200mm M42 lenses, which one to choose?

[kevin_cotham]

I am trying to choose between three 200mm M42 lenses and I was wondering if you guys could help.

Also, if you know anything about the actual manufacturers of these lenses, I'd be greatly appreciative. The

first lens is a Vivitar 200mm F/3.5 Auto Telephoto #28610273. The second is a Soligor TELE-AUTO

200mm, F3.5 #17100327. The last is a lens marked AUTO-ALPA, Multi-Coated, For ALPA Swiss, 1:3.5

200mm. It's #2540049 and is made in Japan as is the other two. I've found a little bit out about the

Vivitar, but not the other two.

 

I'm looking at which is going to produce the sharpest, most contrasty images, etc. I'm also looking at

which of these will be the most reliable. I use M42 lenses with a variety of cameras, a Zenit 122, Zenit ET,

Pentax Spotmatic II, and the most recent of my acquisitions is my Voigtländer Bessaflex TM. Thanks in

advance for any info you can give me.

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

Concerning the Vivitar and the Alpa lens you will not be able to receive much reliable information. Vivitar bought their lenses from various sources. The Alpa lens probably is a re-branded far east lens marketed together with the late Alpa (of Switzerland) SLRs which actually were made by Chinon. Probably these Alpa lenses came from various sources, too.

[bueh]

None of these three strikes me as particularly high-end. Image quality will be pretty equal, I guess, and the actual condition of the lenses is probably the most important factor. It might even be possible that all three lenses were made by the same manufacturer and rebranded under different brand names.

 

If you want the best image quality, there are several high-end options for M42 200mm lenses -- like the rare and expensive 6-element Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 200mm f/2.8 and the Color-Dynarex 200mm f/4, or brand-name 5-element lenses from Olympus, Fuji, Pentax, Meyer, etc.

[john carter]

The f4.0 Takumar 200mm was a fairly common lens in 1970. You should be able to get one on Ebay or KEH. It certainly is of high quality. I still use mine.

[don_mckeith]

The Vivitar was made by Komine. Here's a list that breaks down all the Vivitar Mfgr."s----

 

http://www.cameraquest.com/VivLensManuf.htm

 

The soligor, I would bet on Cosina---(who probably made the Zeiss lens also)

[evan_dong1]

I use the Carl Zeiss Jena 200mmF2.8MC on my Pentax Spotmaic F and also on my Contax

139Q and Aria. I also use the older Pentax Pre-Set 200mmF3.5 Takumar.

 

The CZJ is a better lens due to the MC.

[wigwam jones]

The Vivitar, made by Komine (as don mckeith noted), has been tested by various members of Manual Focus Forum and found to be a winner. I possess two of them - they are quite nice, even wide-open.

 

http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?id=4233&p=1

 

Please note that in the results posted, the user mistook f/3.5 for f/2.8. He *was* testing the f/3.5 lens, as discovered later in the thread.

 

I do not have any knowledge of the Soligor or Alpa. In general, I like Soligor lenses, but their "C/D" series were the high-quality ones, the rest were usually not so much. Just an opinion, though.

[don_mckeith]

if I could edit my last post----"who probably made the Alpa lens also"--- that's not to say Cosina didn't make their share of Zeiss lenses-- but maybe not as many as Kyocera( after they aquired Tomioka)(who made the Yashica lenses)----what a mess.

[david_m]

The best one I've used is the 200F4 Pentacon lens. Try to get the multi-coated version. The 200F4 Super Takumar is also excellent. How sharp the images will be can only be determined after you get the lens and test it.

[david_m]

Another point to bear in mind is that with a 200mm lens to get sharp results, you'll need to use 1/500 sec shutter speed hand held or 1/125 on a tripod, so you'll need a fast film if you are going to use anything but maximum aperture. Also, if you are intending to use the lens on a tripod, make sure you get a lens with a tripod collar; it will be very unbalanced to use the camera's tripod socket.

[javier_gonzalez]

I have used the Soligor several times, and found it sharp at 5.6 or so, but not very contrasty. It is useable even wide open. I have no experience with other telephoto lenses, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt.

[User_502260]

This same question is posted in the Pentax forum. Look for my response there.

[leicaglow]

Not great for color, but for BW, the Sigma was great for sharpness and contrast.

[kevin_cotham]

Thanks to all of you who have responded so far. I haven't found any info on the Soligor or

the "For Alpa Swiss" lens. The "For Alpa Swiss" lens is new old stock and is in perfect shape.

The Soligor is in very good shape too. Except for when you stop it down and look at the

aperture, it appears oblong, not a perfectly symmetrical polygon. Is this a defect or a design

"feature"? The Vivitar is in rather good shape, but the rubber coating might be missing from

the focus ring (if there ever was any). Other than that, the glass looks good on all three.

[astral]

I had a Soligor 200/3.5 once, possibly the biggest heap of junk I ever owned. New, it was a quarter of the price of a Takumar. I do not believe that Soligor were 'official' suppliers to Alpa. If it had said Soligor for Contax or Nikon or Leica I certainly wouldn't believe that there was any real supplier arrangement with those camera makers.

 

I could be wrong regarding the Alpa connection, but I sincerely doubt it: Alpa used lenses from Kern and Angenieu and other OEMs, surely Soligor (not an OEM) was never really in that league? Soligor branded lenses were standard fitment to Miranda cameras, decent enough, but not in the top notch group of the day.