Soligor 350/5.6 - a very odd "Wundertute"

[luisalegria]

I just aquired another old "Wundertute" long lens, this one a Soligor 350/5.6 . Its the usual T-mount, pre-set item from the 1960's.



It came in quite worn and dirty condition, but perfectly functional, for a very nominal price (less than $10). There is a missing locking screw for the tripod mount though. It works very much like the 400mm Spiratone, though as it is shorter both physically and in focal length it is a little more practical. Its really quite a pleasure to use.

So, what is odd about this lens ?

- It is a very odd length. I don't remember seeing any other 350mm lenses. I think this thing is rather rare.

- It is definitely an early Tamron, a model 750 of 1963 -

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.tamron.co.jp/data/old-lens/olm350f5_6.htm

Every feature is identical.

I think Soligor sometime in the early-mid 1960's marketed a range of Tamron T-mount lenses. I know that they also sold the rather unique 250/4.5, which I am also looking for, plus the 135/2.8, 200/4.5 and probably others. I have a rather nice pre-set Soligor 180/3.5 that doesn't seem to be a Tamron, so not all Soligor pre-sets were Tamrons.

So how well does it do ? I have to say its not quite as good as the Spiratone or the Komura 400's. It has more color fringing and is not quite as sharp wide open. But it is perfectly adequate for my purposes, and easier to use and carry than those others. Its even lighter than my 300mm Sears, though that also beats it in image quality.

All at f/5.6 -









The bird -



100% crop -

[montecarlo]

Hello,

Thanks for the samples. It looks to be a good lens and despite how old it is it seems to have a good contrast (or did you add it in postprocessing?).
My T mount Soligor (same age, I think), a 135mm f:2.8 has poor contrast and can not take the race with my most contrasty lenses: the SMC coated ones ( one manual and two auto focus lenses).

[padiej]

Wonderfull tube, superb pictures.

Which cam did you use?

regards Peter

[Attila]

With your talent every lens are singing! Very nice demo!

[LucisPictor]

Apparently a surprisingly good lens!

[luisalegria]

Hi Montecarlo,

I usually underexpose a little and correct in Photoshop using the brightness and contrast settings to adjust.

In this set #3 and #4 were not adjusted for contrast at all I believe. I don't see a contrast problem with this lens.

My Soligor 135/2.8 preset is a little soft and flares a little at f/2.8, but it also doesn't seem to have a contrast problem.

This is a 600 dpi film scan of a shot from the Sears/Ricoh TLS with the Soligor 135 on Fuji color print film, not processed in Photoshop - my daughter in a backyard Shakespeare production -



Hi Padiej,

Pentax K100D

Thanks all, but as I said before, if you take enough, some will be good. My shot counter on the K100D went past 10,000 last week, and that is in four months.

[bawang]

These are good, the contrast as seen in the lamp post do indicated how good these old lens can perform. Good job.