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

Kaleinar-3 150mm f/2.8

Arsenal · Pentacon Six + Kiev 88 · 1973

Also known as: Kaleinar-3 · Kaleinar 3 · Kaleinar-3 150mm · Kaleinar 3 150mm · Kaleinar 150mm f/2.8 · Kaleinar 150mm f2.8 · Kaleinar 2.8/150 · Kaleinar 150/2.8 · Kaleinar-3B · Kaleinar 3B · Kaleinar-3V · Kaleinar 3V · Arsenal Kaleinar 150mm · Калейнар-3 · Калейнар 3 · Калейнар-3Б · Калейнар-3В · Hartblei MC 2.8/150 · Hartblei 150mm f/2.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Kaleinar-3B (Калейнар-3Б), Kiev-6S / Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six mount Pentacon Six — 852046 — Kamerastore, Pentacon Six mount (2026); the aperture did not open fully on the camera
860876 — Vega, Uman, accepted May 1986 (certificate in the 1985 manual; the handwritten type entry appears to read К-3Б) 		—
Kaleinar-3V (Калейнар-3В), Salyut / Kiev-88 mount Kiev 88 — — —
Hartblei MC 2.8/150 (Pentacon Six mount, late 1990s to early 2000s) Pentacon Six — — —
  1. Specifications are from the 1985 Arsenal/Vega manual: 6×6, 150 mm, f/2.8–16, 28°, at least 45/18 lines/mm centre/edge, 1.8 m to infinity, M82×0.75, at most 90 mm in diameter and 108 mm long, at most 1.15 kg. Abramov repeats the angle, apertures, focus range, resolution, filter thread and weight. The araxfoto table reproduced by TRA gives 4/4, 28° and 48/32 lines/mm.
  2. Size and weight differ by source. TRA measured his lens at 88 × 99 mm and gives 1100 g; kievaholic gives 90 × 100 mm and 1.0 kg; allphotolenses 105 mm and 1150 g; Kamerastore 980 g for a Pentacon Six lens and 1050 g for Salyut-mount ones. The figures in the header are TRA's.
  3. Construction: 4 elements in 4 groups in the manual's drawing and in the araxfoto, kievaholic and TRA tables; allphotolenses gives 4 in 3. The six-blade diaphragm is from allphotolenses and Kamerastore, not from an Arsenal document.
  4. Dates: no launch year is documented. Abramov gives '(?)–1991(?)' and allphotolenses gives 1991 as the last year. The 1973 in the header is the year in the lens's technical specification, TU3-3.765-73, the earliest date found on any document for it; it is not a recorded first year of sale. The specification year can postdate a lens's introduction: the Jupiter-36, which Abramov dates to 1969, carries a 1973 specification of the same series. The earliest dated example found is TRA's 1982 lens, the latest the 1991 lens in the MFLenses thread.
  5. IronGlass sells the Kaleinar-3 rehoused as a PL-mount cine lens (T3, 15 blades, 110 mm front, per cinelenswiki). It is a modern conversion, not a factory version, so it has no variant row.
  6. TRA writes of the '150mm Kaleinar/ARSAT lens' and says that Arsenal renamed most of its lenses ARSAT from about 1990 and that most Arsat lenses were multi-coated. No Arsat-engraved 150mm and no multi-coated Arsenal Kaleinar-3 was seen, so neither has a variant row.
  7. Not linked to the original Salyut (1957–72). Matt's Classic Cameras writes that the earlier Salyuts and their lenses had a different aperture coupling from the Salyut-S and that the lenses do not interchange unless the coupling is removed; Sovietcams, after commiecameras.com, says only the last Salyuts, exported as the Zenit 80, had a slightly modified mount that accepts and works the later lenses. Russian Wikipedia says all Kiev-88 accessories fit the Salyut. Try the lens on the camera before buying it for a Salyut.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Arsenal and Vega made the lens in two mounts with the same optics. The letter after the name tells them apart: Б (B) for the Kiev-6S / Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six breech-lock, В (V) for the Salyut / Kiev-88 thread. Sellers mix the letters up, so check the mount itself: three narrow tabs and a locking ring for B, a wide coarse thread for V
  • A heavy lens of about 1.1 kg with an 82 mm filter thread and no depth-of-field preview lever. No hood came in the box; TRA calls the hood made for it rare
  • Automatic diaphragm: set the aperture on ring 1 and it closes to that value when the release is pressed, so focusing is at full aperture (manual). Check that it opens fully again on the body: Kamerastore has sold a Pentacon Six lens that stays partly closed on the camera, and TRA found the same fault on his Hartblei
  • The kit was the lens, front and rear caps, UV-1x and ZhZ-1.4x (yellow-green) filters in a holder screwed into the lid of the case, the case, the manual and a box (manual)

