Salyut-S
Arsenal · Kiev 88 mount · 6×6cm on 120 roll film in a detachable magazine with a metal dark slide (camera-wiki) · 1972
Known as “Hasselbladski”
Also known as: Salyut-S · Salyut S · Salyut-C · Salyut C · Salut-C · Salut C · Salut-S · Salut S · Saljut-C · Saljut S · Arsenal Salyut-S · Салют-С · Kiev 80 · Kiev-80 · Kiew 80 · Киев-80 · Zenith 80 Vega-12B · Zenit 80 Vega-12B · Zenith 80 Vega-12V
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type 1: chrome 'Salut-C' nameplate | Kiev 88 | — | — | — |
| Type 2: black 'Salut-C' nameplate | Kiev 88 | — | — | — |
| Kiev-80 (export), also sold as Zenit 80 / Zenith 80 | Kiev 88 | 1975–1980 | — | — |
- Production: 'more than 30 thousand' (Russian Wikipedia, against more than 50,000 Salyuts) and 30,000 (camera-wiki). oddcameras also says about 30,000, but attaches the figure to 'the Salyut' in a passage about the Salyut-S. None cites an Arsenal document.
- Russian Wikipedia says the automatic diaphragm drive was modelled on that of the East German Praktisix.
- Lenses. Russian Wikipedia's table of Kiev-88-mount (В) lenses runs Zodiak-8, Mir-26, Mir-3, Mir-38, Industar-29, Volna-3, Vega-12, Vega-28, Kaleinar-3, Jupiter-36, Telear-5, Tair-33 and ZM-3, and says only the Mir-3 and Tair-33 existed before 1978; most of the range therefore came during the last two years of the Salyut-S or after it, with the Kiev-88. Matt Denton writes that lenses of the earlier Salyut have a different aperture coupling and do not interchange with the Salyut-S unless that coupling is removed. Russian Wikipedia lists the Industar-29 in the same В-mount table without comment, and Sovietcams, citing Communist Cameras, says the last Salyuts sold as the Zenit 80 had a slightly modified mount that accepts the later lenses.
- Kamerastore's Kiev 80 product page gives 127 × 95 × 85mm and 654 g, without saying whether that is the bare body; no other source gives a Salyut-S weight. Russian Wikipedia's infobox figures (180 × 110 × 105mm, 1400 g with waist-level finder, 1600 g with prism) are for the Salyut line as a whole and are not used here.
- No period export price for a Kiev-80 or a Salyut-S-based Zenith 80 was found.
- camera-wiki also shows a type 2 Salyut-S, captioned 1980, with an 'aus Jena S' 180mm f/2.8 Sonnar, a Pentacon Six-mount lens; it does not say how the lens is fitted.
- camera-wiki's specification box calls the Vega-12 B 'semi-automatic'; Russian Wikipedia and Mike Eckman describe a fully automatic diaphragm that needs no cocking, which is the point of the release pin.
How to tell them apart
- САЛЮТ-С nameplate (Cyrillic С is the Latin S, hence Salyut-S; sellers write Salyut-C, Salut-C or Salut S), or KIEV 80 on export bodies
- Aperture release pin in the lens mount: added in 1972 for automatic-diaphragm lenses (Mike Eckman). The Salyut has none
- No hot shoe. The Kiev-88 of 1980 has one on the side of the body (camera-wiki; Mike Eckman; oddcameras) and is otherwise almost the same camera (Russian Wikipedia)
- Standard lens Vega-12 90mm f/2.8 with an automatic diaphragm, marked Вега-12В (Latin V for the Kiev-88 mount, which Western sellers often write as 'Vega-12B'); a Volna-3 80mm f/2.8 is the Kiev-88's standard lens
- Serial on the back of the body; the first two digits are the year (camera-wiki)
- Two 3/8-inch tripod sockets, not 1/4-inch (camera-wiki; Russian Wikipedia; Matt Denton)
Type 1: chrome 'Salut-C' nameplate:
- Chrome nameplate reading САЛЮТ-С, which sellers transliterate as Salut-C or Salyut-C (camera-wiki's type 1)
- An aperture release pin in the lens mount, which the Salyut lacks
- No hot shoe: a PC socket with a sync selector is the only flash connection
Type 2: black 'Salut-C' nameplate:
- Black nameplate reading САЛЮТ-С (camera-wiki's type 2)
- No hot shoe; a side hot shoe means a Kiev-88
Kiev-80 (export), also sold as Zenit 80 / Zenith 80:
- 'KIEV 80' in Latin capitals on a black nameplate on the front of the body, above the lens, on an otherwise Salyut-S body (the Commons photograph below; camera-wiki calls it the export Salyut-S with a new nameplate)
- The Commons example carries a Vega-12 90mm f/2.8, engraved ВЕГА-12В in capitals that read like Latin 'BEGA-12B'
- Zenith 80 or Zenit 80 nameplates were also used on export Salyuts (Mike Eckman; Sovietcams), so the nameplate alone does not identify the camera. Look for the aperture release pin in the mount. The lens is no guide: camera-wiki says the Salyut-S-based Zenit 80 came with the Salyut's Industar-29
- Type 1: chrome 'Salut-C' nameplate: camera-wiki, citing Alexander Komarov's Fotoua and the Suglob, Shaternik and Kochergin book, splits the Salyut-S into two types by the colour of the nameplate and gives no date ranges or serials for either; its photographed type 2 is captioned 1980. It describes no mechanical difference between the two, so treat them as finishes of one camera.
