MC Arsat APO 500mm f/5.6

Arsenal · Pentacon Six · 1995

Also known as: Arsat APO 500 · Arsat APO 500mm · Arsat APO 500mm f/5.6 · Arsat APO 5.6/500 · APO Arsat 500 · APO Arsat 500mm · APO-Arsat 500 · MC Arsat APO 500 · MC Arsat APO 5.6/500 · Arsat 500mm 5.6 APO · Arsat 500mm f/5.6 · Arsat 500mm 5.6 · Arsat 5.6/500 · Arsenal APO 500mm · Kiev APO 500mm · Kiev Arsat 500mm · Арсат АПО 500 · МС АРСАТ АПО 5,6/500

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
MC Arsat APO 5.6/500, Pentacon Six / Kiev 60 breech-lock	Pentacon Six	1995–1995	—	About 75 according to some reports, fewer according to others (TRA); a single production run in 1995

Specifications. TRA's table (pentaconsix.com) gives f/5.6, a 7.5° angle of view, 5.0 m closest focus, an M95 × 1 filter thread, 105 × 290 mm and 1650 g, and in his review the same 290 mm length, 105 mm diameter and 1650 g against the Pentacon 500's 370 mm, 125.5 mm and 3500 g. Araxfoto's specification table gives f/5.6–45, 9°, 5.0 m, 8 elements in 6 groups, 47/28 lines/mm centre/edge, a 95 mm filter and 1.64 kg. The angles of view disagree; TRA notes himself that his table gives this lens and the ZM-3 600 mm the same 7.5°, which cannot both be right. The structured weight is TRA's.
Mount. Araxfoto says most Kiev medium-format lenses were made in both the Kiev-88 thread and the Pentacon Six bayonet, but TRA names the 500 mm APO, with the ZM-3 mirror lens and the Mir-69B, as possible exceptions. No Kiev-88 mount example, photograph or maker document is known, so no Kiev-88 variant is listed. A lens offered as 'Kiev 88' mount should be checked at the rear: a coarse thread instead of the three breech-lock lugs would make it a different object from any documented here.
Production. The single 1995 run and the figure of about 75 come from TRA, who reports both as hearsay ('according to some reports … according to other reports, the number was much lower'). No factory figure is published.
Glass. S57UUU quotes the lens passport as saying the lens contains optical glass with dispersion close to that of optical crystals, which he reads as low-dispersion glass. No glass types or designer are published.
Not this lens: the MC Arax-500, listed by Araxfoto as a 500 mm f/5.6 mirror lens with a fixed aperture and 2.2 m close focus, which TRA assumes is the LZOS Rubinar 5.6/500; and the LZOS Rubinar 500 mm mirror lenses converted to the Pentacon Six mount. Both are mirror lenses with no diaphragm.

How to tell them apart (expand)

A refractor, not a mirror lens: it has an aperture scale (f/5.6 to f/45) and an automatic diaphragm, where the Arax-500, the Rubinars and the ZM-3 have a fixed aperture
About half the length and half the weight of the Meyer / Pentacon 500 mm f/5.6 (290 mm and 1650 g against 370 mm and 3500 g), which is a preset lens with no automatic diaphragm
A 95 mm front filter thread

MC Arsat APO 5.6/500, Pentacon Six / Kiev 60 breech-lock:

The Pentacon Six breech-lock at the rear, with an aperture pin for the automatic diaphragm and a stop-down lever on the barrel; TRA used it on the Pentacon Six and S57UUU on the Kiev 60
A barrel that does not lengthen as it focuses and a front that does not turn: the lens focuses internally, down to 5 m
Built-in retracting hood, a rotating lockable tripod collar with a large rectangular foot and a round locking knob, and a wrist strap fixed to the foot, as in TRA's photographs
Wide studded rubber focusing ring; in TRA's photographs the front rim of the hood carries a thin green line
Supplied in a black nylon case of the kind Arsat used for its lenses from the early 1990s (TRA)

MC Arsat APO 5.6/500, Pentacon Six / Kiev 60 breech-lock: Both examples documented in detail are in the Pentacon Six mount: TRA's, bought from a Kiev seller on eBay and used on the Pentacon Six, and S57UUU's, bought second-hand from a US seller who had it from Roskam in the Netherlands and used on a Kiev 60 and, with an adapter, a Nikon D70. S57UUU reports that the lens fits both the Pentacon Six and the Kiev 60 and judges from its serial number that few were made. TRA found that on firing the diaphragm never closed beyond f/32, although the lever forces it to f/45.

