Question about an interesting lens

[Zack Birlew]

Hey guys, as you know, I'm always on the lookout for fast lenses and interesting choices. Well, I've been playing around on eBay and I came across one lens that is called a Soligor 135mm f/1.5 lens for Nikon. It's pretty expensive but it is fast, so I was wondering if anybody has any experience with it or knows anything about it. I realize that it could be bloom city at f/1.5, or at most pretty soft, but at least it's an option for the telephoto side of things.

 

[Evin Grant]

Is this it?

I don't know much about this lens in particular but Soligor was a 3rd party lens manufacturer in the 70s and 80s. Not very well regarded but far from the worst. This looks like a specialty lens designed as a "look what we can do" item like the other fast specialty lenses of the day.

 

[Zack Birlew]

Hmmm, still it would be nice to see what footage/stills looks like at least. I've tried looking on Flickr but haven't found anything yet.

I did stumble across an archived photography messageboard post that compared this to a newer f/2.3 model but there wasn't much discussion about the picture quality between the two other than the consensus that the f/2.3 model was sharper (which I hate because it's a no-brainer that a lower aperture lens would be sharper than a similar higher aperture one). But you never know, one man's trash may be another man's treasure.