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

Mir-38 65mm f/3.5

Arsenal · Pentacon Six + Kiev 88 · 1979

Also known as: Mir-38 · Mir 38 · MIR-38 65mm · Mir 38 65mm · Mir-38 3.5/65 · Mir-38 65mm f/3.5 · Mir-38 65mm f3.5 · Mir-38B · Mir 38B · Mir-38V · Mir 38V · MC Mir-38B · MC Mir-38V · Mir-38B 65mm · Mir-38V 65mm · Arsenal Mir-38 · Hartblei MC 3.5/65 · Мир-38 · Мир 38 · Мир-38Б · Мир-38В · МИР-38

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Mir-38B (Мир-38Б), Kiev-6S / Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six mount Pentacon Six — 816625: given in the MPN field of a 2026 eBay listing for a Mir-38B for the Pentacon Six and Kiev 60, presumably the serial number
823265: offered on eBay in 2026 as a Mir-38 with the Kiev 60 mount, with caps, UV and YG filters, a metal hood and case 		—
Mir-38V (Мир-38В), Salyut / Kiev-88 mount Kiev 88 — 832308: offered on eBay in 2026 as a Mir-38V for the Kiev 88 and Salut —
  1. Specifications differ slightly by source. TRA: f/3.5, 66°, 0.5 m, M72×0.75, 78 × 88 mm, 550 g. The araxfoto table (Arax, the Kiev dealer): 3.5–22, 66°, 0.5 m, 6/5, 42/20 lines/mm centre/edge, 72 mm, 0.55 kg; TRA's copy of the same table and kievaholic give 42/18. kievaholic: 83 mm long, 78 mm across, 0.5 kg. Matt's Classic Cameras: 550 g, 6 blades, 72 mm, and a closest focus of 1.5 m, which disagrees with every other source and is left out of the header.
  2. Dates: no Arsenal document giving a first or last year is known. The earliest dated lenses are Matt's, which he gives as produced in 1979, and an eBay seller's 'early 1979' Mir-38B. Bas Stubert writes 1972–1993 without a source. English Wikipedia says the Mir-3 was made until 1984 'when it was replaced by Mir-38'; Bas Stubert says the Mir-38 first supplemented and later replaced it, which fits the 1979 lenses. The latest dated lens found is TRA's of 1992. No end date is given here.
  3. Bas Stubert reports an early and a late barrel: the early one recognisable by a 'Takumar-style' focusing ring, replaced in the 1980s by the version he photographs. Both of his lenses are the late type, and no other source describes the difference or dates it, so the two barrels have no separate rows.
  4. Hartblei, late 1990s and early 2000s: TRA's list of Hartblei lenses includes an MC 3.5/65 with an automatic diaphragm and an MC 3.5/65 PCS shift lens, both described as 'modified Arsenal' lenses with parts of Hartblei's own production or from Lytkarino. TRA passes on a report that the 65mm Hartblei shift lens uses the optical elements of the Mir-38B; his table gives it 6/5, 0.5 m, 10 mm of shift, M72×0.75, 76 mm long and 610 g, and kievaholic lists an 'MC PCS Hartblei shift' 65 with 66–78°, 80/56 lines/mm and 0.65 kg. A 2002 Hartblei leaflet seen by TRA offered the 65mm shift/tilt only in 645 mounts for Contax, Mamiya and Pentax; eBay listings in 2026 offer Hartblei 65mm Super-Rotator tilt-shift lenses for Canon EF. No Hartblei 65 without movements was seen, so none of these has a variant row.
  5. Arsat: Arsenal also sold a 65mm shift lens under its post-Soviet ARSAT name. The araxfoto table lists a PCS ARSAT/ARAX 65 (3.5–22, 66–78°, 0.5 m, 6/5, 73/51 lines/mm, 72 mm, 0.75 kg). TRA had not seen one and calls it 'very probable' that it uses the same optics as the Hartblei shift lens. No plain ARSAT-engraved 65mm f/3.5 was seen, although TRA says on one page that most, possibly all, Arsenal lenses carried the ARSAT name from the late 1990s, and on another that Arsenal renamed most of its lenses ARSAT from about 1990.
  6. An eBay seller in 2026 listed a 'Kiev 65mm f3.5 MIR-38B' in 'Hasselblad 2000 series mount'. No source describes a factory version for Hasselblad, so it is treated as a conversion or a misdescription.
  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 made the lens in two mounts with the same optics. The letter after the number 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, and Kiev-88 lenses are very often listed as 'Mir-38B', so check the mount itself: bayonet lugs for the camera's locking ring on the B, a wide coarse thread on the V
  • Not to be confused with the older Mir-3 65mm f/3.5, which it replaced. The Mir-38 is much smaller and lighter (TRA): 72 mm filters against 88 mm, 550 g against 570–620 g, and 6 elements in 5 groups against the Mir-3's 6 in 4 (araxfoto). The name ring reads МИР-38 or MIR-38, not МИР-3
  • Automatic diaphragm, set on the aperture ring and closed by the camera on release; 6 blades (Matt's Classic Cameras, Bas Stubert)
  • Sellers often offer it with caps, filters in the 72 mm thread (UV and yellow-green in one listing), a metal hood and a hard case

