Soligor
Encyclopedia
Soligor was originally the trade mark for the American Allied Impex Corporation, used from 1956 for lenses and later cameras imported from Japan. It imported cameras from Japan and also took control of companies in Japan. Among the first products was Miranda T camera
and Soligor lenses.
Soligor GmbH is a German
manufacturer of photographic equipment, optics
, video surveillance equipment, and personal electronics. Founded in Stuttgart
in 1968 as A.I.C. Phototechnik GmbH by Allied Impex Corporation (USA), the company changed its official name in 1993 to match the brand name used on its optical products.
Most commonly encountered products were manufactured in Japan, (to quite a reasonable standard-many by Tokina
,) under the Soligor brand, as well as Miranda
, (which was acquired by Allied Impex in the 1960's.) The company also seems to have had an association with Vivitar
, (the T4 interchangeable mount, for instance).
The company is currently located in Leinfelden-Echterdingen
, just outside Stuttgart, in Baden-Württemberg
.
's T-thread, and the later Adapt-A-Matic mounts. The idea behind these mounts was 'one lens, any mount'. A retailer, for instance, only had to keep one lens model and a few, cheap mounts, rather than many lenses in every different lens mount. It allowed automatic aperture, aperture indexing/metering facilities.
Mounts were offered in almost all popular fittings. It was superseded by the incompatible TX system, (though you could use a T4 mount on a TX lens.) Vivitar as a brand name was owned by Ponder & Best at this time (T4 for Two).
Miranda T (camera)
The original Miranda T 35mm SLR camera was launched by the newly established Japanese Orion Camera Co. in 1955. It is the first Japanese 35mm SLR camera to have an eyelevel Pentaprism finder...
and Soligor lenses.
Soligor GmbH is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
manufacturer of photographic equipment, optics
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
, video surveillance equipment, and personal electronics. Founded in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
in 1968 as A.I.C. Phototechnik GmbH by Allied Impex Corporation (USA), the company changed its official name in 1993 to match the brand name used on its optical products.
Most commonly encountered products were manufactured in Japan, (to quite a reasonable standard-many by Tokina
Tokina
is a Japanese manufacturer of photographic lenses and CCTV security equipment.-History:Tokina, become a partner of Pentax, division of Hoya Corporation and jointly developed some lenses. These will be available under the Pentax and Schneider Kreuznach D-Xenon and D-Xenogon brands in Pentax K mount...
,) under the Soligor brand, as well as Miranda
Miranda Camera Company
The Miranda Camera Company, originally named the Orion Camera Company, manufactured cameras in Japan between 1955 and 1978. Their first camera was the Miranda T. Many of their products were single-lens reflex cameras for 135 film...
, (which was acquired by Allied Impex in the 1960's.) The company also seems to have had an association with Vivitar
Vivitar
Vivitar Corporation was a manufacturer, distributor and marketer of photographic and optical equipment originally based in Oxnard, California. Since 2008 the Vivitar name serves as Sakar International's photographic and optical equipment brand.-Products:...
, (the T4 interchangeable mount, for instance).
The company is currently located in Leinfelden-Echterdingen
Leinfelden-Echterdingen
Leinfelden-Echterdingen is a town in the district of Esslingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approx. 10 km south of Stuttgart, near the Stuttgart Airport...
, just outside Stuttgart, in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
.
The T4 interchangeable mount
Most famously associated with Soligor, designed in the 1960's, (apparently by Tokina,) the T4 mount was intended to compete with TamronTamron
is a Japanese company manufacturing photographic lenses, optical components and commercial/industrial-use optics. Tamron Headquarters is located in Saitama City in the Saitama Prefecture of Japan....
's T-thread, and the later Adapt-A-Matic mounts. The idea behind these mounts was 'one lens, any mount'. A retailer, for instance, only had to keep one lens model and a few, cheap mounts, rather than many lenses in every different lens mount. It allowed automatic aperture, aperture indexing/metering facilities.
Mounts were offered in almost all popular fittings. It was superseded by the incompatible TX system, (though you could use a T4 mount on a TX lens.) Vivitar as a brand name was owned by Ponder & Best at this time (T4 for Two).
- T4 interchangeable mounts produced for:
- Canon FLCanon FDThe Canon FD lens mount is a physical standard for connecting a photographic lens to a single-lens reflex camera body. The standard was developed by Canon of Japan and was introduced in March 1971 with the Canon F-1 camera. It was the primary Canon SLR lens mounting system until 1987 when the...
(same as FD) - Minolta SR (Uses MC and MD line of lenses)
- Miranda bayonet (all except Sensorex)
- Miranda Sensorex
- NikonNikon, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
F - Silver or black - Pentax/Praktica universal screw (M42)M42 lens mountThe M42 lens mount is a screw thread mounting standard for attaching lenses to 35 mm cameras, primarily single-lens reflex models. It is more accurately known as the M42 × 1 mm standard, which means that it is a metric screw thread of 42 mm diameter and 1 mm thread pitch...
- TopconTopconTopcon is a Japanese manufacturer of optical equipment for ophthalmology and surveying. Their headquarters are in Itabashi, Tokyo. They are affiliated with Toshiba, which holds 40% of Topcon's stock.-History of Topcon:...
RE,
- Canon FL
External links
- Soligor GmbH official website.