Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Industar-29 80mm f/2.8

Arsenal · Kiev 88 · 1957

our own finding

Also known as: Industar-29 · Industar 29 · Industar29 · INDUSTAR-29 · Industar-29 80mm · Industar 29 80mm · Industar-29 2.8/80 · Industar-29 2,8/80 · I-29 2.8/80 · Индустар-29 · Индустар 29 · ИНДУСТАР-29 · Vitoflex 2.8/80 · Vitoflex 80mm

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Industar-29 (ИНДУСТАР-29), chrome, Salyut mount Kiev 88 (original Salyut coupling) 1957 — —
Vitoflex 2.8/80 (export badge) Kiev 88 (original Salyut coupling) — 6803057: the Vitoflex-engraved lens pictured by sovietcams —
  1. Dates: the lens came with the Salyut from 1957 (Russian Wikipedia, camera-wiki). Salyut production ends in 1972 in the Russian Wikipedia and Eckman, 1973 in sovietcams (which also gives the start as '1957 or 1958') and 1974 in camera-wiki. The Vega-12V replaced the Industar-29 as standard lens on the Salyut-S from 1972 (Russian Wikipedia; Eckman names the new lens the Vega 12B). No source dates the end of Industar-29 production itself, so the end year is left open.
  2. Weight: 340 g (allphotolenses, araxfoto 0.34 kg) against 319 g weighed by Kamerastore. Size: allphotolenses gives a length of 62 mm; Kamerastore gives 69 × 60 mm without saying which figure is which, so the dimensions are left out.
  3. Angle of view 53° (allphotolenses, araxfoto; allphotolenses notes 55° 'in other sources'); 44° in the Russian Wikipedia's lens table. Resolution 25/10 lines/mm centre/edge (allphotolenses) or 27/12 (araxfoto). Allphotolenses gives the true focal length as 82 mm and light transmission as 0.85.
  4. Sovietcams says the TO&E 'Zenit 80' export has a slightly modified mount that accepts and operates the later automatic-diaphragm lenses. The lens supplied with that camera is not documented here, so it has no variant row.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A chrome 80mm f/2.8 with a 58 mm filter thread (Kamerastore, allphotolenses). The other Kiev 80mm f/2.8, the Volna-3, takes 62 mm filters (araxfoto); the 90mm Vega-12 took over as the standard lens on the Salyut-S in 1972 (Russian Wikipedia)
  • The spring-loaded lever for the semi-automatic diaphragm. On the original Salyut it opens the diaphragm for focusing and viewing, and the diaphragm closes to the chosen stop on release; the camera can be fired without re-opening it, but the finder is then dark when the lens is stopped down (Eckman)
  • Fit on later bodies is disputed. Allphotolenses says the lens works on the Salyut-S and Kiev-88 with manual aperture only; Matt's Classic Cameras writes that the earlier Salyut lenses have a different aperture coupling from the Salyut-C and do not interchange unless the coupling is removed from the lens. Do not assume it will mount on a Salyut-S or Kiev-88 without trying it
  • Western sellers often write 'B' for the Cyrillic В of the Salyut / Kiev-88 mount; an Industar-29 described as 'B mount' is still the Salyut lens

Industar-29 (ИНДУСТАР-29), chrome, Salyut mount:

  • Chrome barrel engraved with the Industar-29 name; the lens Kamerastore sells as 'Arsenal 80mm f2.8 Industar-29' is all chrome-finished metal
  • A lever on the side of the barrel that cocks the semi-automatic diaphragm before each shot (Eckman); the Vega-12V that replaced it on the Salyut-S needs no pre-cocking and reopens on its own when the shutter is cocked (Russian Wikipedia)
  • Built-in hood (allphotolenses) and a 58 mm filter thread; aperture ring with firm click stops (Eckman)
  • The Salyut thread-and-bayonet rear: the lens screws in on a coarse three-start thread (Russian Wikipedia, camera-wiki), with no breech-lock ring or tabs. It does not fit the Kiev-6S, Kiev-60 or Pentacon Six

Vitoflex 2.8/80 (export badge):

  • 'VITOFLEX' engraved in place of the Industar-29 name; same 80mm f/2.8 barrel
  • Found on export Salyut bodies, which carry no Salyut name; the araxfoto table lists the lens as 'INDUSTAR-29 (Vitoflex)', and collection-appareils writes that the Industar-29 on the Revue 80 export is 'sometimes also called Vitoflex'

Serial-range notes

6803057
The Vitoflex-engraved lens on the sovietcams Zenith-80. Reading the first two digits as the year would make it a 1968 lens; no source states a year-prefix convention for these lenses.

