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My Soligor Prime Collection Grows
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:37 am    Post subject: My Soligor Prime Collection Grows Reply with quote
This is just one of those gear appreciation posts.

I recently acquired the Soligor 100mm f/2 (in Nikon AI mount), something I have been seeking for some time now. Seems these optics commonly suffer from haze of one or more of the inner elements. I managed to mostly clean mine up. I've been toying around with it but have been pretty busy with work so I haven't really gotten to put it through it's paces.

That said, my little collection of Soligor's (mostly Tokina-made) primes is coming along nicely. I think the 100/2 may be the only one here not made by Tokina. I really love what this collection has to offer though I will say, I am still struggling with the Soligor 100/2.8 Macro. Specifically, the build. Other users have noted this and I even began another thread about the optical formula and the build quality was raised. Even after tightening the screws on the barrel, it loosens with little use and is back to clanging around again. Such a pity given what it can do optically. I'm going to resort to some threadlock and see if that helps.

I think the next one I have my eye on is the 20mm f/2.8.













PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 Like 1 Congrats Whoo Turtle WOW!!! Nice looking bunch too.


PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice. 100/2 has the haze issue. Good to hear you managed to clean most of it. I had a thread on it before. In the end I didn't keep mine because an inner element has too many scratches due to cleaning.


PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice collection! Love those f2 lenses...

I have a Soligor wide-auto 24mm 2.8 on my desk right now. Different from your lenses, this one has all metal barrel and a T4 mount, so I also assume made by Tokina?

It's waiting to be tested for a video review some time soon.


PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 Like 1 Whoo Turtle


PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
Nice. 100/2 has the haze issue. Good to hear you managed to clean most of it. I had a thread on it before. In the end I didn't keep mine because an inner element has too many scratches due to cleaning.


It was midway through the auction that the seller discovered haze and made an update to the listing. I highly doubt she was pulling a fast one since her account almost exclusively sells post cards. When I messaged her about sending more photos of the haze, she sent me 3 eBay messages full. I began searching for info and I do believe it was your thread and saga I read about.

Bummer about the scratches. Was that from previous owners attempting the clean? I didn't use anything but a zeiss wipe and lintless lens wipe. It kind of looks like there's a doublet which suffers the haze most severely on one of the surfaces but I couldn't quit tell if it was on the outer surface or occurring between the elements. I was wondering if it's possible the issue is occurring in the cement? Because unlike separation, it's mostly even across the whole element and I can't seem to detect that it is on the outer surfaces of the doublet, though looks can be deceiving on these.


PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
justtorchit wrote:
vivaldibow wrote:
Nice. 100/2 has the haze issue. Good to hear you managed to clean most of it. I had a thread on it before. In the end I didn't keep mine because an inner element has too many scratches due to cleaning.


It was midway through the auction that the seller discovered haze and made an update to the listing. I highly doubt she was pulling a fast one since her account almost exclusively sells post cards. When I messaged her about sending more photos of the haze, she sent me 3 eBay messages full. I began searching for info and I do believe it was your thread and saga I read about.

Bummer about the scratches. Was that from previous owners attempting the clean? I didn't use anything but a zeiss wipe and lintless lens wipe. It kind of looks like there's a doublet which suffers the haze most severely on one of the surfaces but I couldn't quit tell if it was on the outer surface or occurring between the elements. I was wondering if it's possible the issue is occurring in the cement? Because unlike separation, it's mostly even across the whole element and I can't seem to detect that it is on the outer surfaces of the doublet, though looks can be deceiving on these.


The scratches on the copy I returned were from previous cleaning. That was an older version than your MC version. I guess it could be haze between elements from your description as well. It was an Amazon seller advertising it as new. Maybe next time I'll try to get an MC version to see how it goes.

By the way, I've never seen a Soligor 20mm f/2.8. Could that be the same as the Spiratone 20mm f/2.8? I have a Spiratone copy and I think it is pretty good. Very compact compared to Vivitar 20mm f/3.8 or 19mm f/3.8.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have many Soligor - Miranda lenses, beside that I acquired a Soligor 50mm f:1.8 in M42.

Barrel style is the same as the Soligor Miranda. Lens has a rather consistent blue cast, it renders very cold colors.

Bokeh is busy and un-artistic.

My Soligor Miranda fifties (I have both the 1.9 and the later 1.8 versions) show instead an interesting character.

The 35mm 2.8 in Miranda mount is also giving some atmosphere (it is the first, short version).

The Soligor Miranda 100mm and 20mm are both very good, the 20mm suffers from a primitive coating but it is good in terms of distortion, corners are not so bad as well.

