[Voytech]

Alright Steve. I don't like you! You were right. This is a Leica one. I did some testing last night and it's definitely sharp, especially for its age, but I don't think I'll be holding on to it. I will offer it to my brother as a christmas gift. He can use it on the Zorki. If he doesn't want it then I'll gladly give it to you Steve.

[stevebrot]

Alright Steve. I don't like you! You were right. This is a Leica one. I did some testing last night and it's definitely sharp, especially for its age, but I don't think I'll be holding on to it. I will offer it to my brother as a christmas gift. He can use it on the Zorki. If he doesn't want it then I'll gladly give it to you Steve.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...


Steve

[Voytech]

No worries. Live and learn. I was secretly thinking I was getting a good deal for a M42 variant. LBA at its worst heh. That's aaaaalright. I have a 24mm Makinon coming on the first to cheer me up.

[wombat2go]

Hi Voytech,
How is that 24 mm Makinon? I have 2 "$5" Makinons and they both work fine.I took lots of shots with the 200/4.5 last summer .
I have a "Magnon" 35~70,dropped and broke many years ago.
I found that this brand name may be localized to New Zealand and is same as "Ozunon" and "Toyo/Five star"
So I got a cheap Ozunon that had a destroyed coating on rear element.
Pulled them both apart and made a good one which seems to work rather well;
It is a one touch zoom with zoom by push pull and focus by rotation.
I also sliced up the wide rubber grip and used it to repair 2 other lenses that had deteriorated grips.

These off brand lenses are metal/wellbuilt/repairable. The Magnon seems to have lot less elements that the equivalent Pentax.
I took close ups at f5.6 to compare it with a PKA 50 mm and the difference *** jpg at 200 % zoom on Picassa was mostly just focus error.

This shot I tried to take with SMC 24/2.8, but was unable to get all that white lettering sharp enough across the frame.
So I stood on a chair with a SMC 55/2. at f8 ( Its me, not the lenses !)

[Voytech]

Always great to be resourceful with your glass

My Makinon went to the *bay because it was a konica mount... The seller didn't specify that exactly and I was mislead by poor quality photos. Oh well. Live and learn. Again. haha.

I'm going to keep my LBA on a tight leash for the next few months while I save up for the DA(L)35.


How is everyone else doing? Any new additions to your off brand lens lineup?

[theunartist]

I snatched this lens for $10 off Craigslist... yes $10USD and it's a constant 3.5... This is handheld on Macro setting. Minimal PP, colors very slightly warm but pretty nice. The lens itself, m42 mount, probably weighs at least twice as much as camera. Price and IQ, I would rate a 9 but heavy and cumbersome... I'll take an daylight pic and post pics of lens... Thanks for looking.

[kacansas03]

I snatched this lens for $10 off Craigslist... yes $10USD and it's a constant 3.5... This is handheld on Macro setting. Minimal PP, colors very slightly warm but pretty nice. The lens itself, m42 mount, probably weighs at least twice as much as camera. Price and IQ, I would rate a 9 but heavy and cumbersome... I'll take an daylight pic and post pics of lens... Thanks for looking.

I owned one of those Soligor lenses for my old Canon FD equipment. That is a great Macro photo, wait till you try it outside! Yeah heavy but I really liked using it at drag races and track racing. The 45 was enough when they were close to me and the 150 just right when they were father away. Gave me a chance to catch score boards and time readouts as well as the cars. I also used it a lot at my daughters soccer games. I started have parents ask for copies of some of the photos she showed around and a few of them used higher end cameras and lenses than mine. Many were shocked that I could get such good images from a Soligor. Enjoy!! I look at my Sigma 24 to 135 f2.8 as taking the place of this 45 to 150 lens but no macro. Both lenses can be used with a 1.4X tele with little loss if you need a bit more reach.
Alan.

---

Last edited by kacansas03; 12-10-2010 at 10:07 PM. Reason: addition

[theunartist]

I owned one of those Soligor lenses for my old Canon FD equipment. That is a great Macro photo, wait till you try it outside! Yeah heavy but I really liked using it at drag races and track racing. The 45 was enough when they were close to me and the 150 just right when they were father away. Gave me a chance to catch score boards and time readouts as well as the cars. I also used it a lot at my daughters soccer games. I started have parents ask for copies of some of the photos she showed around and a few of them used higher end cameras and lenses than mine. Many were shocked that I could get such good images from a Soligor. Enjoy!! I look at my Sigma 24 to 135 f2.8 as taking the place of this 45 to 150 lens but no macro. Both lenses can be used with a 1.4X tele with little loss if you need a bit more reach.
Alan.

Yes very heavy, almost has a life of it's own. This came in it's original box "Soligor C/D Auto Lens 45-150 f3.5 Macro & Zoom Multicoated" made in Japan with serial number 17606842. The interesting thing is the serial number is on the lens and hand written on Box, great retail package.

Now what I've found out, make sure you don't accidentally have the lens in Auto while trying to stop down, so easy to do this.

