Playing With Lenses: Cheap birding with a long reach: Soligor 450mm f8

Friday 16 April 2021

Cheap birding with a long reach: Soligor 450mm f8

Cost: $24 (market price around $50)

When I found this lens in a thrift store, I was convinced it would be very low quality, made by a cheap Chinese company, but would make for an interesting test for almost no money. But after I came home, I actually found that this was a re-badged Tamron lens.

So we did some testing with now slightly higher expectations, and we were not disappointed. If you dial back a stop or 2, let's say to 11, you find a pretty sharp tele lens. And with todays technology, like the in camera body stabilization, and good software from TOPAZ to remove ISO noise, you can get some really good results. And all this while shooting handheld. Repeat that, handheld for a 450 mm lens. that's because it's a very light lens. I did not mind carrying it on a walk, and with the light weight, it was actually comfortable and stable to shoot with.

But there are also downsides... the minimum focus distance of 7 meters is very limiting. When taking pictures of small birds, you are either to close to focus, or it only fills part of the frame. This is likely better on an APSC camera then on a full frame. But rest assure, you will do some cropping.

Operation was very smooth, with accurate and precise focus, and the preset was easy to get used to. A real pleasure to take with you and take pictures you would otherwise not be able to take, unless you have a few spare thousand dollar. A keeper for sure. Not bad for $24!

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 450mm
Maximum Aperture: F8
Minimum Aperture: 45
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: FD
Optics: 4 elements, 2 groups
Blades: 12
Focusing: Manual
Minimum Focus: <7m
Filter Size: 67mm
Weight: 613g
Length: 341-364mm
Production: 1963
Serial Number: T401724
Made in: Japan

More information on Soligor

Samples: