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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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 Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:05 am Post subject: Auto Miranda 50mm f1.8 |
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Oldhand wrote:
Miranda lenses don't get much milage because I think that they are under-rated generally and difficult to adapt to digital.
I was gifted this lens on a Miranda Sensorex, so decided to see what it could do.
I am very pleasantly surprised.
All of these images are shot at full aperture.
PP in LR and mono in NIK.
No sharpening has been applied.
Tom
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pdccameras
Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Posts: 826
Location: Putnam, CT
Expire: 2014-08-11
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:56 am Post subject: |
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pdccameras wrote:
Some beautiful images, Oldhand.
I seem to recall that in its heyday, some photographers referred to the well made and feature laden Miranda G as the "poor man's Nikon".
Also here is some general info from Craig Holmes Miranda Historical Site -
How do the optics compare with contemporary camera brands? (Nothing super detailed, here - I don't mean to start a lens sharpness war!)
Miranda lenses were highly regarded in their day, and test reports from the times emphasized the consistency found over successive models, and the uniformly high performance of the standard lens in particular over a good range of apertures and at centre and edges. Some lenses were regarded as excellent performers, such as the 55mm f3.5 macros and particularly the 135mm f3.5 Soligor Miranda Short Barrel lens. Generally Miranda lenses were regarded as highly comparable with other quality brands during the time of manufacture.
What was the relationship with Soligor? Did they make all the optics? Are "Zunow" and "Ofunar" lenses made by Soligor?
At the beginning, Miranda Camera Co. made the bodies and put out contracts for lenses to Zunow, Ofunar, Arco, and Soligor. Later suppliers included Tamron, and Kowa. After merging with Soligor via AIC, I believe all lenses for Mirandas came from Soligor. The early "Zunow" is hard to find, and the "Ofunar" more so as it appears (from a sample I have seen) to be a "Zunow" lens with only a different front plate.
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Canon 5D Mii, Canon 40D, Canon 350D IR, Sony A7 Mii, Sony Alpha-6000, a ton of lenses: AF & MF and too many cameras to count, all formats: 110 - 4x5. |
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:40 am Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
Thank you for that input - and yes, the relationship with Soligor is certainly a part of the history of Miranda.
It seems that there were some lenses provided by others before Soligor came along.
After the investment by Soligor in the company, it makes sense that Soligor sourced the lenses for Miranda.
Of course these lenses came from all over the place as the Soligor threads have indicated.
I might be wrong but the Soligor Mirandas seem to be labelled "Soligor Miranda"
This Auto Miranda 50mm f1.8 could be from one of the previous suppliers maybe.
In any case it is a good lens and is often found very cheaply.
Here are some more images with it
Tom
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walter g
Joined: 20 Feb 2010
Posts: 2463
Location: NC, USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:51 am Post subject: |
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walter g wrote:
| pdccameras wrote: |
Some beautiful images, Oldhand.
What was the relationship with Soligor? Did they make all the optics? Are "Zunow" and "Ofunar" lenses made by Soligor?
At the beginning, Miranda Camera Co. made the bodies and put out contracts for lenses to Zunow, Ofunar, Arco, and Soligor. Later suppliers included Tamron, and Kowa. After merging with Soligor via AIC, I believe all lenses for Mirandas came from Soligor. The early "Zunow" is hard to find, and the "Ofunar" more so as it appears (from a sample I have seen) to be a "Zunow" lens with only a different front plate. |
Not quite correct, and misleading.
Where he says the later suppliers were Tamron and Kowa is correct, but they were the lenses supplied by Soligor.
They were marked Miranda Soligor and coded with either the Tamron code or Kowa code.
Then their were the Auto Miranda and Auto E lenses that were most likely made by Tokina..
The final Auto EC lenses were made by Sun Optics. Tho I'm not sure who made the Macron lenses.
_________________
Main cameras
Panasonic G5,Nikon J1,Pentax Q10,Sony Nex 6
Minolta MC W SI 2.5/28, MD 2.8/28, MC W SG 3.5/28, MC Celtic 3.5/28, MC W HG 2.8/35, MD Celtic 2.8/35, QE 4/35, Rokkor X 2/45, MC Rokkor X PG 1.4/50, MC Rokkor X PG 1.7/50, MD Rokkor X 1.7/50, MD 2/50, MC Rokkor PF 1.7/55, MC Rokkor PF 1.9/55, Auto Tele Rokkor PG 2.8/135, MC Tele Rokkor QD 3.5/135, TC 4/135, MC Celtic 4/200, MC Tele Rokkor PE 4.5/200
MD 28-70 f3.5-4.8, MD Macro 35-70 f3.5, Md 70-210 f4, MD Rokkor X 75-200 f4.5, MD 100-200 f5.6
Nikon Nikkor 4/20, O Auto 2/35, S Auto 1.4/50..... Miranda Auto 2.8/28, Auto 2.8/35, Auto 1.4/50, Auto EC 1.4/50, Auto 1.8/50, Auto EC 1.8/50,Auto 1.9/50, Auto 3.5/135
Various Soligor,Sun,Fujita,Komura,Spitatone, etc. Lenses
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walter g
Joined: 20 Feb 2010
Posts: 2463
Location: NC, USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 4:58 am Post subject: Re: Auto Miranda 50mm f1.8 |
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walter g wrote:
[quote="Oldhand"]Miranda lenses don't get much milage because I think that they are under-rated generally and difficult to adapt to digital.
I was gifted this lens on a Miranda Sensorex, so decided to see what it could do.
I am very pleasantly surprised.
All of these images are shot at full aperture.
PP in LR and mono in NIK.
No sharpening has been applied.
Tom
Tom, when I started collecting Miranda lenses there wasn't any adapters made. I bought an adapter from ramir73 as soon as they came out for M4/3. Later he made them for E mount.
Fotodiox also makes adapters but the E mount adapter hasn't been available for awhile.
_________________
Main cameras
Panasonic G5,Nikon J1,Pentax Q10,Sony Nex 6
Minolta MC W SI 2.5/28, MD 2.8/28, MC W SG 3.5/28, MC Celtic 3.5/28, MC W HG 2.8/35, MD Celtic 2.8/35, QE 4/35, Rokkor X 2/45, MC Rokkor X PG 1.4/50, MC Rokkor X PG 1.7/50, MD Rokkor X 1.7/50, MD 2/50, MC Rokkor PF 1.7/55, MC Rokkor PF 1.9/55, Auto Tele Rokkor PG 2.8/135, MC Tele Rokkor QD 3.5/135, TC 4/135, MC Celtic 4/200, MC Tele Rokkor PE 4.5/200
MD 28-70 f3.5-4.8, MD Macro 35-70 f3.5, Md 70-210 f4, MD Rokkor X 75-200 f4.5, MD 100-200 f5.6
Nikon Nikkor 4/20, O Auto 2/35, S Auto 1.4/50..... Miranda Auto 2.8/28, Auto 2.8/35, Auto 1.4/50, Auto EC 1.4/50, Auto 1.8/50, Auto EC 1.8/50,Auto 1.9/50, Auto 3.5/135
Various Soligor,Sun,Fujita,Komura,Spitatone, etc. Lenses
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:04 am Post subject: Re: Auto Miranda 50mm f1.8 |
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Oldhand wrote:
[quote="walter g"]
| Oldhand wrote: |
Miranda lenses don't get much milage because I think that they are under-rated generally and difficult to adapt to digital.
I was gifted this lens on a Miranda Sensorex, so decided to see what it could do.
I am very pleasantly surprised.
All of these images are shot at full aperture.
PP in LR and mono in NIK.
No sharpening has been applied.
Tom
Tom, when I started collecting Miranda lenses there wasn't any adapters made. I bought an adapter from ramir73 as soon as they came out for M4/3. Later he made them for E mount.
Fotodiox also makes adapters but the E mount adapter hasn't been available for awhile. |
Thanks for that information Walter.
I made my own adapter for Fuji, and while it isn't pretty, it works. 
Can you make a comment on the better performers in the Miranda label?
Cheers
Tom |
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Sciolist
Joined: 29 Mar 2017
Posts: 1445
Location: Scotland
Expire: 2021-04-16
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 10:03 am Post subject: Re: Auto Miranda 50mm f1.8 |
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Sciolist wrote:
| Oldhand wrote: |
… PP in LR and mono in NIK. ...
Tom
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It reminds me a bit of tri-x.
Thanks for sharing the portrait Tom. They are always a delight.
Coming from the tail-end of the babyboomer generation, Miranda for me was another one of those cheap brands, and like many of those brands, there was little conception that they had in fact produced quality products in previous times. Perhaps that's why they are overlooked. I'm just idly surmising. |
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Pancolart
Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 3693
Location: Slovenia, EU
Expire: 2013-11-18
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 10:44 am Post subject: |
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Pancolart wrote:
Nice BW portrait. You found Henry Fonda there.