The photo below is the best I could get in the short time I had. Focusing is difficult, some PF but really happy with the results. For price and IQ, it can't be beat. Can't wait to give it a go during brighter days, a little gray on the East Coast...

]

[kacansas03]

Yes very heavy, almost has a life of it's own. This came in it's original box "Soligor C/D Auto Lens 45-150 f3.5 Macro & Zoom Multicoated" made in Japan with serial number 17606842. The interesting thing is the serial number is on the lens and hand written on Box, great retail package.

Now what I've found out, make sure you don't accidentally have the lens in Auto while trying to stop down, so easy to do this.

The photo below is the best I could get in the short time I had. Focusing is difficult, some PF but really happy with the results. For price and IQ, it can't be beat. Can't wait to give it a go during brighter days, a little gray on the East Coast...

]

I rarely used the Macro feature but found it was a nice, but heavy, walk around lens. I think I had a tripod mount on mine so I used my monopod on it a lot. I also have that lenses big brother a 75 to 260 f4(labeled f4.5 but it's faster) constant aperture zoom. With the old film gear it was built with all the mechanical linkages. This unit is a M42 that now has it's own K-mount adapter on it. I could also hand hold this lens due to just right placement of the 2 rings for zoom and focus. I can hold it right in the middle of the balance of camera and lens although it's a heavy one also but not much heavier than the 45 to 150. Not sure why the short zooms are so heavy for my AF Sigma 24-135 f2.8 is a heavy beast too. I caught some of my best bald eagle pics with the 260 and a 1.4X teleconverter on the film body. I have a 1.5X tele for the K mount that will control an AF lens but haven't used it very much as yet. Keep working with it for you will like the lens. It is too bad it doesn't have modern coatings to increase it's performance.
Alan.

[Smurfinaus]

Anyone know anything about Magnon 35-200mm MC Auto Zoom 3.8-5.2 or Tasman 135mm 3.5?. Seen one of two of these around and have could find little or no information at all.Kinda fustrating when looking for el cheapo lenses to try (identifying the mount is hard enough lol).

N

[wombat2go]

Hi, SmurfinAus,
You can see alternative brand names for Magnon in my post about 5 above.
The "Toyo/Five Star" or "Tou/Five Start" is more common that "Ozunon".

[zekewhipper]

Hello folks,

Considering as how I have not yet seen how members are supposed to start topic threads, I've resorted to asking my question here.

Who else has a K-mount Chinon lens that will not mount up to Pentax cameras?

I have a lens on my Chinon CP-7m that I would have loved to try on my K20D. However, there is a tab of metal next to the aperture lever that projects high enough above the lens mount that it will prevent said lens from being attached to any Pentax body.

[kacansas03]

Hello folks,

Considering as how I have not yet seen how members are supposed to start topic threads, I've resorted to asking my question here.

Who else has a K-mount Chinon lens that will not mount up to Pentax cameras?

I have a lens on my Chinon CP-7m that I would have loved to try on my K20D. However, there is a tab of metal next to the aperture lever that projects high enough above the lens mount that it will prevent said lens from being attached to any Pentax body.

That lens is a Ricoh K mount lens or KR mount. At least I think that is correct. It means that the tab of metal you mention has to be removed or at least trimmed by half it's height off the mount area of the lens. You don't state what focal length the lens is but this was seen a lot on shorter focal length lenses. Something about protecting the aperture lever from something in the Ricoh cameras back in their day. Read about the K-mount on Wikipedia to get an idea of how other manufacturers made lenses using the K "Standard". A lot of that grew out of the early SLR camera market being dominated by the Pentax M42 screw mount. So they still followed the lead of Pentax for awhile into the 70's but soon there were a lot of major brand specific mounts that were all different. I hope this helps.
Alan.

[zekewhipper]

Kacansas: Thanks for the info..

I've read what you suggested, but I still don't see a connection between Ricoh and Chinon. As for the lens itself, it is a 35-80mm f3.5-4.9 that is clearly marked "P/K". It's too bad it can't be mounted up. I guess I'll just have to avoid buying any Ricoh, Chinon, or Sears K-mount lenses for my K20D.

[wombat2go]

I would like to inquire about the Rikenon XR 50mm 1.4
(the 1.7 is listed on our reviews)
One reason is I have 2 Ricoh KR bodies (late 1970's) in very good condition but no corresponding Ricoh lenses of that era.
I am about to regress to using them to shoot and process some b&W again!
Other reason is I have only one other 50mm under f2 (a P A 1.4)
and I just realized this is a useful dslr lens for night/winter use indoors.
Is the Rikenon XR 50mm f 1.4 of build quality like the SMC Pentax K lens or, of lighter duty and weight, like later Rikenon P series?
I have some Rikenon P series Zoom from late 1980's (pins removed). I read that the Rikenon P50mm 1.4 got high reviews in the day.
Can anybody who has an XR series let me know how the coatings have lasted over time?

thanks