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.

Jeff Adler, I appreciate your feed back. In fact, I appreciate all of you guys' feed back. But

Jeff, you are quite wrong about the view finders of all my cameras not being bright. It's

certainly true of the Spotmatic II and the Argus, but not so true of the Zenits. And the

Bessaflex TM has probably the brightest viewfinder of any camera I've seen. It's brighter

then the FM3A I own!

I haven't found any info on the lens marked "For Alpa Swiss" or for the Soligor. The Vivitar

seems like it may have the rubber coating missing from the focus collar, but otherwise

okay. The "For Alpa Swiss" lens is new old stock, in perfect condition. The Soligor looks

to be in good shape too, except for one thing. When you stop it down, and look at the

aperture, it's oblong, not a perfectly symmetrical polygon like the others. Defect? Odd

design?

I'm post this here because the M42 is so often called a Pentax thread mount and these lenses are often

used with Pentax Spotmatics.

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.

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.

I would like to know if it is deemed safe to use a Vivitar 285 HV with a Nikon FM3a? The

Vivitar measures 8.9V across the contacts. I've heard that Nikon Speedlights are around

5-6V. I do not want to damage the FM3a with the Vivitar flash.

I eventually will acqure a small Speedlight to carry out and about. Could any one recommend

one? What about the SB-30?