Specifications

Formula: Apochromatic telephoto with internal focusing; 8 elements in 6 groups (Araxfoto; the lens passport as S57UUU reads it), the diaphragm behind the last element
Construction: 8 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range: f/5.6–f/45
Min. focus: 5 m
Dimensions: 105 × 290 mm
Weight: 1650 g
Filter: 95 mm, M95 × 1 front thread
Years manufactured: 1995–1995
Country: Ukraine (Arsenal, Kiev)
Coating: Multi-coated (MC)

What reviewers say

TRA (pentaconsix.com) (blog) — Side by side with the Pentacon 500 and three mirror lenses: slight corner vignetting wide open that almost goes by f/11, very high resolution and faint colour fringing; he calls it the end of his search for a 500 mm he could carry, but notes it was never affordable.
S57UUU (blog) — Compact for a 5.6/500, handles well and is far sharper and less coloured than his Pentacon 500 in a centre test on a Nikon D70; some chromatic aberration in out-of-focus highlights near the corners and unexplained corner vignetting on a Kiev 60.

History

The MC Arsat APO 500mm f/5.6 is the long telephoto that Arsenal in Kiev made for the Pentacon Six breech-lock late in the life of the Kiev 60 system, and it is one of the rarest lenses in it. TRA, whose pentaconsix.com covers the mount in depth, reports a single production run in 1995 and repeats, without vouching for it, that about 75 were made, or fewer by other accounts. No factory figure is published. The Araxfoto specification table lists it as 8 elements in 6 groups, and the lens passport, as one owner reads it, says the design uses low-dispersion glass; S57UUU took the near absence of colour in his centre test as a sign that it really is apochromatic.

The lens matters because it answered a long-standing problem with 500 mm on the Pentacon Six. Until then the choice was the East German Meyer Orestegor / Pentacon 500mm f/5.6, a preset lens 370 mm long weighing 3.5 kg, or a mirror lens with no diaphragm. The Arsat is 290 mm long and weighs 1650 g. It focuses internally, so the barrel does not lengthen and the front does not turn, and it has an automatic diaphragm worked through its aperture pin, plus a stop-down lever for depth-of-field checks and stop-down metering. It also has a built-in retracting hood and a rotating, lockable tripod collar. TRA tested it against the Pentacon 500, the Arsenal ZM-3 600 mm and two LZOS Rubinars. He found very slight corner vignetting at f/5.6 that had almost gone by f/11, and resolution and colour correction level with the Pentacon. He concluded it was the 500 mm he had been looking for, one he could carry onto a plane. A second owner, S57UUU, found it much sharper and less coloured than his Pentacon 500 in the centre of the frame, but saw chromatic aberration in out-of-focus highlights near the corners.

Only one version is documented, in the Pentacon Six mount shared by the Praktisix, Pentacon Six, Kiev 6S, Kiev 60 and Kiev 88CM; its owners report using it on the Pentacon Six and the Kiev 60. Most Arsenal medium-format lenses were also made in the Kiev-88 thread, but TRA names this one as a possible exception, and no Kiev-88 example has been recorded. A listing that claims one deserves a look at the rear of the lens. The Arsat should not be confused with the MC Arax-500, which Araxfoto lists as a 500mm f/5.6 too but is a fixed-aperture mirror lens, or with the Rubinar mirror lenses that have been converted to the Pentacon Six mount. Neither has an aperture scale.

When buying, check that the diaphragm closes cleanly when the pin is released and that the lever stops it down. TRA’s lens never closed beyond f/32 on firing, although the lever took it to f/45. Check that the collar locks, that the hood slides and holds, and that the internal focusing runs smoothly to 5 m. Filters are 95 mm. TRA’s lens came in Arsat’s black nylon case. No original price is recorded, and TRA notes the lens has never been affordable.

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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.

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