Specifications

Formula
Tessar type (allphotolenses); four elements in three groups (allphotolenses, araxfoto, Eckman)
Construction
4 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Diaphragm blades
11
Min. focus
0.9 m
Weight
340 g
Filter
58 mm (0.75 mm pitch)
Years manufactured
1957
Country
Soviet Union (Ukrainian SSR: Arsenal, Kiev)
Coating
Coated (Eckman). The araxfoto table marks the Industar-29 among lenses made with both single and multi-coating; no other source mentions a multi-coated Industar-29, and none has been seen
Material
Chrome-finished metal barrel (Kamerastore, camera-wiki)

What reviewers say

History

The Industar-29 is the standard lens of the Salyut, the 6×6 single-lens reflex that Arsenal in Kiev introduced in 1957, modelled on the Hasselblad 1600F. It is a coated 80mm f/2.8 of the Tessar type, four elements in three groups, in a chrome barrel with a built-in hood and a 58 mm filter thread, focusing to 0.9 m and stopping down to f/22 with eleven blades. Here the Salyut departed from the Swedish original: the Russian Wikipedia writes that the Hasselblad had no diaphragm drive and took lenses with a manual preset diaphragm, while the Salyut was one of the first cameras with a drive for a semi-automatic one. The Industar-29 has a semi-automatic, or ‘jumping’, diaphragm: a lever on the side of the barrel cocks it, it closes to the chosen stop when the shutter is released, and it then has to be cocked again by hand for the next frame. The Russian Wikipedia names this need to re-cock after every shot as the thing the Vega-12V fixed when it replaced the Industar-29 on the Salyut-S in 1972.

There is one optical version. The Vitoflex 2.8/80 is the same lens with a different name, fitted to export Salyuts that carry no Salyut name on the body. Sovietcams pictures one, serial 6803057, on a Zenith-80, and the Arax lens table lists the lens as ‘Industar-29 (Vitoflex)’. Collection-appareils writes that the lens on the Revue 80 export is ‘sometimes also called Vitoflex’. Arax’s table also marks it as made with both single and multi-coating. No other source mentions a multi-coated Industar-29, and none has been seen.

Sources disagree on whether the lens works on later cameras. Allphotolenses says it works on the Salyut-S and Kiev-88 with the aperture set by hand. Matt’s Classic Cameras writes that the earlier Salyut lenses use a different aperture coupling from the Salyut-C and will not interchange unless the coupling is removed from the lens. Allphotolenses also calls it a ‘B bayonet’ lens. That is the usual Western reading of the Cyrillic В (V) of the Salyut and Kiev-88 mount, not the Б (B) of the Pentacon Six, and the Salyut-mount lens will not fit a Kiev-6S or Kiev-60. Araxfoto’s general note that most Kiev lenses were made in both mounts, with only the Tair-33, Industar-26 and Mir-3 named as thread-only, would imply a bayonet Industar-29, but no other source lists one and none has been seen.

Mike Eckman, who used it on his Salyut, found the four-element lens less impressive on paper than the Hasselblad’s seven-element Planar but its results ‘definitely in the ballpark’, and better than its modest design suggests. When buying, work the cocking lever and check that the blades close to the set stop on release and open fully when re-cocked. Look for marks on the outer elements and dust inside. If you mean to use the lens on a Salyut-S or Kiev-88, try it on that body first.

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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.

Example photos

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Sample photo wanted — shot with a Industar-29 80mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $130 across 5 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-09 (middle half $130–$140). First day tracked.

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Listings updated 2026-11-09. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Sources (8)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.