More than any other, this lens mount offers something for every need and budget, from the very economical Arsenal lenses to the absolute top-class Schneider products. A detailed technical description of all these lenses would easily fill a book. So, I'll just provide the most important information needed for selecting, buying, and using them.

Below, you'll find short descriptions of the lenses that I own or have been able to use. All others are listed in a table, at the bottom of this page.

Does anyone have more info on the Kilfitt lenses?

Arsenal

These lenses can be everything from excellent to downright awful. This is due to the oldest problem of a planned economy: They had to make the number of lenses fixed by the government in far away Moscow and nobody cared about quality as long as these numbers were met or, better still, exceeded. This led to strong variations in product quality.

Like with the camera itself, buying from a renowned dealer is a good insurance against ending up with one of the dogs. Fortunately, those variations in quality go in both directions and, just like the little girl in the Kodak ad, if they're good, they're very very good, especially considering their prices.

Slide photographers should have a closer look for glass colouring. Some of the lenses, particularly the longer ones, can be a little yellowish. This is of no concern to the b/w photographer and not strong enough to be a problem with colour negative film.

The main difference between Arsenal lenses and the other four manufacturers is in the mechanical finish. They are a little crude but rarely so that this affects their performance. You just don't get the silky smooth focussing of a Jena or Schneider lens. Lose focussing or iris rings can usually be fixed by tightening the small recessed screws holding them. But be careful. These tiny screws are quite delicate and right after real tight comes real lose.....

The Zodiak 3.5/30 mm is an excellent buy for anyone interested in a full-format fisheye lens. Full-format means it fills the whole frame and there are no round edges on the negative. Its optical performance is outstanding. I borrowed a friend's Zodiak for a few weeks, last summer, and the pictures are razor sharp. Due to the enormous front lens and the wide opening angle, conventional filters can't be used. Instead, the lens is supplied with a set of filters to be screwed on, at the rear. Do note that the correction of this lens requires that one of these filters, usually the UV filter, is mounted at all times.

The main 'feature' of the Mir 3.5/45 mm is a really nasty barrel distortion. It's OK for landscapes but almost unusable for architecture. Sharpness and contrast are OK, yet nothing to shout about. Like all wide angle lenses it shouldn't be used without a lens hood, especially since it isn't available in a multi-coated version. A good choice for the landscape photographer on a budget. A fitting 82 mm rubber lens hood is made by Heliopan.

The Volna 2.8/80 mm standard lens that comes with the Kiev 60 is a very solid performer. All but the very early examples are multi-coated and it's said to be sharper than the Zeiss Jena 80 mm Biometar though I haven't been able to confirm this with my own lenses. The same lens also exists as an Arsat 2.8/80 mm.

The Vega 2.8/120 mm is a nice portrait lens which is astonishingly compact for this focal length and opening. In fact, it is no bigger than the Volna 80 mm standard lens and a lot smaller than the 120 mm Biometar.

The Arsenal x2 tele converter is a very handy accessory. Mine delivers a quite honest optical performance and it's great to be able to get as 'long' as 240 mm without having to haul the hefty Sonnar or Orestegor lenses around.

VEB Carl Zeiss Jena

After the end of WW2 and the separation of Germany into two different countries, Carl Zeiss was also split into a new Western operation making lenses at Oberkochen, and the original factory at Jena in what was then East Germany or the GDR.

For many years, Zeiss Jena lenses were just as good as the Western produce until eventually Western technological advances opened up possibilities which were either unavailable or unaffordable for the Eastern branch. Still, Zeiss Jena were always one of the GDR government's favourite pets and showcase operations. Unlike Arsenal, they were never subjected to the full pressures of planned economy and this also shows in the finish quality of their products.

Zeiss Jena lenses exist in three distinct styles or rather generations. The very old lenses with all silvery barrels are almost 50 years old, by now. Some of them are rather yellowish and no to be recommended. The second generation has black barrels with large chrome squares on the focussing and iris rings. These lenses are all single-coated and can be used if careful attention is paid to avoid flare. The 65 mm Flektogon from this era was unfortunately withdrawn from production before the introduction of the third generation and hence doesn't exist in a multi-coated version. The last or 3rd generation has all black barrels and rings and the marking "MC" on the front ring. These lenses are multi-coated and should be your first choice. Lately, a forth-generation 80 mm Biometar has shown up. This lens has the grey rubber coating of the Exakta lenses made by Schneider.

Following the settlement of trademark disputes between the Eastern and Western Zeiss branches, exported Zeiss Jena lenses were marked as Pentacon lenses or with the laconic notion aus Jena (from Jena). In this context, their names were also abbreviated as Bm, T, and S for the Biometar, Tessar, and Sonnar lenses.

The third-generation Flektogon MC 4/50 mm is the only multi-coated wide angle lens made by Zeiss Jena for the P6 bayonet. The optical and mechanical quality is excellent and it shows none of the distortion of the Ukrainian 45 mm Mir. Getting filters and a lens hood for the Flektogon can be difficult because of the large 86 mm filter thread. And do sit down before asking for the price of an 86 mm polarizer. Some sources claim that the original metal lens hood causes vignetting. I haven't been able to confirm this with one I've bought recently. Could it be that there has been yet another one for the old 65 mm Flektogon and people are using this on the 50 mm lens?

The Biometar MC 2.8/80 mm is the Zeiss equivalent of the 80 mm Volna. The optical quality looks much the same as my Volna lens, but as usual the finish and mechanical quality is a lot better than that of the Ukranian produce.

