[junkbench]

I'm a budget lens addict and I couldn't find if there was a Soligor Lens Club, so I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong place.

For me, the very first lens I ever repaired was a Soligor 28-80mm C/D Macro 3.5 in F Mount which I got for 5.00 and had haze and fungus, I disassembled it using a tool I made myself and to be surprise it worked - and still works - to this day and I must say, was a very easy lens to disassemble compared to MANY others!. Anyhow since then I've collected a 28-55 C/D Macro and 28-200 C/D Macro and a Soligor Mirror 400mm in Pentax K and I absolutely love these lenses - in fact, the IQ and overall versatility makes them some of my favorite zooms. I never see anyone post about them so I thought I would. The 2.8's are obviously better than the 3.5's but the entire C/D lineup I found to be superb and very comparable to the Vivitar Series 1's (another great cheap MF lens lineup). As I collect more and more lenses and play with them I like to share what I discover for those who are starting out as it was people here who posted the same who helped me to find the good deals that inspired me to keep at this crazy hobby.


I was wondering if anyone else collected them or had experience with them?

[pepperberry farm]

I have two Soligor lenses: C/D 35mm f2 P and C/D 55mm f2.8 P

both manufactured by Tokina (hence the 'P' designator) and both are superior lenses for me....

Soligor C/D 35mm f2 P (M42) | Flickr

Soligor C/D 55mm f2.8 P | Flickr

[junkbench]

Superb results, thank you for sharing! I pair my 28-80 with a CF adapter and in my experience it's one of the easiest run-and-gun style macro rigs I've used yet - although I don't have experience with very many high-end macro lenses.

[kypfer]

My Soligor "collection" comprises T2-mount preset 28mm and 35mm f/2.8, and a T-4-mount 105mm f/2.8, all with the silver "ears" on the aperture ring.
The beautifully compact 105mm has been modified slightly to take a TX adaptor so's I can have it in PK mount
Optically, they're all very satisfactory and just that slightly different stylishly

[mlag]

Only one Soligor : I did buy one last month to use it on Pentax-k mount monocular convertor: the pentax- k mount based Soligor 70-300mm f3.8-5.6 MC C/D.
see PENTAX Monocular Converter K reviews - Pentax Camera Accessory Review Database

Because it is a single ring focus&zoom, going up to 300mm (210mm is more common in other brands) and was budget friendly...
It works very well as monocular, the point and zoom is very convenient in this setup, image looks good.

On camera K3-II it can produce nice images, but not as sharp as more modern lenses - not good for severe cropping.
The 1:3 macro in 2nd image is also quite ok, but if feels like dof is lacking a bit when compared to other lenses. Bokeh is quite pleasing.

Exif : note that the manual set focal length is 250 mm (as an approximation for the zoom lens), the camera did not get focal length info. images were taken in 200-300mm range.

[EssJayEff]

I also have two: the Soligor Tele-Auto 200mm f/3.5, and the Soligor C/D 78-210mm f/3.5. I've not used them in awhile, but I've never been disappointed in them when I have.

[bobore]

Back in the film days, I had a 500mm Soligor mirror lens. Quite sharp & fun to play with.

[kypfer]

Back in the film days, I had a 500mm Soligor mirror lens. Quite sharp & fun to play with.

Was that the one, probably T2 mount, with the rotating ND filters to act as a variable aperture?
I had one of those in the '70's. Image quality was OK, as I remember, but it got traded against a Tamron Adaptall-2 simply 'cos the Tamron was so much lighter and took up less space in the bag!

[GUB]

I have acquired the occasional Soligor. Some are excellent optics some less so.
What is consistent though is the quality of build in all of them. As a marketer of lenses rather than a manufacturer I think quality of build was a key component on the models they chose to market.
The 105 f2.8 , 200 f2.8, the larger 400mm batwing and the 800mm are particularly capable lenses. (of course the 800mm long 800mm lens is not practical to use!)
The 200 is often my go to lens when I want maximum background separation.
I find, like many non pentax lenses, Soligor wide angle performance is lacking - I suspect the quality of Pentax coatings pay off more in wide angle.
As you can see I have few zooms - and those few get no use on my K-1

[bobore]

Was that the one, probably T2 mount, with the rotating ND filters to act as a variable aperture?
I had one of those in the '70's. Image quality was OK, as I remember, but it got traded against a Tamron Adaptall-2 simply 'cos the Tamron was so much lighter and took up less space in the bag!

It had a T mount, but came with three small Soligor-labeled rear mount screw-in filters including 1A & two NDs. One of the filters had to be utilized to complete the optical path. The filters did not rotate. It was a Soligor CD model, and rather lightweight as I recall. It was also threaded in front to accept common Hoya-type filters. Perhaps a later model?

[kypfer]

It had a T mount, but came with three small Soligor-labeled rear mount screw-in filters including 1A & two NDs. One of the filters had to be utilized to complete the optical path. The filters did not rotate. It was a Soligor CD model, and rather lightweight as I recall. It was also threaded in front to accept common Hoya-type filters. Perhaps a later model?

I think the CD lenses were later (Computer Designed?) … the one I had looked like this https://allphotolenses.com/lenses/item/c_2690.html with the wheel protruding to rotate the internal filters.

[bobore]

I think the CD lenses were later (Computer Designed?) … the one I had looked like this https://allphotolenses.com/lenses/item/c_2690.html with the wheel protruding to rotate the internal filters.

Indeed, that is quite different from the one I had, which was compact, lightweight, and a good performer for it’s era. Doing birds, the out of focus donuts were typically fun, but I much prefer the ability to find your subject at say 55mm, and then zoom to 300!

[EssJayEff]

Here's a catalog of Soligor lenses for various mounts, including Pentax.