Mir-38B (Мир-38Б), Kiev-6S / Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six mount:

  • Cyrillic Б after the number, the Latin B. The Pentacon Six bayonet at the rear: lugs that the locking ring on the camera holds, and the aperture pin that the body pushes on release
  • Normally no depth-of-field preview lever on the barrel. TRA's table gives the Mir-38B none and says he has never seen one with a lever; Bas Stubert's 1984 Mir-38B has none. The Kiev-6S and Kiev-60 have the preview lever on the body, so the lens does not need one, but TRA notes that a Pentacon Six, an Exakta 66 or a Kiev-88 with the Pentacon Six mount gives no way to stop it down early
  • Fits the Kiev-6S, Kiev-60, Kiev-88CM, Pentacon Six, Praktisix and Exakta 66. It does not fit a Salyut or plain Kiev-88

Mir-38V (Мир-38В), Salyut / Kiev-88 mount:

  • Cyrillic В after the number, which is the Latin V. Because the В looks like a Latin B, Western sellers very often list this lens as a 'Mir-38B': Matt's Classic Cameras files his Kiev-88 lens as a Mir-38B, and eBay listings offer a 'MIR-38B ... für KIEV88' and a 'MIR 38B ... Kiev 88 Mount'. Some sellers also call this mount 'Bayonet C', although Arax and Arsat use 'C' for the Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six bayonet (araxfoto, TRA). Go by the mount in the photographs
  • The Salyut / Kiev-88 mount: the lens screws in on a wide, coarse thread, with no bayonet lugs
  • A depth-of-field preview lever on the side of the barrel. Bas Stubert's 1990 Mir-38V has one and his 1984 Mir-38B does not; Matt's 1979 Kiev-88 lens has the slot taped over. TRA reports that a version with a lever has been seen and thinks it may be the Salyut-mount one. Matt calls these lever slots notorious for flare and light leaks, and Bas Stubert taped his over as a precaution
  • Fits the Salyut, Salyut-S, Kiev-80 and Kiev-88. It does not fit the Kiev-60 or Pentacon Six without an adapter, nor the Kiev-88CM

Serial-range notes

816625, 823265, 832308
Read the usual way for Arsenal lenses of this period, with the year in the first two digits, these would be lenses of 1981, 1982 and 1983 (816625 comes from a listing's MPN field and is presumably the serial). That reading is the convention sellers use to date them, not something an Arsenal document states for this lens. The dated lenses found run from 1979 (Matt's Classic Cameras, and an eBay seller) to 1992 (TRA).

Specifications

Formula
Six elements in five groups (the araxfoto table, TRA's copy of it, and kievaholic)
Construction
6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/22
Diaphragm blades
6
Min. focus
0.5 m
Dimensions
78 × 88 mm
Weight
550 g
Filter
72 mm (0.75 mm pitch)
Years manufactured
1979
Country
Soviet Union (Ukrainian SSR: Arsenal, Kiev); Ukraine after 1991
Coating
Both single- and multi-coated: the araxfoto table marks the Mir-38 as made with several types of coating, MC or single-coated. TRA writes that, to his knowledge, most Arsenal lenses for the Kiev 60 were single-coated and that most of the later ARSAT-named lenses were multi-coated. Matt's Classic Cameras lists his 1979 lens as MC, and TRA calls his 1992 lens an 'Arsenal MC Mir 38B'