The Exakta 66 style Biometar MC 2.8/80 mm with its rubber coating is optically identical to the original Jena versions but the build and finish are substantially better. The focussing drive is more direct requiring only about 180 degrees of rotation at the focussing ring. On the downside, this version is about twice as large than the original design in all dimensions.

I've used a friend's second-generation Biometar 2.8/120 mm for a few portrait sessions and the quality is basically the same as that of my own Vega. Since this focal length is often used wide open to throw the background out of focus in portraiture, it should be noted that the Biometar wins over the Vega in the bokeh department.

The third-generation Biometar MC 2.8/120 mm that I've bought, in the meantime, is practically identical.

The Sonnar MC 2.8/180 mm is one of my all-time favourites. The optical quality is outstanding and I use it not only on the Kiev 60 but also on my Pentax and Fujica 35 mm SLRs. Adaptors are available for most current makes and models of 35 mm cameras. In this configuration, it is great for applications like rock concerts where it allows format-filling shots of the performers at considerable distances form the stage, even in low light. Note that f2.8 lenses of this focal length are impossible to make for medium format cameras with leaf shutters such as the Hasselblad 500 series.

VEB Meyer Görlitz

In 1968, VEB Feinoptisches Werk Görlitz was one of the many companies to be amalgamated into VEB Pentacon of Dresden. They made lenses for the Praktica cameras and also for the Pentacon Six. The latter were sold under the company's old name of Meyer Görlitz and eventually named Prakticar or Pentacon, during the last few years. Their quality is mostly on par with the Zeiss Jena products.

While the 80 mm Primotar with a P6 mount is extremely rare and so obsolete that it's a mere collectors' item, the 4/300 mm and the 5.6/500 mm telephoto lenses are still widely popular.

They are delivered with an adaptor for the camera system with which they are to be used. Such adapters are available for the P6, Exakta (35 mm), Praktica B-mount, and M42. Third-party manufacturers supply additional adaptors for fitting them to other medium-format cameras equipped with focal-plane shutters, most notably the Pentax 67 and the Mamiya 645.

Both lenses are great examples of the "they don't make them like this anymore" variety. Built like the proverbial battleship they feature solid, rotatable tripod mounting collars, much better than the flimsy tripod mount of the Sonnars, and a perfectly round aperture made of some 20 blades.

Compared to its 500 mm sibling, the Pentacon 4/300 mm is almost compact in size. I've recently bought a late version and had a most pleasant surprise. Contrast and sharpness rival that of my 180 mm Zeiss Jena Sonnar. I was even able to hand-hold it with decent results. Some sources claim there has never been a MC version of this lens and I have in fact never seen one. Reports to the contrary would be largely appreciated.

The MC 5.6/500 mm lens is a real monster. This is certainly not the lens you'll want to use for a discrete snapshot. I had some trouble mounting it on my Manfrotto tripod but since I've removed the rubber from the top of the tripod's mounting plate things are reasonably stable as long as the wind isn't too strong and I'm now glad to say that my initial reserves about this lens' sharpness were due to shake and have been proven altogether wrong.

Do watch out for signs of oil on the aperture blades. I didn't and the large surface means they can stick together hard enough that any attempt to force them open will rip out the tiny rivets holding them.

Exakta 66 lenses by Schneider, Kreuznach

Schneider is one of the Big Four of Germany's optical industry, the other three being Zeiss, Leitz, and Rodenstock. When Beroflex of Nürnberg introduced a 'glorified' Pentacon Six to be sold as the Exakta 66 (nothing to do with the pre-WW2 Ihagee camera of the same name) in the 1980's, the offering included a selection of lenses and a tele converter made by Schneider. Later, the ubiquitous Zeiss Jena 80 mm Biometar was also sold with the Exakta-style rubber-coated barrel with Zeiss Jena marked on the front ring. The Schneider range even included two zooms and a PC shift lens which, although well inside the usual Schneider price range, were so ridiculously expensive in relation to the camera that they can't have sold many of these.

The 2.8/80 mm Xenotar is as good as we've come to expect from a Schneider lens. Notable improvements over the various 80 mm Biometar designs are the more direct focussing drive, the minimum focussing distance of 60 cm, and the more uniform sharpness when used wide open, though one must look long and hard to see the difference to a 'good' Biometar.

The Exakta MC 2.8/80 mm is a bit of a riddle. This lens first appeared in larger quantities after the Exakta production had ceased and all remaining stock had been taken over by Foto Walser of Burgheim, Germany. It has the typical grey rubber-coated design of the Schneider lenses for the Exakta 66. Walser claim it has been designed and made by Schneider. Its weight and dimensions differ significantly from the Exakta-style Biometar as well as the Xenotar, so it looks like an altogether different design. Mystère et boule de gomme, as they say in France.

Hartblei

Lately, a number of PC shift lenses have surfaced which are said to be manufactured by Hartblei in the Czech Republic. They look much as if they had been made using Arsenal components. Further information is available from the websites of Wiese and Kalimex.

The future is digital

And should you ever decide to go digital, there's a high-quality digital scanner camera waiting to accept our trusted glassware. Meet the PRAKTICA Scan 3000E with P6 lens mount.

1) also made with Exakta 66 barrel and rubber coating

2) no focussing mechanism, only for use on bellows

3) prototype lens, never went into series production

4) Exakta 66 barrel and rubber coating. This is not the normal Biometar design.