Soligor 35mm f3.5 - mount question

JMC · Joined: 29 May 2018 Posts: 178 Location: London, UK

I need some advice please. I recently picked up a 35mm f3.5 Soligor lens on ebay for a few quid. These lenses are useful for UV photography, especially apparently the ones with the serial number starting with KA (which this one is). It was a bit beaten up, and the seller had advertised it as M42, but wasn't certain about that. This is the lens;

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This is where the questions come in. When I got the lens I realised it wasn't M42, but more like 44mm. It also has the M written on the mount. Now I believe this is a Miranda 44mm screw thread, however have not been able to find out much about that. Does this sound right?

I do have another 35mm Soligor f3.5 in M42, and the registration distance looks very different between them so a simple M42 to M44 adapter wouldn't be great and wouldn't keep infinity (even if one exists).

On both versions of the lens the screw part of the mount can be removed by loosening some grub screws, BUT they are not interchangeable between my 2 lenses. Does anyone know of other Soligor lenses, presumably with the KA serial number, which had M42 thread, and if so whether the mount can be removed and swapped to this one?

kypfer · Joined: 27 Sep 2017 Posts: 520 Location: Jersey C.I.

44mm Miranda looks about right. It's a T2 mount lens, simply unscrew the "M" mount and fit whatever suits you best.

The T2 mount is a two-part device (plus the grub-screws). Although the individual components may not be interchangeable between manufacturers, the complete mount should be. The three grub-screws are to align the lens vertically once it's mounted on the camera. They fasten onto a collar which comprises the inner part of the adaptor which in turn screws onto the lens body. With the three grub-screws tightened, simply get a firm grip on the mount and unscrew it from the body of the lens. Unless someone's done something silly with adhesive or locking compound, the mount should unscrew with little more effort than it takes to remove a tight bottle screw-top.

The internal thread of the T2 mount is 42mm, but not the same pitch as the ubiquitous M42 Pentax/Praktica thread, so you will still need a T2 mount for the lens. T2 mounts are available to fit many/most interchangeable-lens cameras, but if you already have an M42 adaptor to fit your camera, then an M42 T2 mount is likely to be your cheapest option.

If you need any more information, please ask, but I'm sure, with a bit of searching, you'll find information about the T2 mount on the internet ... it's been around since the '60's Wink

JMC · Joined: 29 May 2018 Posts: 178 Location: London, UK

Ok thanks Kypfer. I shall take another look. When I took the 44mm screw mount off before it didn't look like a T mount though, which what got me confused.

Also I came across this page; http://www.savazzi.net/photography/35soligor.html

The pages above mentioned that the adapter carrying the thread for the camera body is not a T mount, but is a proprietary one. I do have another Soligor 35mm f3.5, and the two mounts are different in terms of internal diameter. Perhaps one version is T mount that the other not? The plot thickens....

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

Mirada 44mm mount register distance is 41.5mm, thread is 44mm x 1.

You might find the outer ring of T2 adapter will fit after removing the Mirada 44mm×1 mount, however may not focus to infinity.

kypfer · Joined: 27 Sep 2017 Posts: 520 Location: Jersey C.I.

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

+1 what kypfer writes just above. When you removed the 44mm Miranda mount did you remove or loosen the three screws on the side instead of leaving those alone & unscrewing a Miranda T2 adapter from T2 mount lens?

JMC · Joined: 29 May 2018 Posts: 178 Location: London, UK

Ah right. I removed the grub screws. This is what it looks like with that section removed.

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So from what you're saying then, the ring with the grub screws on should be left on the lens, and it's actually the section with the asymmetric v shaped groove on the main body of the lens that should screw off.

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

JMC · Joined: 29 May 2018 Posts: 178 Location: London, UK

Thanks Klaus, I'll take another look then. Shame about the lense, it would be great to have a dedicated UV lens in that 35-50mm range.

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

JMC · Joined: 29 May 2018 Posts: 178 Location: London, UK

Thanks all for the advice. I reattached the M44 mount, and with a bit of persuasion, the v groove section on the lens did unscrew along with the M44 mount. And it did indeed reveal a T mount. Thank you Smile

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

kypfer · Joined: 27 Sep 2017 Posts: 520 Location: Jersey C.I.

uddhava · Expire: 2021-06-21