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What make is this Soligor lens ?
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 2:56 am    Post subject: What make is this Soligor lens ? Reply with quote
Got this at a local shop today along with other camera stuff- its M42. I tried it mounted on a sony via an adapter and produces lovely images. Anyone know who made this Soligor lens?




Sample image using this lens, which has been cropped slightly to center on the "Welta Welti" camera.



Thanks


PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Interesting.

I thought for a moment it was the same as the very curious Tokina/Sun auto lenses I have -

http://forum.mflenses.com/who-made-these-28-2-8-sun-or-tokina-t15298,highlight,sun.html

But its not, as the helical goes the other way.


PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
They look the same except for the aperture ring in mine which goes opposite. The focusing rings look identical Very Happy - is there a Soligor serial number database anywhere.

Here is my other copy which has been good performer .



Heres a sampling of a sunset image with this.


PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:51 am    Post subject: Re: What make is this Soligor lens ? Reply with quote
Kathmandu wrote:
Anyone know who made this Soligor lens?

Can you please post also a picture of the mount (without an adapter of course)?


PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 1:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The soligor in the first illustration, is very similar to those of the miranda's time.

They never were known like a great optics, but a good ones. Who did make them? I read somewhere that tokina made some lenses for soligor/(miranda, but I don't know.

Rino.


PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Allied Impex (owners of the Soligor brand) was the worlds biggest third-party lens distributor, for almost thirty years.

They sold lenses from almost all the smaller Japanese makers at one time or another. Its not surprising to find any lens with the Soligor brand.

In the late 1960's-1970's a lot of Tokina (Tokyo Koki) Auto lenses in T4 and fixed mounts were sold as Soligors. All the first generation of Tokina Auto lenses can be found as Soligors (and also Vivitars, etc. of course). From maybe 1968-1975 it seems that most Soligor Auto lenses were Tokinas, based on what I have seen available on ebay.

But Tokina was not the only make of early Auto lenses that can be found as a Soligor. Sun, Kiron, Komine, and other makes were also sold by Allied Impex, it seems at the same time as the Tokinas. Some even more obscure brands also, like Kawanon.

This one here seems to be one of these other makes, but which one ?


PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The second (your older, # 17321467) sample looks identical to one I'm fondling now (# 17551258). Mine has a Nikon AI mount, currently force-fit onto my Pentax K20D. I just pulled it out of my overflow bag in the last hour, and it seems to produce quite good images. I have yet to test it against my other nine 28's (2 Taks, 2 Toyos, 2 Hanimars, etc). It's shootout time!


PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have exactly the same Ricoh Rikenon. It follows the design of other Rikenons (M42) too.


PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:02 pm    Post subject: Re: What make is this Soligor lens ? Reply with quote
Kathmandu wrote:
Got this at a local shop today along with other camera stuff- its M42. I tried it mounted on a sony via an adapter and produces lovely images. Anyone know who made this Soligor lens?
...

Thanks


I have this in native Nikon mount (apologies for oof):




(Photos 5D1 + Asahi Opt. Co., Super-Multi-Coated Bellows-Takumar 1:4/100)


PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Kathmandu wrote:
They look the same except for the aperture ring in mine which goes opposite. The focusing rings look identical Very Happy - is there a Soligor serial number database anywhere.

I too, wouldn't mind seeing a Soligor serial number database, but I do know that lenses with serial #'s beginning with 17 are Tokina.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 1:43 am    Post subject: Re: What make is this Soligor lens ? Reply with quote
dimitrygo wrote:
Kathmandu wrote:
Anyone know who made this Soligor lens?

Can you please post also a picture of the mount (without an adapter of course)?


picture of lens mount.


Thank you for your input everyone- I am waiting on a lens cap so I can take it outdoors to check it out.

luisalegria: Thank you for the historical perspective.
siriusdogstar: It does look exactly like yours, how do you like its performance on Nikon. The only difference I can see are the mount like you mentioned ,and the aperture ring goes in the opposite direction on mine9dunno why that is).

Pancolart: It does like the Auto Rikkenons and Auto Cosinons I agree.

RioRico: Thats a lot of 28s.