Kaleinar-3B (Калейнар-3Б), Kiev-6S / Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six mount:

  • The manual calls this version КАЛЕЙНАР-3Б. Its drawings show only КАЛЕЙНАР-3 2,8/150 on the front ring, with no mount letter. The 1991 lens in the MFLenses thread was read as 'Калейнар-3 Б', so look for the Б after the name, but go by the mount
  • The Praktisix / Pentacon Six breech-lock: three narrow tabs and a rotating locking ring (накидная гайка, union nut) at the rear; flange 74 mm per the manual
  • The manual lists it for the Kiev-6S, Kiev-6S TTL and Kiev-60 TTL and says it can also be used on the Pentacon Six

Kaleinar-3V (Калейнар-3В), Salyut / Kiev-88 mount:

  • Cyrillic В after the name, which is the Latin V. Western sellers regularly write 'Kaleinar-3B' for this lens because the В looks like a Latin B: Kamerastore lists its Salyut-mount Kaleinar as 'Kaleinar 150mm f2.8 3B'. Go by the mount in the photographs
  • The Salyut thread-and-bayonet: the lens screws in on a wide triple-start thread, with no locking ring and no narrow tabs; the manual calls it a threaded bayonet (резьбовой байонет) and gives the flange as 82.1 mm
  • The manual lists it for the Kiev 88 and Kiev 88 TTL. The same thread is on the Salyut, Salyut-S and Kiev-80

Hartblei MC 2.8/150 (Pentacon Six mount, late 1990s to early 2000s):

  • Hartblei name on the barrel and multi-coated optics; Pentacon Six mount
  • About 93 mm in diameter against 88 mm for the Kaleinar, 98.5 mm long, 1074 g (TRA's measurements); finished to a much higher standard than the Arsenal lens
  • TRA's example has a fully automatic diaphragm pin too short to open the aperture fully on the camera, no stop-down lever, a shallow rear cap and no hood

Serial-range notes

852046, 860876
On the dated Arsenal and Vega certificates seen for this lens and the Jupiter-36 (860876, May 1986; 861228, September 1986; 761262, November 1976), the first two digits match the year of acceptance. Read that way, 852046 would be a 1985 lens; no document dates it. 860876 came from the Uman Vega plant, so the prefix does not identify the plant.

Specifications

Formula
Four separate elements in four groups, as drawn in the 1985 Arsenal/Vega manual: two positive menisci, a negative meniscus, the diaphragm, and a biconvex rear element. allphotolenses gives 4 elements in 3 groups
Construction
4 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/16
Diaphragm blades
6
Min. focus
1.8 m
Dimensions
88 × 99 mm
Weight
1100 g
Filter
82 mm (0.75 mm pitch)
Country
Soviet Union (Ukrainian SSR: Arsenal, Kiev, and the Vega plant, Uman); Ukraine after 1991
Coating
Single coating on the Arsenal lenses. TRA's 1982 lens is not multi-coated, and kievaholic says new old stock was not multi-coated either. The Hartblei rebuild is sold as MC
Original price
550 roubles, Soviet retail list price in 1986 (acceptance certificate for no. 860876, Vega plant, May 1986, citing price list 082A-1972/48, item 535; Abramov gives the same 550 roubles for 1986)

