Soligor Miranda 50mm f/1.9 chrome on Sony A7 Mii

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

Here are some shots from and of a Soligor Miranda 50mm f/1.9. I think Walter G has/had one of these, but hard to tell from the thread if he has the Y------ serial number chrome version with the side arm actuator. The model I have is chrome version, which was the normal lens for the Miranda A, AII and B models - the first of that brand's lever wind SLRs. The Miranda A debuted along with this lens in 1958.

Quite a nice piece of glass in a heavy chromed Aluminum & brass mount. it has an Exacta-style semiautomatic diaphragm actuator and a six-bladed aperture. I haven't tested the lens formally, but in the time I have had it out, I have found that the lens is quite sharp, especially from f/5.6 to f/11, with f/8 being optimum. I have found very little vignetting, typical flare resistance and purple fringing for this kind of single coated , 5-element optic. The bokeh is definitely swirly wide open and the overall character is very classic, much like the early Pentax 50 mm Gauss designs, right down to the warmish color balance. A nice feature of this lens is its MFD of 13". The focus ring is engraved in feet in black lettering from 3ft to infinity, and from 13" - 30" in red lettering on the close focus end.

It's a very handsome lens. Some pics of the lens follow with a few samples from tonight's walk with the lens mounted on a Sony A7II via a Miranda - Sony E adapter (from ramir73 on eBay).

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Good job, and Miranda certainly was a high quality effort, at least in its early days, and very innovative as well. Much of the Miranda line is lovely and often very clever.

I have a fair collection of late-60s - early 70s Miranda gear. No comparison in build quality to the early stuff.

It was under-resourced relative to the bigger players and this showed in many ways, especially a few years down the road.

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

Thanks, Luis!

This particular lens is incredibly well finished - certainly on par mechanically with Voigtlander, Schneider and Steinheil.

I have two copies of this lens, and both are very shiny! My spare is on Ebay right now. In addition to the 50mm f/1.9 and its accompanying A body, I have a few knob wind bodies and a fairly complete Miranda G outfit (c. 1968) The Miranda G is an extremely well thought out, and well made body with many features which were only found on pro bodies at the time. It also rivaled, IMHO, the aesthetic body stying of the Spotmatic. Unfortunately, I don't think subsequent Sensomat, Sensorex, and later bodies lived up to the refined good looks and operability of the G series.

Best,

Paul

papasito · Joined: 09 Jan 2015 Posts: 1658

The "G" model was the rival of the Nikon F

Somebody said that Nikon bought Miranda.

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

I have a Miranda G and an REII, a later successor. Same basic body, and the REII takes its accessories, or most of them.
But not the lenses with "arms", sadly. Otherwise the REII really is a rather impressive camera.

http://forum.mflenses.com/soligor-miranda-25mm-f-2-8-miranda-reii-t75354,highlight,%2Bmiranda.html

This was the lower cost series of Mirandas, the Automex/Sensorex (I have a couple of these also) were the full featured models with open aperture metering. Miranda maintained a high and low series from the early 1960's almost to its end.

The G's and the rest of that low end (the later Sensomat and RE's) used the same body casting (or extremely similar) to the original Mirandas, the high end were a larger casting. Both had interchangeable finders, but there were large and small series of these, intended respectively for the high and low end bodies. The big Mirandas are definitely clunky, the small ones are as elegant as any early SLR's.

The G I have has the classic Miranda fault of a jammed shutter, which is harder to fix than the same on a Spotmatic.

Miranda was bought in the mid-1960's by Allied Impex, AKA Soligor, the only Japanese camera maker acquired by an American firm. Allied Impex was not good at running it and it seems it was addicted to short term, retail thinking.

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

Fascinating info, Luis!

vivaldibow · Expire: 2021-03-09

visualopsins · Expire: 2021-06-22

@vivaldibow, a tip:), tap Reply button instead of Quote link to avoid repeating long list of images unnecessarily.

pdccameras · Expire: 2014-08-11

vivaldibow · Expire: 2021-03-09

walter g · Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 2464 Location: NC, USA