Hi! I need help identifying the mount to my lens.

Hi! I had bought a Soliger lens that I had thought would fit my Mamiya/Sekor cameras (I have two, they're both universal thread mount). It is a 42mm thread mount, but I had read somewhere that there's a few types of thread mounts?? I have been getting confused trying to look it up... Thank you for your help!!

 

**Soligor. My phone changed it on me.

A thread mount Soligor could be for a Miranda, which had an M44 mount. There are also SLR lenses in M39 (Zenit) and M40 (Praktiflex), although the last 2 are relatively rare.

 

Edited to add - Asahiflex (predecessor of Pentax cameras) had an M37 mount. The M42 mount was introduced by East German Zeiss, with the Contax S camera in 1949.

Edited January 27, 2021 by John Farrell

I see that this is a pre-set lens--the lens diaphragm will not automatically stop down when you release the shutter. Many pre-set lenses were made with a T mount which meant that adapters for various cameras were made and screwed on to the lens. Thus, with different adapters you could use the same lens on both a Nikon and a Canon or other camera. One lens that I used to own had a T mount and the thread for that was also 42 mm but the pitch was different so it couldn't mount directly on the M 42 mount Yashica SLR that I owned at the time. From the looks of the lens in your picture I would guess that you have a T mount lens and a mount is attached but it may be one of the more unusual mounts mentioned in John Farrell's post.

It isn't quite clear from your post, BrightEyedSpirit: have you tried to screw this onto one of your Mamiya bodies? If it fits, no problem: use it and enjoy. If not, what is the problem? The lens mount is a bit too wide to fit the camera, or too narrow so it goes right into the camera without threading? If the former, John Farrell is correct that its a T mount to fit the Miranda M44 thread, the latter would be a smaller thread. If too wide, its very likely M44 as the Soligor brand was closely allied with Miranda.

 

The specific appearance of the silver T-mount ring on your lens matches many vintage M42 T-mount adapters on Soligor lenses, so an M44 adapter would likely look exactly the same except for the different thread. If it doesn't fit your M42 camera, you could just buy a replacement generic T adapter with the correct M42 thread (about $15). Sell the original adapter on eBay as "vintage unknown T mount adapter, likely Miranda M44" (its rare enough that you might recoup the cost of the new adapter). Or you could sell the entire lens as-is and find another one.

 

Its possible (but unlikely) the ridged silver ring may not be a T adapter at all but the bare T mount of the actual lens: as AJG noted, this is confusingly also a 42 thread but a different incompatible pitch. You can verify by trying to unscrew the silver ridged ring from the lens: if it comes off, its very likely an M44 T adapter, if it won't come off it might be the bare rear end of a T lens (or a Soligor lens made specifically for Miranda with a permanent M44 adapter).

 

I had read somewhere that there's a few types of thread mounts??

 

Not the thread really, but in later years some camera brands came up with various add-on mechanics for meter coupling that can conflict with compatibility. In most cases M42 is M42: any lens will work on any camera (aside from the added meter coupler, which does nothing unless attached to a suitable matching camera). In a few special cases lenses have been modified to such an extent they aren't fully M42 compatible: Fuji-branded and Olympus FTL-branded lenses may not fully thread into other brand camera bodies, and Pentax meter-coupled SMC Takumar lenses can jam on some Mamiya bodies.

 

All T-mount M42 lenses with preset aperture are mount-compatible with any M42 camera brand.

Edited January 27, 2021 by orsetto

Oh, ok, thank you, everyone. I would never had known that the silver mount piece was an adapter! I had taken it off and was able to mount it into my cameras and it seems ok.

 

Orsetto - I had tried mounting it into the cameras before I had taken the silver mount off, but it was too wide (which is what threw me off). I wanted to try and figure out what exactly the mount was being it didn't originally fit so I could try and find an adapter or have the information to sell it.

 

Thank you all again!!!!!

Are you saying you have screwed the lens on to an M42 camera without the T Mount adaptor? The lens without the mount does have a 42mm thread, but with a different pitch than the standard M42. So it might screw on a little way, then jam. Also without the T Mount, focus will be hopelessly out.

As others have said, you'll need a T-mount adapter to M42 thread. The silver one you have looks like a 44mm? Miranda fitting (Thought it was 43mm, but no matter).

 

A new T-mount is actually going to cost you more than that old preset lens is worth. Hope you didn't pay more than a few bucks for it.

 

I had a similar lens years ago, and

IMO, even if it was free you were overcharged!

Thank you both!

Last I looked, a variety of T-mount adapters were available from China.

(Or made in China and sold locally.)

 

Well, the T-mount lens I have is a Vivitar 500mm mirror lens, so no aperture

to (not) stop down. I got a T-mount (or T2) to Nikon F adapter for about $10.

 

I think it is usual for T-mount adapters to have two parts, such that you

can rotate one before tightening the set screw, so that the right part

of the lens is up. I don't see that in the picture, but maybe it is inside.

 

I just notice that the serial number starts with T. That seems a hint

that it is T-mount.

I think it is usual for T-mount adapters to have two parts, such that you

can rotate one before tightening the set screw, so that the right part

of the lens is up.

 

This is the feature of the T2 mount. The original T mount was just a plain ring with no rotation possible, so the position of the lens scales etc was something of a lottery. T stands for the Taisei company who introduced the T mount. Taisei was later to become Tamron. The T mount 42mm thread has a pitch of 0.74mm, whereas the standard M42 screw thread pitch is 1mm. So a mountless T mount lens will start to screw on to an M42 camera, but will quickly jam.

Edited January 28, 2021 by John Seaman

So a mountless T mount lens will start to screw on to an M42 camera, but will quickly jam.

Or maybe not. I have an orphaned T-mount ring that screws onto an M42 lens perfectly easily. I don't know if this is due to wear or sloppy manufacturing. I suspect the latter.

 

"T stands for the Taisei company who introduced the T mount. Taisei was later to become Tamron."

 

I did not know that.

That must have been some time ago, because in the distant past of the 1960s, I bought a previously used Tamron 'Twin-Telephoto'. A below-average f/2.8 135mm preset-aperture lens with a 'matched' converter that turned it into a 225mm f/4 -ish lens of stunningly poor quality.

 

The lens and converter both had the 42x0.75mm T-mount thread, and the camera adapter had to be swapped from one to the other. Oh, the crap we put up with in those days!:confused:

I had taken it off and was able to mount it into my cameras and it seems ok.

 

As Seaman says, the T-mount thread is close-enough to the M42 mount that it seems to fit, but don't do it. it is just enough different that it can damage the threads on both the camera and the lens, potentially.

Thank you everyone!!