If you’re trying to figure out who actually manufactured your vintage Soligor lens, matching Soligor serial numbers to specific manufacturers isn’t always straightforward.

However, thanks to extensive research by lens enthusiasts, a reliable decoding system has been uncovered for several confirmed manufacturers.

To keep things accurate, this guide only lists manufacturer codes that have been firmly confirmed, skipping the guesswork.

For standard numerical serial numbers, Soligor utilized a simple three-digit date and manufacturer code system. You can read it by looking at the first three digits of your lens’s serial number:

• First number: Indicates the Maker/Manufacturer.

• Second number: Indicates the Decade.

• Third number: Indicates the Year.

Check the first number or letter prefix of your serial number against this table to identify the manufacturer.

Soligor lenses were widely rebranded and sold under many different names depending on the distributor or region. If you have a lens with one of the following brand names, it may actually be a Soligor:

• Reflex
• Super Carenar
• Prinzflex
• Weltblick
• Mirage
• Infotar
• Hanimar
• Flexar
• Elicar
• Derek Gardenar
• Porst
• Bushnell (Bausch & Lomb)
• J.C. Penny
• Pallas
• Berroflex
• Aetna