- Type 2: black 'Salut-C' nameplate: camera-wiki photographs a type 2 outfit with a Volna-3 80mm f/2.8 and a Mir-26B 45mm f/3.5, waist-level and metering prism finders and a pistol grip, and a second type 2, captioned 1980, with the Vega-12 90mm. Russian Wikipedia dates most of the Kiev-88-mount lenses, the Volna-3 and Mir-26 among them, from 1978 or later.
- Kiev-80 (export), also sold as Zenit 80 / Zenith 80: Russian Wikipedia names the Kiev-80 as the export version of the Salyut-S, and camera-wiki and oddcameras date it 1975 to 1980 and say it was also sold as the Zenit or Zenith 80. Matt Denton instead calls the Kiev 80 a short transition model around 1980 and writes that "the Kiev 80+88 added a hotshoe", which camera-wiki and Russian Wikipedia give to the Kiev-88 alone. camera-wiki, citing McKeown, adds that the Zenit 80 export came with an Industar-29 80mm f/2.8, the Salyut's lens, so a Zenit 80 with an Industar is no proof of a Salyut.
Serial-range notes
- The first two digits
- camera-wiki states that the serial is stamped on the back of the body and that its first two digits are the year of manufacture.
Specifications
- Format
- 6×6cm on 120 roll film in a detachable magazine with a metal dark slide (camera-wiki) · 12 exposures
- Finder
- Interchangeable waist-level finder with folding hood and magnifier; pentaprism finders, some with a CdS TTL meter, sold separately
- Shutter
- horizontal-travel focal plane (camera-wiki) with curtains of corrugated stainless-steel foil (Russian Wikipedia) · 1/2–1/1000 + B (Russian Wikipedia; Matt Denton; Kamerastore) · flash sync X at 1/30 and slower through a PC socket with an X/M lead-time setting (Russian Wikipedia; Matt Denton; camera-wiki labels the settings X and FP); no hot shoe
- Film advance
- Knob on the body cocks the shutter, lowers the mirror and winds the film, and also sets the speeds; a lever on the magazine winds to the first frame (camera-wiki; Russian Wikipedia)
- Back
- Interchangeable 120 magazines with metal dark slides. The dark slide must be out for the shutter to fire and in for the magazine to come off (Matt Denton). Russian Wikipedia says Kiev-88 accessories, including its 6×4.5 magazines, fit the Salyut-S, and that Hasselblad magazines do not fit without modification.
- Meter
- none in the body; metering only with a TTL prism finder (Matt Denton)
- Country
- Ukraine
- Original price
- 435 roubles, Soviet list price in 1979 (Russian Wikipedia). camera-wiki gives about 400 roubles, the Salyut's figure, without a date or source
- Accessories
- Waist-level finder (standard); pentaprism and TTL metering prism finders · 120 magazines; Kiev-88 6×4.5 magazines (Russian Wikipedia) · Pistol grip (camera-wiki's type 2 outfit)
Fresnel ground-glass screen (camera-wiki). The mirror is not instant-return: it stays up after the exposure until the shutter is wound (camera-wiki; Matt Denton). Russian Wikipedia says the Kiev-88's TTL metering prisms fit, and that the finder mount matches Hasselblad's, so finders interchange. Nick Orloff found the waist-level finder dim, "a bit like looking down a mineshaft".
Where sources disagree
- Speeds
- 1/2–1/1000 + B — Russian Wikipedia, Matt Denton, Kamerastore
- 1/30–1/1000 + B — camera-wiki's specification box
Better supported: 1/2–1/1000 + B
camera-wiki's figure looks like the 1/30 sync speed carried into the speed range.