Rino- Tokina seems to be the popular consensus.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Focus ring on yours turns same way as mine, doesn't it? Mine has no A/M switch. I don't have a Nikon camera Smile, but have used it on 5D1 with adapter. Performance was acceptable iirc; I did put it away to try again later when I had more time, so I must have liked some of the resulting qualities from some very casual 'testing'.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:33 am    Post subject: Re: What make is this Soligor lens ? Reply with quote
Kathmandu wrote:

picture of lens mount.



Yes, this is what I thought. I have Soligor 100mm/f2.8 with this mount, I saw this mount on many 135mm and 200mm lenses including Soligor, Chinon (not all models) and many others. I saw this mount on 75-205mm/f3.5(f3.Cool zooms sometimes associated with Kiron. I also would like to know who is a real maker of those lenses.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
135 mm 2.8 Soligor. T4 mount Serial No. M163924
This is a decent lens, but like most Soligor owners I'm puzzled as to who made it, it's made in Japan.











This is some information I copied from another site, but I've forgotten which, where someone posted a picture of the same lens ( but 3.5 ) with this information -

"
Quote:
Soligor 135mm - Tokina - Komine

This is yet another of the lenses in that incredibly ubiquitous Tokina automatic lens series. I've been looking for one of these for six months, they aren't that easy to find. So far for my Tokina collection I'm only missing the rare 250/4.5.

At one time, from the late 1950's-through the 1960's - it was the custom for lens makers, especially the Japanese OEM manufacturers, to provide an expensive large-aperture and a cheaper smaller-aperture lens for certain focal lengths, almost always for 135's. So you would usually see in the same catalogs a 135/2.8 or 2.5 and a 135/3.5~4.5. All the preset ranges of the era were like that, and indeed many of the camera manufacturers ranges also.

This practice may have died out with the popularity of zooms and price reductions for 135/2.8 lenses, and this one may be the last of its type, the "cheap" 135.

It certainly is much harder to find this one than its 135/2.8 brother. This T4 version was sold by Soligor and Vivitar, and also sold in fixed mounts through various vendors like Mamiya and Sears at least, though it seems it was not available under as many brands as others in the series.

It is in every way a conventional T4 lens, and a typical well-made Tokina product of its time, and this one is in excellent condition. Performance is very similar to the 135/2.8 (which I have the Sears and Vivitar versions). Close focus isn't very close for any of them, at 6 feet/2m, which is probably its biggest fault. Its a perfectly adquate lens when used properly, and like the 2.8 seems to give results up to the capacity of my sensor.
[/quote]


PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy

I'm thinking this late Soligor 135/2.8 T2 preset came from Kino Prescision. The "ears" on the preset and stopdown rings are an identifying characteristic that I've seen on some Kino made Soligors and others. I am not certain of the significance of the M in the serial #but it only seems to be present on late, preset Soligors. Late model Tokina preset is another possibility.

Bill


PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Whoever made it, it's a better lens than the £3 I paid for it. Wink


PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'm gonna stick my neck on the line and say that the older Soligors (without the silver flashes) with H serial numbers are made by Komine. They are damn good performers too! Won a 105/2.8 tonight with an H serial number for just over £10.00 Shocked


PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 2:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I must say I like these soligors as well,heavy little beasts! I have a barrel shape 135/2.8 preset with the H serial number.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have this one:



It's pretty good, not so sharp wide open at the edges but very decent at f/5.6-f/8 which is where I tend to use such lenses most of the time.

I got mine very cheaply unused in it's box, the only problem is I think one of the elements is de-centered, one edge of the frame is always soft which spoils an otherwise decent lens.



PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
fatdeeman wrote:
I have this one:


I got mine very cheaply unused in it's box, the only problem is I think one of the elements is de-centered, one edge of the frame is always soft which spoils an otherwise decent lens.



Not that you'd notice.[/b]


PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Some images taken with the Soligor Auto-Wide 28mm f2.8 .





Cropped piece of the above image







PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice results except for the third one - I don't like that bokeh.


PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Minolfan wrote:
Nice results except for the third one - I don't like that bokeh.


Thanks much-I agree about the bokeh, not my taste either.
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