In short, I was disappointed only by the 50mm in M42 (that's the only one I tested on digital FF, the others were tested on film)


PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 12:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:

By the way, I've never seen a Soligor 20mm f/2.8. Could that be the same as the Spiratone 20mm f/2.8? I have a Spiratone copy and I think it is pretty good. Very compact compared to Vivitar 20mm f/3.8 or 19mm f/3.8.


I do believe so. I think Spiratone, Soligor, and Cambron all come up in results for this same 20mm f/2.8 and they certainly bear resemblance to one another cosmetically. I don't however know how they perform. How's your Spiratone? I do have the Vivitar 20mm f/3.8 and I love that lens! It's got it's share of challenges but it doesn't really get any closer in terms of it's minimum focusing distance. It's a blast to use.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
justtorchit wrote:
vivaldibow wrote:

By the way, I've never seen a Soligor 20mm f/2.8. Could that be the same as the Spiratone 20mm f/2.8? I have a Spiratone copy and I think it is pretty good. Very compact compared to Vivitar 20mm f/3.8 or 19mm f/3.8.


I do believe so. I think Spiratone, Soligor, and Cambron all come up in results for this same 20mm f/2.8 and they certainly bear resemblance to one another cosmetically. I don't however know how they perform. How's your Spiratone? I do have the Vivitar 20mm f/3.8 and I love that lens! It's got it's share of challenges but it doesn't really get any closer in terms of it's minimum focusing distance. It's a blast to use.


I didn't test the Spiratone 20mm f/2.8 enough to have a fair judgement. I remember I had a thread showing some snapshots. The Vivitar 20mm f/3.8 is a lens I like too. I remember after I put the lens on the camera and when in focus, the peaking pattern is pretty strong, which to me indicates it is a good lens. The only downside is its size though. And, probably I should also check the Spiratone at f/4 to compare with the Vivitar at f/3.8.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
justtorchit wrote:
vivaldibow wrote:

By the way, I've never seen a Soligor 20mm f/2.8. Could that be the same as the Spiratone 20mm f/2.8? I have a Spiratone copy and I think it is pretty good. Very compact compared to Vivitar 20mm f/3.8 or 19mm f/3.8.


I do believe so. I think Spiratone, Soligor, and Cambron all come up in results for this same 20mm f/2.8 and they certainly bear resemblance to one another cosmetically. I don't however know how they perform. How's your Spiratone? I do have the Vivitar 20mm f/3.8 and I love that lens! It's got it's share of challenges but it doesn't really get any closer in terms of it's minimum focusing distance. It's a blast to use.


I have a copy badged as Spiratone. In the past I saw somewhere a manufacturers advertisement showing it to be a Mitake/Mitakon lens, and I think I even saw a copy on ebay once badged as Mitakon. When tested my particular copy was fairly (very) forgetable in the corners at F8.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I had intended to share a small little sample from the 100mm lens, running through the apertures. These images of our little flowering dogwood were all made on the Nikon Z 7.


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/2.0


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/2.8


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/4


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/5.6


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/8


Then some crops of the center for a little closer look.

Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/2.0


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/2.8


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/4


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/5.6


Soligor C/D 100mm f/2 @ f/8


This is a lovely compact little lens. I really love using it for the most part. I will say that in the short time I have owned it, I find myself wishing the minimum focusing distance wasn't quite so long (marked at about 5 feet or so). And while f/2 is a nice to have, I do find that the significance in improved image quality at f/2.8 means I'm often stopping down, in which case, it could be asked, why own an f/2? But I've still not spent a ton of time with this lens so there's a lot more to do.


PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2021 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
justtorchit wrote:
I had intended to share a small little sample from the 100mm lens, running through the apertures.

Thanks a lot for sharing these images. They really give us a good impression about the changes in image quality and character when stopping down.

justtorchit wrote:

This is a lovely compact little lens. ... I do find that the significance in improved image quality at f/2.8 means I'm often stopping down, in which case, it could be asked, why own an f/2? But I've still not spent a ton of time with this lens so there's a lot more to do.


This is quite nromal for most vintage f2 lenses in the 100 ... 135mm range: Canon nFD 2/100mm and 2/135mm, Nikkor Ai/Ais 1.8/105mm and 2/135mm, Minolta MD 2/135mm. Yet these lenses are less prone to purple fringing than the average 1.4/85mm from the 1980-1990 time frame. Their lower contrast at f2 seems useful to me, since most portraits look nicer with a slightly lower contrast. For portraits, the Minolta AF 2/100mm (which is as contrasty wide open as at f2.8 or f4) often is a bit harsh. It is very well suited for landscape and reportafe, though.

S


PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2021 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 great color! Nice crisp photos. 👌


PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Very jealous. I had the 35/2 one for a brief period of time but I had to return it because it was terribly decentered.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It looks good one stop down.
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