- Original price
- 435 roubles in 1979 — Russian Wikipedia
- about 400 roubles — camera-wiki, the same figure Mike Eckman and Sovietcams give for the earlier Salyut
Better supported: 435 roubles in 1979
- Years
- 1975–1980, the export name of the Salyut-S — camera-wiki, oddcameras
- a short transition model around 1980, with a hot shoe like the Kiev-88 — Matt Denton
Better supported: 1975–1980
What reviewers say
- Nick Orloff, Emulsive (blog) — A Salyut-S of about 1973, serviced by Arax, enjoyed for casual shooting but not trusted for important work: the lenses are too soft wide open and want f/5.6, both magazines leak light, the waist-level finder is dim and mirror shake spoils speeds below about 1/15. He recommends a rebuilt body from Arax over an unknown one from eBay.
- Matt Denton, Matt's Classic Cameras (blog) — A heavy camera that "first earns your respect and then slowly lets you fall in love"; a good working sample is a fine camera and the single-coated Vega-12 90mm, sharp and close-focusing, is "a treat". Never change speed uncocked and trip the shutter before removing the lens; his own example needed its peeling covering replaced.
History
The Salyut-S (Салют-С) is the Salyut with an automatic diaphragm. Arsenal in Kyiv made it from 1972 to 1980, more than 30,000 of them according to Russian Wikipedia, as a 6×6 single-lens reflex with a metal focal-plane shutter, interchangeable finders and interchangeable 120 magazines. Like the Salyut, it follows the pattern of the Hasselblad 1600F and 1000F and uses their three-start thread-and-bayonet lens mount. The final letter is a Cyrillic С, a Latin S, which is why the same camera is listed as Salyut-S, Salyut-C, Salut-C and Salut S. Russian Wikipedia gives its list price in 1979 as 435 roubles.
The change from the Salyut is in the lens mount. The Salyut’s Industar-29 had to be cocked by hand before each exposure. In 1972 the Salyut-S added an aperture release pin to the mount, so its lenses stay open for focusing and stop down when the shutter fires, and the standard lens became the Vega-12 90mm f/2.8. camera-wiki adds that the pin also lets extension tubes and a teleconverter work automatically. Matt Denton writes that lenses of the earlier Salyut are not interchangeable with the Salyut-S unless their coupling is removed; Sovietcams says the last Salyuts, exported as the Zenit 80, already had a modified mount that takes the later lenses. The shutter runs 1/2 to 1/1000 and B on curtains of corrugated stainless-steel foil. Flash goes through a PC socket only, at 1/30 and slower, and there is no meter in the body. The Kiev-88 that replaced it in 1980 is almost the same camera, with a hot shoe and an aperture drive that lets a lens come off whether or not the shutter is wound.
camera-wiki divides the domestic camera into two types by the colour of the САЛЮТ-С nameplate, chrome or black, and gives no date ranges for either, though its photographed type 2 is captioned 1980. The export camera is the Kiev-80, which camera-wiki and oddcameras date from 1975, with KIEV 80 in Latin letters on a black plate. They say it was also sold as the Zenit or Zenith 80. That name had already been used on export Salyuts (Mike Eckman; Sovietcams), and camera-wiki says the Salyut-S-based Zenit 80 came with the Salyut’s Industar-29, so check the mount for the release pin before taking a Zenith 80 for either camera. Matt Denton’s account differs: he calls the Kiev 80 a short transition around 1980 and gives it a hot shoe, which the other sources reserve for the Kiev-88.
Lenses for this mount are marked with a Cyrillic В, a Latin V: Вега-12В, Мир-26В. Western sellers often write that letter as a B. A lens marked with a true Cyrillic Б is for the Pentacon Six-mount Kiev-6S and Kiev-60 and does not fit, so a “Vega-12B” or “Mir-26B” in a listing can be either; check the engraving and the mount itself, a three-start thread here against a breech-lock ring on the Pentacon Six lenses. Russian Wikipedia says only the Mir-3 65mm and Tair-33 300mm were available before 1978. Most of the range, including the Volna-3, Mir-26, Mir-38, Vega-28, Kaleinar-3, Jupiter-36 and the Zodiak-8 fisheye, came at the end of the Salyut-S’s run or with the Kiev-88, so a Salyut-S sold with them may have been made up into an outfit later.
When buying, remember that these bodies are easy to damage. Wind the shutter before changing the speed, as Matt Denton and camera-wiki both warn. Trip the shutter before taking the lens off, or the aperture pin can bend. The dark slide has to be out for the shutter to fire and in for the magazine to come off. The mirror stays up after an exposure until the camera is wound, which is normal. Nick Orloff found that both of his magazines leaked light, so check the magazine seals and test a roll. The two tripod sockets are 3/8 inch. The first two digits of the serial on the back of the body give the year.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Photographs
More sample photos elsewhere
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Live listings
Listings updated 2026-11-09. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.