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Picked up a bunch of Lenses.. Soligor 200mm, Nikkor 24mm etc
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:11 pm    Post subject: Picked up a bunch of Lenses.. Soligor 200mm, Nikkor 24mm etc Reply with quote
As some of you might know, I've recently gotten into manual lenses on my Canon Eos DSLR.
I picked up a bunch of lenses and stuff from a recently passed away photographer, I paid what should equal ~145 dollars for the gear.
It was a shot in the dark since the seller was Not knowledgeable about cameras and lenses.

What I got for $145:
(another) Pentax M SMC 40/2.8 pancake, with some kind of adapter and a leather bag, UV-filter. Excellent condition.
Nikkor 24/2.8 Ai, The manual version, Good condition, with uv-filter and a banged up metal hood.
Nikkor AF 35-70 2.8 D, (OH GOD NO, AUTOFOCUS) In Good condition and a worn hood.
Meyer Görlitz 135/2.8, a bit dusty and some oil on the blades, but they move nicely without problems. Decent enough condition.
Helios 44-2, Good condition, aperture is 'stepless'... How's this compared to my 44M?
Nikon FM2-body in working condition.

And finally, a lens pretty unknown to me. Which is what my main question is directed at...
A Soligor 200/2.8 with Nikon Ai mount... Some internal dust and VERY oily aperture blades. They will not move smoothly past F4. Is it a problem to open this massive thing up and clean it a bit? Is it worth the hassle? Is it even any good? Front element is massive! I don't own a Nikon DSLR so I can't really test-shoot it.

Somebody need to tell me to stop picking up lenses...

PS. I let my friend keep the 100mm from the last post.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Congrats! I wish to see samples with all of them , many of them worth alone for this amount what you paid.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
A 200 / 2.8 has got to be worth taking a chance on, whoever made it.
I like Soligors, out of the 8 I've got there's one I don't like, a 35mm which is up against some very stiff competition.
Show us what the Soligor can do, I for one will be very interested to see the results.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
Congrats! I wish to see samples with all of them , many of them worth alone for this amount what you paid.

Yes, it was a gamble considering the state of the lenses were unknown. Still, the helios 44-2 is a bit worn down and a good deal softer than my 44M. And the Soligor 200 /2.8 is suffering from oily blades.

On the good side, I was really surprised to find a Nice Nikkor 35-70/2.8 in the mix.

Samples will come, i promise. But I do not own a Nikon DSLR, nor do I have an adapter. I'll see what I can do about that.
Any idea on cleaning the Soligor 200/2.8, or anything about the lens image quality?



Lloydy wrote:
A 200 / 2.8 has got to be worth taking a chance on, whoever made it.
I like Soligors, out of the 8 I've got there's one I don't like, a 35mm which is up against some very stiff competition.
Show us what the Soligor can do, I for one will be very interested to see the results.


Kind of the way I feel as well, it's a lot of light let in for a 200mm. Would be nice to know how made it. It feels decently Solid. Too bad I don't have anything to mount it too yet, and blades are more or less stuck at 2.8-4. I'll see if I can make a makeshift adaption tomorrow and take a few shots. Just don't expect anything but snow and darkness... Mad

Last edited by rokk on Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:03 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Soligor 200 is pretty good, I had once.
http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/japenese/Soligor/soligor_200mm_f2_8/?


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
Soligor 200 is pretty good, I had once.
http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/japenese/Soligor/soligor_200mm_f2_8/?

Oh, thank you! Looks good enough for me, I'll see about testshots tomorrow... makeshift adapter, here I come!
I'm less excited about taking it apart however, I got a feeling I might not be able to get it back together...

PS. Any guidelines or suggestions to keep in mind when taking samples?

Last edited by rokk on Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:02 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Wow what a great catch! Even the FM2, mechanical 4000th of a sec shutter speed is great.