What reviewers say

Optical formula — Four separate elements in four groups, as drawn in the 1985 Arsenal/Vega manual: two positive menisci, a negative meniscus, the diaphragm, and a biconvex rear element. allphotolenses gives 4 elements in 3 groups

History

The Kaleinar-3 is the fast long lens of the Soviet 6×6 SLR systems: a 150mm f/2.8 for the Kiev-6S and Kiev-60 and for the Salyut-thread Kiev-88. Arsenal in Kiev made it, as did the Vega plant at Uman, which ordered its own printing of the 1985 instruction manual and accepted at least one lens of 1986. The manual describes a four-element lens for architecture, close-ups and portraits, and draws four separate elements with the diaphragm in front of the rear lens. Its automatic diaphragm is set in advance and closes when the release is pressed. It weighs about 1.1 kg and takes 82 mm filters. Kamerastore gives its field of view as that of an 82.5mm lens on 35mm. The list price in 1986 was 550 roubles, according to Vega’s acceptance certificate and Abramov; the 250mm Jupiter-36 was 320 roubles in the same year. When it was introduced is not documented. Abramov puts a question mark where the first year would go and gives 1991, also queried, as the last. The earliest date found on any document is the 1973 of its technical specification.

It was made in two mounts with the same optics. The Kaleinar-3B (Cyrillic Б) has the breech-lock of the Kiev-6S and Kiev-60, which the manual says also fits the Pentacon Six. The Kaleinar-3V (Cyrillic В) screws into the Kiev-88. In Latin type the В reads as a B, so many lenses sold as a “Kaleinar-3B” are Salyut-mount V lenses: Kamerastore lists its Salyut-mount example as “3B”. In the other direction, an MFLenses member bought a 1991 3B as a Kiev-88 lens. Look at the mount. The B has three narrow tabs and a locking ring. The V has a wide triple-start thread. A Kiev-88CM, or a Kiev-88 converted to the P6 mount, takes the B. At the end of the 1990s and in the early 2000s Hartblei sold a multi-coated rebuild in Pentacon Six mount. TRA, who owned one, says it is optically identical to the Kaleinar apart from the coating. It is better finished, but its diaphragm pin was too short to open the aperture fully.

Opinion on the optics is consistent. TRA compared his 1982 lens with the Schneider Tele-Xenar 150/4 and the Zeiss Sonnar 180/2.8. He found it quite soft at f/2.8, close to the Tele-Xenar by f/4 and indistinguishable from it under a loupe at f/11. The Sonnar was much sharper wide open. kievaholic agrees that most people rate the Sonnar higher, and calls the Kaleinar a fine portrait lens that is more compact. Its practical drawbacks are the 1.8 m close focus, which TRA says is too far for a tight head-and-shoulders portrait without an extension tube, and the lack of a stop-down lever for depth-of-field checks or stop-down metering. It does not couple to the Exakta 66’s TTL meter, and no hood came with it.

When buying, check the mount against the body first, then the diaphragm. It should close to the set value on release and open fully again. Kamerastore has sold a P6 lens whose aperture stayed partly closed on the camera, and an owner on allphotolenses reports that the diaphragm lubricant stiffens. Both Kamerastore lenses had fungus inside, one with haze and oil stains as well. Weights quoted run from 980 g (Kamerastore) to 1150 g (allphotolenses), and the manual’s maximum is 1.15 kg, so a weight in a listing does not identify the version.

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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

Sample photo taken with the Kaleinar-3 150mm f/2.8
Kaleinar-3B 2,8/150 (Pentacon Six mount version) — Viktor Gorelov (DARTVENOM), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Kaleinar-3 150mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $230 across 9 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-09 (middle half $220–$280). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

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

Sources (11)

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.