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Soligor 135mm F2, Minolta 21mm F4.5
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:13 pm    Post subject: Soligor 135mm F2, Minolta 21mm F4.5 Reply with quote
Hi! I found these two old lenses in a thrift shop for 40 bucks, no clue what the brand/mount is but they look interesting. The 135mm F2 is enormous so probably wont balance too well on my nex. The 21mm looks interesting but very weird with the back part of it.

If you know anything about these lenses i would love to hear if they are worth keeping or if i should sell them. Btw isn't F2 for a 135mm really fast?




PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Soligor is junk - just send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you. Laughing Seriously....the Soligor has a great reputation, it's a fast lens and hard to find.
I know nothing about the Rokkor, but it certainly looks interesting. I think your 40 bucks was well spent.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
The Soligor is junk - just send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you. Laughing Seriously....the Soligor has a great reputation, it's a fast lens and hard to find.
I know nothing about the Rokkor, but it certainly looks interesting. I think your 40 bucks was well spent.

Send me your adress and will figure it out, jk. But i found out that the soligor is Minolta MD so i think i will get a md adapter for my Nex 7 and try them out. But any more info about them is highly appreciated.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think you'll find that the 21mm is for an SLR with mirror lock up, hence the accompanying finder. At least that's the way it looks to me with that very deep rear cap. The Minolta to NEX adapter should give you enough clearance where you shouldn't need to worry about the rear element bumping into your NEX's sensor.

Both are great finds. Those old vintage fast 135s (f/1.8 and f/2) are worth quite a bit nowadays. I can recall a day when that wasn't the case.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
cooltouch wrote:
I think you'll find that the 21mm is for an SLR with mirror lock up, hence the accompanying finder. At least that's the way it looks to me with that very deep rear cap. The Minolta to NEX adapter should give you enough clearance where you shouldn't need to worry about the rear element bumping into your NEX's sensor.

Both are great finds. Those old vintage fast 135s (f/1.8 and f/2) are worth quite a bit nowadays. I can recall a day when that wasn't the case.

Thanks for the info! I checked ebay and saw that they both are worth so much, i dont think i can appreciate it enough for how much its worth so i think i will end up selling them.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Soligor is, as mentioned, quite well known as a remarkably fast lens and in demand.
If you are a fan of extremely narrow DOF, you wont be disappointed.
It does take some getting used to, this sort of narrow DOF.
It gets rather good prices on ebay.

As for balance - no, it takes a different point of view to use this on something like a NEX. You aren't mounting it on your camera, you are mounting your camera on IT. You don't hold the camera, you hold the lens. The little NEX is just an appendage. Us old guys from when lenses were often big and heavy, we are used to this. But it takes some learning.

The Minolta 21mm is typical of a type that was prevalent for a few years in the 1960's-early 1970's.
At the time it was difficult to make a satisfactory retrofocus (an optical design whereby short focus lenses could be made to have a sufficient gap between their rear element and the film to permit an SLR mirror) super-wide angle lens for SLR's because of a loss of corner quality and distortion.

So most major makers had something like your Minolta - a non-retrofocus Zeiss-Biogon type lens that had its optics poking into the mirror box., with the rear element almost touching the film. You used this thing by locking up the SLR mirror (which the Minolta SRT could do), and framing with the accessory viewfinder (which you have). Nikon, Canon, Yashica had these, among others. A rather specialized, uncommon item back then, and these days mainly something for collectors.

This thing may or may not be mountable on your NEX; it depends on the exact clearances available for the combination.
IIRC if this fits, there is very likely going to be a problem with the corner performance on the NEX, as digital sensors aren't designed to accept images coming in at a sharp angle to the corners. If your NEX is an APS-C model this may not matter as corners are cropped.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
luisalegria wrote:
The Soligor is, as mentioned, quite well known as a remarkably fast lens and in demand.
If you are a fan of extremely narrow DOF, you wont be disappointed.
It does take some getting used to, this sort of narrow DOF.
It gets rather good prices on ebay.

As for balance - no, it takes a different point of view to use this on something like a NEX. You aren't mounting it on your camera, you are mounting your camera on IT. You don't hold the camera, you hold the lens. The little NEX is just an appendage. Us old guys from when lenses were often big and heavy, we are used to this. But it takes some learning.

The Minolta 21mm is typical of a type that was prevalent for a few years in the 1960's-early 1970's.
At the time it was difficult to make a satisfactory retrofocus (an optical design whereby short focus lenses could be made to have a sufficient gap between their rear element and the film to permit an SLR mirror) super-wide angle lens for SLR's because of a loss of corner quality and distortion.

So most major makers had something like your Minolta - a non-retrofocus Zeiss-Biogon type lens that had its optics poking into the mirror box., with the rear element almost touching the film. You used this thing by locking up the SLR mirror (which the Minolta SRT could do), and framing with the accessory viewfinder (which you have). Nikon, Canon, Yashica had these, among others. A rather specialized, uncommon item back then, and these days mainly something for collectors.

This thing may or may not be mountable on your NEX; it depends on the exact clearances available for the combination.
IIRC if this fits, there is very likely going to be a problem with the corner performance on the NEX, as digital sensors aren't designed to accept images coming in at a sharp angle to the corners. If your NEX is an APS-C model this may not matter as corners are cropped.

Thanks you for very much for the information, i looked up some photos from other 135 f2's and they look beautiful. If i understood right i wont get any real benefits of using the minolta 21mm over my nikkor 20mm f2.8 other than size?


PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Modern wide angle lenses are much better than anything from the 1960's.
So don't expect this old Minolta to give you better results.
Long tele and wide angle are mainly where lenses have improved over the last 50 years.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
luisalegria wrote:
Modern wide angle lenses are much better than anything from the 1960's.
So don't expect this old Minolta to give you better results.
Long tele and wide angle are mainly where lenses have improved over the last 50 years.

Sounds good for my wallet haha, sounds like my nikkor 20mm will be kept and the minolta be sold.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
You can earn a few hundred dollars my bet is 300-400 USD if you sell both, congrats!
Minolta has real collector value, rare item , I never had before.
Soligor probably okay I never had before also, if you can't afford 500-1000 usd + for another 135mm f2.0 fast lens.
I wish to see samples in nice light condition with both, before you sell them, thank you in advance!
I have Spiratone 135mm f1.8 made by Sigma, not a Carl Zeiss or Nikon of course, but usable lens even at wide open.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 12:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
You can earn a few hundred dollars my bet is 300-400 USD if you sell both, congrats!
Minolta has real collector value, rare item , I never had before.
Soligor probably okay I never had before also, if you can't afford 500-1000 usd + for another 135mm f2.0 fast lens.
I wish to see samples in nice light condition with both, before you sell them, thank you in advance!
I have Spiratone 135mm f1.8 made by Sigma, not a Carl Zeiss or Nikon of course, but usable lens even at wide open.

got a md to nex on the way so will do so! Though it will be apsc not fullframe. Im keeping the 135 and selling the 21


PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 12:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
No problem at all to me if not full frame.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 12:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
No problem at all to me if not full frame.

Great! will do some tests when i get the adapter in wednesday


PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 12:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Can't wait to see them I am very curious about both lens.
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