As an fellow MF addict, I actaully approve of some of Nikon's early AF lenses for their push pull designs. Its much easier to use than two ring designs in manual.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
Soligor 200 is pretty good, I had once.
http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/japenese/Soligor/soligor_200mm_f2_8/?


Yep, I have one, it's pretty good optically and it looks beautiful too, great lacquered finish on these ones.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Super bargain you got there. Resale value is at least 5x what you paid


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
You should be pleased with the 24mm Nikkor. Looking forward to the samples Smile


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lena wrote:
You should be pleased with the 24mm Nikkor. Looking forward to the samples Smile

Ditto...


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
rokk wrote:
Attila wrote:
Soligor 200 is pretty good, I had once.
http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/japenese/Soligor/soligor_200mm_f2_8/?

Oh, thank you! Looks good enough for me, I'll see about testshots tomorrow... makeshift adapter, here I come!
I'm less excited about taking it apart however, I got a feeling I might not be able to get it back together...

PS. Any guidelines or suggestions to keep in mind when taking samples?


Try to find nice subjects, if light is bad closer ones with structured surface like rocks, abandoned industrial machines , wooden house etc works better than long distance. Shoot most of them stopped down F5.6 F8 to get best performance and a few wide open to show wide open performance. If subject nice to B&W convert it also, try to show best what you can get from lenses , don't nail to weakness , even best lenses can be weak if we really want it to show. This forum is born to rescue manual focus gear , not opposite.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
First of all, thank you for your support and source of information.

Samples will come, but delayed due to a small problem... I live in sweden, when I get off work at 1700 hours, It's PITCH BLACK outside now. It's like nighttime. So any samples will have to wait until the weekend, plus it's close to -27 degrees celcius in the mornings... ugh.

Attila wrote:
rokk wrote:
Attila wrote:
Soligor 200 is pretty good, I had once.
http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/japenese/Soligor/soligor_200mm_f2_8/?

Oh, thank you! Looks good enough for me, I'll see about testshots tomorrow... makeshift adapter, here I come!
I'm less excited about taking it apart however, I got a feeling I might not be able to get it back together...

PS. Any guidelines or suggestions to keep in mind when taking samples?


Try to find nice subjects, if light is bad closer ones with structured surface like rocks, abandoned industrial machines , wooden house etc works better than long distance. Shoot most of them stopped down F5.6 F8 to get best performance and a few wide open to show wide open performance. If subject nice to B&W convert it also, try to show best what you can get from lenses , don't nail to weakness , even best lenses can be weak if we really want it to show. This forum is born to rescue manual focus gear , not opposite.



I'll see what i can do, tomorrow I'll go and get something to clean the blades with. Would 96% Isopropyl alcohol suffice?

Testshots are due Saturday when i can use the few sunny hours we have for shooting a few samples. The Nikon lenses will sealed against the eos body by a makeshift contraption until my adapter arrives.
And of course, most lenses have their quircks and charms. Just adapt the shooting according to the lens you use.

EDIT: Tired and can't spell or type and entire post without pressing submit instead of preview. Rolling Eyes

Last edited by rokk on Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:57 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
No hurry we have time to wait important only you should enjoy what you do , that is cold ouch!


PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
My free weekend was a snowy, cold hell. I barely went outdoors to be honest. I did however take a few shots with my M42 Cosina 50 /1.8 which I picked up earlier this week. A cheap lens to say the least, but I'm surprised by the quality it's given so far (considering 5 SEK/€0.6 on a fleamarket).
Corners are soft wide open, but improves when stopping down.

Wide open @ f1.8


Random object on my way home. @ f4.5


I also cleaned out my 135/2.5 and 200/2.8 Soligors, got rid of some dust and oil on the blades. Now they at least move properly.
I actually managed to put it back together somehow. Same lens @ f4 using flash. (Yes I know, dirty floor)


Sorry for the random natures of the samples, but I was freezing my ass of and just took the camera with me to the store. It was getting a bit dark @ 1500 hours.
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