, "large type", and it was the first lens I ever used on a 35mm SLR (on a Model A).


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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 3:29 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 3:29 am
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Cleaning the aperture blades is super easy in these lenses, all of the front elements are held in one "module" that simply screws out of the lens barrel. No tools needed. Then you have access to the blades. You can clean them with some lighter fluid and Q-tips.


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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:20 am
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:20 am
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Mos6502 wrote:
Cleaning the aperture blades is super easy in these lenses, all of the front elements are held in one "module" that simply screws out of the lens barrel. No tools needed. Then you have access to the blades. You can clean them with some lighter fluid and Q-tips.


Could you please describe how to do this as it's time I got the aperture working on my otherwise mint 1.9/5cm.


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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:00 am
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:00 am
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There are at least two versions of this lens.
The first is made by Kowa and is essentially a Kowa Prominar 5cm f1.9
Some are labelled Kowa Prominar-Miranda while others of the same lens are labelled Soligor Miranda, but they are essentially the same lens with the aperture ring at the front.
The second is a different style of lens and may be similar to the f1.8 version.
I suspect that they may be of different optical designs as well
Tom


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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:29 pm
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:29 pm
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So at least there are three version of the 5 cm/ 50 mm f/1,9 lens in Miranda mount:

1. With kowa name.

2. Soligor Miranda (made by Kowa too)

3. Auto Miranda 50/1,9, similar to the 50/1,8 lens


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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:26 pm
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:26 pm
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sorry about the photo quality, i just happened to have them handy on my phone: my soligor miranda 5cm/1.9


#1


#2


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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:28 pm
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:28 pm
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i should add, this lens has a little bit of backstory - it's been in the family for at least three generations; i got it from my wife's uncle rick, who himself had got it from his uncle jerry, perhaps i too will eventually pass it on to a niece or nephew


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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 5:08 am
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 5:08 am
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benadamx wrote:
i should add, this lens has a little bit of backstory - it's been in the family for at least three generations; i got it from my wife's uncle rick, who himself had got it from his uncle jerry, perhaps i too will eventually pass it on to a niece or nephew


That's really cool it's stayed in the family.


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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:37 am
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:37 am
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papasito wrote:
So at least there are three version of the 5 cm/ 50 mm f/1,9 lens in Miranda mount:

1. With kowa name.

2. Soligor Miranda (made by Kowa too)

3. Auto Miranda 50/1,9, similar to the 50/1,8 lens


Yes, I think that 1 and 2 are the same lens - with different markings of course.
And I think you may be right about number 3 being similar to the 50/1.8 lens
Tom


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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 12:16 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 12:16 pm
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Juts got a damaged sample (aperture broken) of the Soligor Miranda 1.9/5cm to fit my Miranda T acquired earlier this year:



I'm not sure whether I'll be able to repair the lens, but at least it looks nice on the Miranda T ... The lens that came with the Miranda T when I bought it, a Miranda 2.8/5cm, is shown on the right side. Interestingly, both the Miranda T and the newly acquired Soligor Miranda come from the same area in Switzerland - quite unusual since these early Miranda cameras / lenses are pretty rare here in Switzerland.

S


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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:13 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:13 pm
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I think that is the first Miranda I've seen with more or less complete leatherette.
The ones I come across are always in pretty rough shape.
Interesting pentaprism on it.

-D.S.


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Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:32 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:32 am
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It looks like a later model T, the shutter speed selector is black instead of the silver one on the earlier type. Missing also is the place to attach a remote shutter cable on the top plate on this later model. I couldn't make out the serial number from the pic, usually the first two digits are the year. The serial location is different on that model too from the two earlier examples I have. There was apparently a T-II model with shutter speed to 1/1000, perhaps this model is just before that. At that point, possibly the A and maybe B models were released already, with lever winding and then quick return mirror. They had a similar looking pentaprism to that one.


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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:08 am
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:08 am
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Alun Thomas wrote:
It looks like a later model T, the shutter speed selector is black instead of the silver one on the earlier type. Missing also is the place to attach a remote shutter cable on the top plate on this later model.

Thank you for this information!


Alun Thomas wrote:
I couldn't make out the serial number from the pic, usually the first two digits are the year.


Here you are:




Alun Thomas wrote:
The serial location is different on that model too from the two earlier examples I have. There was apparently a T-II model with shutter speed to 1/1000, perhaps this model is just before that. At that point, possibly the A and maybe B models were released already, with lever winding and then quick return mirror. They had a similar looking pentaprism to that one.

A closer look at McKeowns solves the mystery: This is not a Miranda T, but a Miranda S! Produced in 1959 it was the last Miranda SLR with knob winding, and it originally was advertised with a waist level finder (pentaprism only as accessory).

Sorry for my errors; I'm not at all into collecting Mirandas, and I just jumped upon "knob wind" thinking it was a Miranda T!

We know that this particular camera was imported correctly into Switzerland. The corresponding customs document is stamped "May 11, 1967", but the actual import may have occured earlier. The document shown below was issued to facilitate travelling; it does not mean that the camera was imported on that particular day or year.



S
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