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About

Lens model: Soligor 135mm F/2.8 Tele-Auto

At a glance: Despite the fact that this lens currently sells for very little on sites like ebay, it's a real gem with excellent tonal contrast, great bokeh, and superb sharpness.

Our score: 7/10

Where to buy: ebay, Amazon


You can anticipate very good sharpness, striking tonal contrast, and very pleasing bokeh.  For a 135mm lens, the f/2.8 aperture offers a razor thin depth of field and with 8 rounded aperture bladeshe bokeh is pleasing enough even for most bokeh snobs. The build quality is top notch and the manual adjustment rings are smooth as silk and highly precise. That long ring throw comes at the slight cost of slower manual focusing, which might be a turn off to some who are trying to use this for action photography.

Soligor 135mm F/2.8 Tele-Auto Vintage Lens at a glance

  • Excellent sharpness, colors and contrast
  • Top notch all metal body construction
  • Virtually no barrel distortion
  • Relatively fast and bright f/2.8 maximum aperture allows for shallow depth of field and for good results in low-light photography
  • Quite sharp at center wide open at f/2.8
  • Excellent image compression for a superb bokeh effect
  • Ideal for weddings, portraits, and other close up work

Technical Specifications

Focal Length (35mm format): 135mm
Maximum Aperture: f/2.8
Minimum Aperture: f/22
Mount format: M42 Universal Screw Mount
Format: 35mm Film
Angle of View (35mm format): 18.2°
Focusing Distance: 1.4m to Inifinity
Elements/Groups: 5 elements in 5 groups
Number of Blades: 8 (rounded)
Focus type: Manual Focus (MF)
Filter size: 55mm
Manufacturer: Soligar
Country of Manufacture: Japan
Weight: 418g

Our Take on the Soligor 135mm F/2.8 Tele-Auto

Image quality: Excellent
Bokeh: Very good
Build quality: Superb
Micro contrast: Very good
Ergonomics: Good
Center sharpness (wide open): Superb
Edge sharpness (wide open):Good
Pros Cons
+ Smooth, creamy bokeh - Moderately heavy
+ Very sharp optics - Manual focus may present a challenge to first time users
+ Solid build quality
+ Low distortion
+ Excellent tonal contrast

Equipment

The images  of this lens were captured using a Samsung Galaxy Note 9

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