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

Mir-3 65mm f/3.5

Arsenal · Kiev 88 + Pentacon Six · 1957

our own finding

Also known as: Mir-3 · Mir 3 · MIR-3 65mm · Mir-3 65mm · Mir 3 65mm · Mir-3 3.5/65 · Mir-3 65mm f/3.5 · Mir-3 65mm f3.5 · Mir-3B · Mir 3B · Mir-3V · Mir 3V · Mir-3B 65mm · Mir-3V 65mm · Мир-3 · Мир 3 · Мир-3Б · Мир-3В · МИР-3

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Mir-3, early version with bright-band 'zebra' grips (Salyut mount) Kiev 88 — 7100245: the zebra lens pictured by Abramov, engraved MIR-3 3,5/65 —
Mir-3V (Мир-3В), later all-black version, Salyut / Kiev-88 mount Kiev 88 — — —
Mir-3B (Мир-3Б), Kiev-6S / Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six mount Pentacon Six 1971 — —
  1. Dates: Abramov gives 1957–1984, with a question mark on the end, and says serial production for the Salyut 'presumably' began in 1957; allphotolenses repeats 1957–1984. The English Wikipedia gives 1973–1984, which a 1969-dated example on the MFLenses forum, Abramov's zebra serial (if read as 1971) and Spillman's 1971 manual (via TRA) all contradict. TRA and the English Wikipedia say the Mir-38 replaced it.
  2. Close focus: 0.8 m in TRA's table, the araxfoto table and Kamerastore; 0.4 m in Abramov and allphotolenses. TRA writes that a later version of the Mir-3B focuses to 0.4 m, so both figures may be right for different batches; no source says when the change came, so the family field is left empty.
  3. Weight and size: 572 g (Abramov, allphotolenses), 570 g measured by TRA on his 1976 lens, 566 g (Kamerastore), 580 g (araxfoto), 620 g (Spillman 1971). Length 115 mm (Spillman) against 105 mm measured by TRA and 106 mm (Kamerastore); diameter 91 mm (Spillman via TRA, Kamerastore). Kamerastore lists the filter as 88 mm on one page and 86 mm on another; every other source gives 88 mm. Blade count: 12 (Kamerastore), 6 (allphotolenses); neither is from a factory document, so it is left out.
  4. Resolution 40/14 lines/mm centre/edge (araxfoto, allphotolenses, Abramov), 34/14 'by other data' (Abramov). Angle of view 66° in every source. Light transmission 0.75 (Abramov).
  5. GOI's own lenses: Abramov writes that the design (OB-173) was developed at the State Optical Institute and that a small run was made there. He photographs two of them, engraved ГОИ, ОБ173, F=6,5см 1:3,5, with the П coating mark and serials 57126052 and 57126053, one in a wooden case marked ОБ173 №6052 ГОИ and 'Мир-3 3,5/65'. Their aperture scale runs to f/32. Their mount cannot be identified from the photographs, so they have no variant row here.
  6. Abramov also mentions a small batch with the index 'С' made for the 'Kiev-C-SKD' space camera. No example was seen, so it has no variant row.
  7. An MFLenses administrator mentions an 'aluminium version' with possibly poorer coating, without describing or picturing it. It may mean the bright-band zebra lens; no aluminium-barrel Mir-3 was seen, so it has no variant row.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A large, heavy 65 mm with a flared front: an 88 mm filter thread (M88×0.75), against 72 mm on the Mir-38 that replaced it, which is much smaller and lighter (TRA's photograph shows the two side by side)
  • The letter after the number is the mount: В (V) for the Salyut / Kiev-88 thread, Б (B) for the Kiev-6S / Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six breech-lock. Some lenses carry no letter. In Latin type both letters are often written 'B', so the mount itself is the only reliable check
  • Two diaphragm types, per Abramov: an early one that has to be wound before each shot, for the Salyut and Salyut-S, and a later push type for the Salyut-S and Kiev-88. On the camera it is meant for, the diaphragm should close on release and reopen (or be rewound) cleanly
  • Two barrel designs: bright-band 'zebra' grips and all-black. Abramov dates a change of external design to the turn of 1971–72 and pictures both; sellers call the zebra the earlier version, but an owner serial-dated a black lens to 1969, so the date alone does not identify the design

Mir-3, early version with bright-band 'zebra' grips (Salyut mount):

  • Black barrel with the focusing and aperture grips banded in alternating bright and black squares, the 'zebra' look. Abramov says the external design changed at the turn of 1971 and 1972 but does not describe the two designs; the MFLenses seller called the zebra the older and rarer version
  • Abramov's example is engraved in Latin letters, MIR-3 3,5/65, with no mount letter after the number
  • The zebra lenses recorded here are Salyut-mount lenses (the MFLenses one was offered among 'stuff for Hasselblad/Kiev88'): the lens screws in on a three-start thread, with no locking ring and no breech-lock tabs. No source says whether zebra lenses were made in the breech-lock mount

Mir-3V (Мир-3В), later all-black version, Salyut / Kiev-88 mount:

  • All-black barrel with plain knurled grips, no bright bands. The MFLenses seller's 'new version' carries the Soviet state quality mark
  • The Salyut / Kiev-88 mount (the Russian Wikipedia's 'bayonet V', a three-start thread), no locking ring at the rear. It mounts on the Salyut, Salyut-S, Zenith-80, Kiev-80 and Kiev-88, not the Kiev-6S, Kiev-60 or Pentacon Six; the diaphragm coupling differs between the early and later bodies (see the diaphragm marker below)
  • The Cyrillic В after the number is the Latin V, but it looks like a Latin B, and Western sellers often list this lens as a 'Mir-3B'. Kamerastore describes its Mir-3V as made for 'Salyut-mount (Bayonet B)' cameras. Go by the mount in the photographs, not the letter in the title

