Soligor is well-known for their photographic lenses, despite never actually making any lenses. Just like Vivitar, Soligor bought lenses from a variety of optical companies, and sold them with the Soligor name on them. That does not in any way mean that Soligor sold lousy lenses. It just means that they were a marketing company and focused on selling lenses, while at the same time there were optical companies that concentrateted on the making lenses, and not selling them. Over the years, Soligor also sold several cameras, although this is not as well known. No, they did not make any of the cameras -- other companies did. And a couple of these Soligor-named cameras used the Minolta, manual-focus, Rokkor lens mount. So you can put Minolta lenses on these cameras, or Soligor lenses -- as long as they have a Minolta lens mount.
From an Internet search, you might think that Soligor sold several SLR cameras with the Minolta / Rokkor lens mount. But there were actually only two, or three, Soligor cameras, and all were of the Seagull DF-300-type. They were undoubtedly made by Seagull and sold with a Soligor nameplate.
OK, so the "SR" looks like "SA". Don't blame me. It's really "SR"!
Looks suspiciously like a Seagull DF-300 (model A), and typically seen with a Soligor lens, of course. Soligor makes a variety of lenses to fit this camera -- and any Minolta camera. It takes a motor drive -- which is what the "MD" means -- and can be any of the various Seagull/Phoenix/Minolta G types. But Soligor produced a special auto-winder -- model M-1TR -- which was also sold by Centon and Spiratone..
It is slightly larger that the typical auto-winder, but it offers many additional features.
First, it can be set for the standard Minolta XG use with selections of OFF, CONTINUOUS, or TIMER. Second, it can be set for the standard Minolta XG-M/X-570/X-700 use with selections of OFF, SINGLE, CONTINUOUS, or TIMER. Next, it has a timer that can be set for exposures at 5s, 30s, 1m, or 5m intervals. Lastly, it has a remote release cord. It can be used on any camera that accepts Minolta-type autowinders, but the features will depend on the camera, of course.
Just like the Seagull DF-300, the Soligor SR-300 MD appeared in two different versions. The features of the cameras were the name, as were their names. As a result, they are listed here as different "models" of the same camera. The original Soligor SR-300 MD was covered in leatherette, while this second model has a rubberized covering with a larger, grooved hand grip. This suggests that the model A was made about the same time as the Seagull DF-300 (model A), while this version was made at a later point. This is the Soligor/Seagull/Minolta SLR camera that you are most likely to encounter.
OK, so the "SR" looks like "SA". Don't blame me. It's really "SR"!
The SR-300X MD looks like the SR-300 MD, but there are a few differences. First, is that the SR-300X MD is MUCH more difficult to find than the SR-300 MD. This is likely the result of fewer of them being manufactured. One common approach to poor sales of a product, is to come out with a less expensive version of the product -- one that looks the same, or better -- but is less expensive to produce. A good example of this this the Konica Minolta Dimage A2 digital camera. It was a marvel at the time, but very expensive. Sales were so lackluster that they produced a Dimage A200 camera. It looked the same and cost less, but dropped too many nice features. Sales were so bad, the Konica Minolta decided to get out of the Photographic market completely. It's possible that this is what the SR-300X MD was designed to do. It changed a few of the features on the SR-300 MD, and this might have reduced it price. How much? Apparently not enough. The SR-300X MD has all the main features of the SR-300X, such as a TTL meter with automatic and manual exposure control, and a motor drive capability. It lost the sensa-switch of the Seagull DF-300 (model A), and the film-advance window, but it gained multi-exposure capability. They also changed the front hand-grip from a grooved material to a solid material. These same sorts of changed occurred with other Seagull DF cameras -- and for similarly unknown reasons. Here are the shutter-release-plates of the SR-300 MD (top) vs the SR-300X MD (bottom):
Seagull also sold an SR-200PK, but it has a Pentax mount -- and has nothing to do with these two SR-300 Minolta models.
| Shutter | Shutter speeds |
Flash synch speed |
TTL meter- ing? |
ISO settings |
Auto expo- sure? |
AE lock? |
View- finder info |
Flash shoe |
Sensa- switch? |
PC plug? |
Multi- expo- sure? |
Cable release plug? |
Stop down button? |
Self timer? |
Mirror lock-up? |
Motor drive option? |
Battery used for |
Film indicator |
|
| Soligor SR-300 MD (model A) |
cloth, horizontal |
4-1,000 B |
1/60 | Y | 12- 3200 |
Y | Y | Shutter speed scale |
Dedicated | N | N | N | Y | N | Y | N | Y | meter | Film window |
| Soligor SR-300 MD (model B) |
cloth, horizontal |
4-1,000 B |
1/60 | Y | 12- 3200 |
Y | Y | Shutter speed scale |
Dedicated | N | N | N | Y | N | Y | N | Y | meter | Film window |
| Soligor SR-300X MD | cloth, horizontal |
4-1,000 B |
1/60 | Y | 12- 3200 |
Y | Y | Shutter speed scale |
Dedicated | N | N | N | Y | N | Y | N | Y | meter | Film window |