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Sciolist
Joined: 29 Mar 2017
Posts: 1445
Location: Scotland
Expire: 2021-04-16
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 10:57 am Post subject: |
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Sciolist wrote:
| Pancolart wrote: |
| … . You found Henry Fonda there. |
Hah  . Spot on  . |
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wolan
Joined: 30 Jun 2015
Posts: 576
Location: Zurich
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| Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:54 pm Post subject: Re: Auto Miranda 50mm f1.8 |
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wolan wrote:
Beautiful B&W pictures
| Oldhand wrote: |
Miranda lenses don't get much milage because I think that they are under-rated generally and difficult to adapt to digital.
I was gifted this lens on a Miranda Sensorex, so decided to see what it could do.
I am very pleasantly surprised.
All of these images are shot at full aperture.
PP in LR and mono in NIK.
No sharpening has been applied.
Tom
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/149089857@N03/ |
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walter g
Joined: 20 Feb 2010
Posts: 2463
Location: NC, USA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:04 am Post subject: Re: Auto Miranda 50mm f1.8 |
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walter g wrote:
[quote="Oldhand"]
| walter g wrote: |
| Oldhand wrote: |
Miranda lenses don't get much milage because I think that they are under-rated generally and difficult to adapt to digital.
I was gifted this lens on a Miranda Sensorex, so decided to see what it could do.
I am very pleasantly surprised.
All of these images are shot at full aperture.
PP in LR and mono in NIK.
No sharpening has been applied.
Tom
Tom, when I started collecting Miranda lenses there wasn't any adapters made. I bought an adapter from ramir73 as soon as they came out for M4/3. Later he made them for E mount.
Fotodiox also makes adapters but the E mount adapter hasn't been available for awhile. |
Thanks for that information Walter.
I made my own adapter for Fuji, and while it isn't pretty, it works.
Can you make a comment on the better performers in the Miranda label?
Cheers
Tom |
Tom I haven't fully tested all my Miranda lenses yet. Hopefully soon. One of the must have lenses is the 8 element Auto Miranda 50mm f1.4.
_________________
Main cameras
Panasonic G5,Nikon J1,Pentax Q10,Sony Nex 6
Minolta MC W SI 2.5/28, MD 2.8/28, MC W SG 3.5/28, MC Celtic 3.5/28, MC W HG 2.8/35, MD Celtic 2.8/35, QE 4/35, Rokkor X 2/45, MC Rokkor X PG 1.4/50, MC Rokkor X PG 1.7/50, MD Rokkor X 1.7/50, MD 2/50, MC Rokkor PF 1.7/55, MC Rokkor PF 1.9/55, Auto Tele Rokkor PG 2.8/135, MC Tele Rokkor QD 3.5/135, TC 4/135, MC Celtic 4/200, MC Tele Rokkor PE 4.5/200
MD 28-70 f3.5-4.8, MD Macro 35-70 f3.5, Md 70-210 f4, MD Rokkor X 75-200 f4.5, MD 100-200 f5.6
Nikon Nikkor 4/20, O Auto 2/35, S Auto 1.4/50..... Miranda Auto 2.8/28, Auto 2.8/35, Auto 1.4/50, Auto EC 1.4/50, Auto 1.8/50, Auto EC 1.8/50,Auto 1.9/50, Auto 3.5/135
Various Soligor,Sun,Fujita,Komura,Spitatone, etc. Lenses
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 4:15 am Post subject: Re: Auto Miranda 50mm f1.8 |
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Oldhand wrote:
Thanks for the kind words everyone.
[quote="walter g"][quote="Oldhand"][quote="walter g"]
| Oldhand wrote: |
Tom I haven't fully tested all my Miranda lenses yet. Hopefully soon. One of the must have lenses is the 8 element Auto Miranda 50mm f1.4. |
Thank you Walter for the suggestion.
How can one positively identify the eight element Auto Miranda 50mm f1.4?
Is it the one without the E or the EC or is there some other way?
Cheers
Tom |
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walter g
Joined: 20 Feb 2010
Posts: 2463
Location: NC, USA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:37 am Post subject: |
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walter g wrote:
Tom , the Auto and Auto E are the 8 element lenses.
The EC is the 7 element version.
_________________
Main cameras
Panasonic G5,Nikon J1,Pentax Q10,Sony Nex 6
Minolta MC W SI 2.5/28, MD 2.8/28, MC W SG 3.5/28, MC Celtic 3.5/28, MC W HG 2.8/35, MD Celtic 2.8/35, QE 4/35, Rokkor X 2/45, MC Rokkor X PG 1.4/50, MC Rokkor X PG 1.7/50, MD Rokkor X 1.7/50, MD 2/50, MC Rokkor PF 1.7/55, MC Rokkor PF 1.9/55, Auto Tele Rokkor PG 2.8/135, MC Tele Rokkor QD 3.5/135, TC 4/135, MC Celtic 4/200, MC Tele Rokkor PE 4.5/200
MD 28-70 f3.5-4.8, MD Macro 35-70 f3.5, Md 70-210 f4, MD Rokkor X 75-200 f4.5, MD 100-200 f5.6
Nikon Nikkor 4/20, O Auto 2/35, S Auto 1.4/50..... Miranda Auto 2.8/28, Auto 2.8/35, Auto 1.4/50, Auto EC 1.4/50, Auto 1.8/50, Auto EC 1.8/50,Auto 1.9/50, Auto 3.5/135
Various Soligor,Sun,Fujita,Komura,Spitatone, etc. Lenses
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:56 am Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
Beauty.
Thanks Walter, I'll look out for them.
Tom
PS:
Here is a very tight crop from the portrait above.
I am pleased and delighted with the quality of the image - remember this was shot at widest aperture f1.8.
T
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Sciolist
Joined: 29 Mar 2017
Posts: 1445
Location: Scotland
Expire: 2021-04-16
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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Sciolist wrote:
| Oldhand wrote: |
...
Here is a very tight crop from the portrait above.
I am pleased and delighted with the quality of the image - remember this was shot at widest aperture f1.8.
T
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Jeez! There's nothing wrong with your focusing eye is there mate .
And how do you know Henry Fonda? Come on Tom. Spill the beans. |
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
| Sciolist wrote: |
| Oldhand wrote: |
...
Here is a very tight crop from the portrait above.
I am pleased and delighted with the quality of the image - remember this was shot at widest aperture f1.8.
T
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Jeez! There's nothing wrong with your focusing eye is there mate .
And how do you know Henry Fonda? Come on Tom. Spill the beans. |
Hahaha - thank you.
Henry - I mean Don - and I go way back to when we both dated Lucille Ball
I hadn't noticed it before, but there is a resemblance isn't there.
Cheers
Tom |
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 7:03 am Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
Here are some shots from today.
This lens does well in colour of course, but I was shooting B&W film today so stuck with monochrome for digital as well.
Tom
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blotafton
Joined: 08 Aug 2013
Posts: 1552
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 10:12 am Post subject: |
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blotafton wrote:
Good choice with BW. |
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 10:20 am Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
| blotafton wrote: |
| Good choice with BW. |
Thank you - yes it does very well in mono.
I am so impressed with this lens.
I can't understand why it isn't being pursued more relentlessly by photographers who value excellence in their images.
The lens is being sold at give-away prices and yet it performs like a high end optic.
Here is a shot taken today, along with a close crop, to show just how good its resolving power is (just look at the definition on the Sigma lens)
This was taken at f2.8
It draws so beautifully.
Tom
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Another crop from the same image:
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Minolfan
Joined: 30 Dec 2008
Posts: 3437
Location: Netherlands
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| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:23 am Post subject: |
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Minolfan wrote:
Very good indeed!
(And funny use pictured of the Sigma lenshood) |
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:34 am Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
| Minolfan wrote: |
Very good indeed!
(And funny use pictured of the Sigma lenshood) |
Haha - yes, she reversed it because she wanted to get closer to the reflections in the steel rail.
Thank you for the kind words about the images.
I am totally impressed by this lens and have ordered a second one while they are still cheap.
Tom
Here is a colour image from this lens shot at f2.8
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Sciolist
Joined: 29 Mar 2017
Posts: 1445
Location: Scotland
Expire: 2021-04-16
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| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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Sciolist wrote:
| Oldhand wrote: |
… I can't understand why it isn't being pursued more relentlessly by photographers who value excellence in their images.
The lens is being sold at give-away prices and yet it performs like a high end optic.
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I think they may have clocked it's abilities in the UK. A quick look on fleabay seems to have them priced around Pentax.
If you're buying another one Tom, you'll be able to see if you've got a freak or not. But lets be honest, it's a planar (actually the render reminds me so much of my 58/2 biotar), and you seem to be playing it like Stradivarius.
Something that is in the back of my mind, is that whenever I see 'auto' on a '60s lens, I immediately wonder if it's Tomioka design. I hope that's not a red herring, but it might be worth tracking down who Soligor were sourcing at the time. There was a period obviously when Tomioka were bashing them out for Carl Zeiss I think. |
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 10:58 am Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
This is a second copy of this lens.
As good as the first I would say.
The lens and the subjects - works of art
Tom
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:54 am Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
Here is a quick three shot sequence taken today on this lens.
Guessed the focus and got lucky as the pelican was gone so quickly.
T
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papasito
Joined: 09 Jan 2015
Posts: 1658
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| Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2019 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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papasito wrote:
Hi Tom.
Which version are yours Miranda 50 mm lenses?
Can you send pics of them?
Thanks |
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