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

  • Cyrillic Б after the number, which is the Latin B. Abramov's example is engraved in Latin letters as MIR-3Б 3,5/65, in the later all-black design
  • The Praktisix / Pentacon Six breech-lock at the rear: a locking ring with the bayonet tabs it clamps, and the pin the body pushes to stop the lens down. A Salyut-mount lens screws in and has neither
  • No depth-of-field preview lever on the barrel (TRA's table); the Kiev-6S and Kiev-60 have one on the body
  • Fits the Kiev-6S, Kiev-60, Kiev-88CM, Pentacon Six, Praktisix and Exakta 66; it does not fit a Salyut or an unconverted Kiev-88. The Pentacon Six, Exakta 66 and converted Kiev-88 have no preview lever on the body, so on those the lens cannot be stopped down for preview (TRA). Because a 'Mir-3B' in a Western listing may be a Salyut-mount V, check the mount before assuming this version

Serial-range notes

7100245
Abramov's zebra lens. Read by Arsenal's usual convention, where the first two digits are the year, it would be a 1971 lens, which fits Abramov's date for the change of design at the turn of 1971–72. No source states the convention for the Mir-3 itself.

Specifications

Formula
Six-element anastigmat designed at the State Optical Institute (GOI) under the index OB-173 (Abramov). Group count disputed: six elements in four groups (araxfoto), six in five (allphotolenses, Kamerastore)
Construction
6 elements
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/22
Dimensions
91 mm diameter
Weight
572 g
Filter
88 mm (0.75 mm pitch)
Years manufactured
1957–1984
Country
Soviet Union (Ukrainian SSR: Arsenal, Kiev; a small run at GOI, Leningrad)
Coating
Sources disagree. Single coating (allphotolenses); TRA believes most or all Arsenal lenses for the Kiev 60 were single-coated, with multi-coating arriving with the post-Soviet ARSAT names. The araxfoto table marks the MIR-3 as made in both single-coated and multi-coated (MC) types, and its introduction says all the lenses it lists were multi-coated
Original price
245 roubles, Soviet retail price in 1976 (Abramov). Sovietcams gives 240 roubles, undated, in its Salyut entry

What reviewers say

No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.

History

The Mir-3 is the original wide-angle lens of the Soviet 6×6 SLR system: a 65mm f/3.5 for the Salyut, the Arsenal camera that Sovietcams calls probably a near copy of the Hasselblad 1600, and later for the Kiev-6S and its Pentacon Six-mount successors. According to Abramov it was designed at the State Optical Institute (GOI) in Leningrad as the six-element anastigmat OB-173, and GOI made a small run of its own, engraved ГОИ and ОБ173; Arsenal in Kiev began serial production, presumably in 1957. TRA calls it a great advance for medium-format photography when it appeared, smaller than the Carl Zeiss Jena 65mm Flektogon though half a stop slower. For most of the Salyut’s life it was the only wide-angle the camera had: the Russian Wikipedia says that until 1978 only the Mir-3 and the Tair-33 were available, and adds that specialists thought neither a success. Abramov gives a retail price of 245 roubles in 1976; Sovietcams, without a date, gives 240 roubles for the lens against 400 roubles for the Salyut body. The much smaller Mir-38 replaced it (TRA). Abramov ends Mir-3 production in 1984, with a question mark.

It was made in two mounts. The Mir-3V (Cyrillic В) has the Salyut thread-and-bayonet mount and fits the Salyut, Salyut-S, Zenith-80, Kiev-80 and Kiev-88. Abramov dates the Mir-3B (Cyrillic Б), with the breech-lock of the Kiev-6S, Kiev-60 and Pentacon Six, from 1971. The araxfoto table says the Mir-3 was made only in the threaded mount, but TRA measured a 1976 Mir-3B and Abramov photographs one with the breech-lock. The letters cause confusion: the Cyrillic В reads as a Latin B, so many listings of a “Mir-3B” are Salyut-mount V lenses. Look at the mount, not the title. The breech-lock lens has a locking ring and bayonet tabs at the rear. The Salyut lens screws in and has neither the ring nor the tabs.

The lens changed in other ways over its life. Abramov writes that the first lenses had a diaphragm that had to be wound before each exposure, for the Salyut and Salyut-S, and that a push-type diaphragm for the Salyut-S and Kiev-88 followed. He also dates a change of external design to the turn of 1971 and 1972, and pictures two barrels: one with grips banded in bright and black squares, which sellers call the zebra version and treat as the older one, and an all-black one. The sequence is not quite settled, since one owner dated his black lens to 1969 by its serial. The close-focus distance is given as 0.8 m in TRA’s table, araxfoto and Kamerastore, and as 0.4 m by Abramov and allphotolenses, and TRA writes that a later version of the Mir-3B focuses to 0.4 m. Nobody has documented when that change came. Abramov also records a small batch with the index С for the Kiev-C-SKD space camera.

When buying, check the mount first, then check that the diaphragm works on the body it is meant for, since the wound and push types behave differently. The 88mm filter thread takes large filters. TRA’s kit came with front and rear caps, two colour filters and a hard case with a compartment for them. Owners’ reports of image quality are thin. An MFLenses member found his 1969 black lens low in contrast on a mirrorless camera and thought a hood might be essential, and the forum’s administrator called the Mir-3 a very good lens in his experience.

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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

More sample photos elsewhere

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

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Mir-3 65mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $150 across 22 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $140–$200). First day tracked.

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

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Listings updated 2026-11-10. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Sources (9)

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.