What reviewers say

History

The Mir-38 is the 65mm f/3.5 of Arsenal’s 6×6 SLR systems: a moderate wide-angle for the Kiev-6S and Kiev-60, made in the same optics for the Salyut-thread Kiev-88. On 6×6 it covers 66°, a little wider than the 80mm standard lens, and owners describe it as a wide normal rather than a true wide-angle. It replaced the Mir-3 of the same focal length and aperture. TRA calls it much smaller and lighter than the lens it replaced, and the figures agree: a 72 mm filter against the Mir-3’s 88 mm, 550 g against 570–620 g, and six elements in five groups against six in four. The specifications in TRA’s table, the Arax dealer table and kievaholic match closely: f/3.5 to f/22, 0.5 m closest focus, an automatic diaphragm with six blades, 78 mm across and 83 to 88 mm long. When it went on sale is not documented. Matt’s Classic Cameras gives his lens as made in 1979, and a Ukrainian seller offered an “early 1979” example. Bas Stubert’s 1972–1993 is unsourced, and the English Wikipedia’s 1984 is the year it gives for the end of the Mir-3. TRA’s lens of 1992 is the latest dated example found.

There are two versions, told apart by the letter after the number and by the mount. The Mir-38B (Cyrillic Б) has the Pentacon Six breech-lock and fits the Kiev-6S, Kiev-60, Kiev-88CM, Pentacon Six, Praktisix and Exakta 66. The Mir-38V (Cyrillic В) screws into the Salyut, Salyut-S, Kiev-80 and Kiev-88. In Latin type the В reads as a B, so many lenses sold as a “Mir-38B” are Kiev-88 lenses. Matt’s Classic Cameras files his Kiev-88 lens under that name, and eBay listings offer “Mir-38B” lenses “für KIEV88”. Some sellers call the Kiev-88 mount “Bayonet C”, although Arax and Arsat use “C” for the Kiev-60 and Pentacon Six bayonet. Look at the mount: bayonet lugs for the camera’s locking ring mean the B, a wide coarse thread means the V. The V usually has a depth-of-field preview lever on the barrel, and the B usually has none, because the Kiev-6S and Kiev-60 have the lever on the body. TRA notes that this matters on a Pentacon Six, an Exakta 66 or a P6-mount Kiev-88, which give no way to stop the lens down before the exposure. Bas Stubert also reports an early barrel with a “Takumar-style” focusing ring, replaced in the 1980s. He has only the late type, and no other source describes the difference.

Optically it has a good name. TRA found his Mir-38B superbly sharp and contrasty into the corners at f/11, at least the equal of the Schneider 60mm Curtagon and barely behind the Zeiss Jena Flektogon 50, with little lost at f/3.5. At f/11 his prints from it and from a 1965 Flektogon 65 could not be told apart. Kevin Ing, whom TRA quotes, found his Flektogon 65 “definitely much sharper” than his Mir, and suggested that the results depend a lot on sample variation and on what has happened to each lens since it was made. Bas Stubert found it sharp wide open, with smooth out-of-focus areas and good colour, and recommends it. Matt’s Classic Cameras calls it smooth and sharp, and warns that depth of field is shallower than expected at middle distances.

The mechanics are the weak point, and they decide what to buy. TRA’s lens would not always stop down past f/11 and later froze at f/3.5. A repairer in Görlitz found broken screws and broken threads inside and complained of play in the aperture control, which he put down to the design. TRA also warns that Soviet-era quality control was so poor that many sub-standard lenses left the factory, and that much of what flooded the Western market after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s was of very poor quality. So check that the diaphragm closes to the set value on release and opens fully again, at every setting down to f/22. Turn the focusing ring through its whole travel: Matt’s lens stuck at the far end until he loosened a crooked guide bar inside. Check that the aperture ring is not loose, as it is on Bas Stubert’s 1990 lens, and look at the preview-lever slot on a V, which Matt calls a notorious source of flare and light leaks; he recommends gaffer tape or felt over the slot. Then confirm the mount from the photographs rather than the title. Some listings repeat another lens’s specifications: one Mir-38V was offered with the Mir-26’s 82 mm filter and 650 g. Sets with the case, filters and hood turn up often; asking prices on eBay in late 2026 ran from about US$135 to US$275.

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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 Mir-38 65mm f/3.5
A Mir-38V 3.5/65 for the Salyut and Kiev-88, photographed in 2013 — 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 Mir-38 65mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $180 across 25 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $170–$200). First day tracked.

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

Show 11 more listings

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

Sources (12)

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.