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

Mir-73 20mm f/2.8

Arsenal · Nikon F · 1992 · Ten elements in seven groups, with a floating component

via machine translation — corrections welcome

Also known as: Mir-73N · Mir-73H · Mir 73N · MC Mir-73N · MC Mir-73H · MC Mir-73 · MS Mir-73 · Мир-73 · Мир-73Н · МС Мир-73Н · Arsat H 20mm · Arsat N 20mm · Arsat-H 20mm · Arsat-N 20mm · Arsat H 2.8/20 · Arsat H 2,8/20 · Arsat-N 2,8/20 · Arsat-N 2.8/20 · Arsat H 20/2.8 · Arsat H 20 2.8 · Arsat 20mm f2.8 · Arsat 20mm · Arsat 20 mm f/2,8 · Arsat H N MC 20mm · Арсат 20

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
MC Mir-73N (МС Мир-73Н) Nikon F (Arsenal 'Н' bayonet of the Kiev-17/19/20) — — No figure published
ARSAT H 2,8/20 (Arsat-N) Nikon F (Arsenal 'Н' bayonet of the Kiev-17/19/20) 1992 00268 — the number written into the acceptance certificate of the factory instruction booklet scanned by Allphotolenses; five digits, with no year in front —
  1. No source gives a start date for the lens. Abramov describes it under its Soviet name without a year. The earliest dated record found is the technical specification its Arsat booklet cites, TU 3-3.2361-92, a 1992 specification, and the entry uses 1992 for that reason; it dates the Arsat paperwork and may well be later than the first Mir-73N. An owner on MFLenses wrote in 2010 that the lens was designed in Soviet times. Digital Camera Watch shows it still in production in December 2005; no end date has been published.
  2. The sources differ on the details. Ten elements in seven groups is common to Abramov and Allphotolenses (after Lens-Club.ru). Blades: six (Kamerastore) against eight (Allphotolenses). Weight: no more than 0.25 kg (the factory booklet), 260 g (Allphotolenses) and 267 g (Kamerastore). Length: no more than 54 mm (the booklet) and 54 mm (Allphotolenses) against 43 mm in Kamerastore's '65 × 43 mm', which does not say how it was measured.
  3. The booklet gives no element count by group and no diagram key, but prints a section drawing of the ten-element system; it is linked under photo links rather than reproduced.
  4. Digital Camera Watch's warning about Arsenal's Nikon-type bayonet applies here: it is close to Nikon AI but not fully compatible, and Soviet-era Arsenal lenses are prone to sticking so that they cannot be removed from bodies such as the Nikon FA, F-301 and F4. The current-production Arsat lenses had the problem cleared, Maruhashi wrote, but he advised against forcing one onto a camera.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Arsenal's fast 20mm for the Kiev-19 and other Nikon-mount bodies: f/2.8, a 94° field, 0.25 m closest focus and a 62 mm filter thread
  • Not the Mir-20 20mm f/3.5, Arsenal's slower and larger 20mm, made in the Kiev Automat and 'Н' mounts (and in M42 as KMZ's Mir-20M); not the MC Mir-47N 20mm f/2.5 from Valdai, nor KMZ's MC Zenitar-N 16mm f/2.8 fisheye
  • Arsenal lenses for the Kiev-19 carry the Cyrillic Н after the name, which sellers transliterate as H or N; neither letter is a different version

MC Mir-73N (МС Мир-73Н):

  • The Soviet name, which Abramov gives as MC «Мир-73Н», 2,8/20, in place of ARSAT. The last letter is the Cyrillic Н (Latin N) for the Nikon-type bayonet, so sellers write it Mir-73N or Mir-73H
  • Arsenal's 'Н' bayonet at the rear, the mount of the Kiev-17, 19, 19M and 20, with a 62 × 0.75 mm filter thread at the front

ARSAT H 2,8/20 (Arsat-N):

  • 'ARSAT' in Latin letters followed by the Cyrillic Н, so the same lens is listed as Arsat H, Arsat N, Arsat-H and Arsat-N; Arsenal's own booklet prints ARSAT Н 2,8/20, and Digital Camera Watch printed ARSAT-N 2.8/20
  • A short, wide barrel, given by the factory as 65 mm across and no more than 54 mm long, with a 62 mm filter thread: about the size of a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4, as a reviewer on MFLenses described it
  • An automatic diaphragm, held open for focusing and metering and closed by the camera at the moment of exposure, as the factory booklet describes

Specifications

Formula
Ten elements in seven groups, with a floating component
Construction
10 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Min. focus
0.25 m
Dimensions
65 × 54 mm
Weight
250 g
Filter
62 mm (0.75 mm pitch)
Country
Ukraine
Coating
Multicoated (MC)

What reviewers say

History

The Mir-73 is Arsenal’s fast ultra-wide for its Nikon-mount 35mm reflexes, the Kiev-17, 19, 19M and 20: a 20mm f/2.8 covering 94°, focusing to 0.25 m and taking 62 mm filters. Abramov describes it under its Soviet name, MC «Мир-73Н», with ten elements in seven groups, and gives no date. It was the faster companion to Arsenal’s Mir-20N 20mm f/3.5. The factory gives a barrel 65 mm across and no more than 54 mm long, weighing no more than a quarter of a kilogram, and a floating component in the optics to hold the image quality at all distances.

The copies in the sources here are engraved ARSAT, the name Arsenal gave its lenses after the Soviet Union ended; Allphotolenses notes that the lens formerly came as the MS Mir-73. The letter after it is the Cyrillic Н, for the Nikon-type ‘Н’ bayonet, so the same lens is listed as Arsat H, Arsat N, Arsat-H and Arsat-N, and sellers often add ‘Mir-73N’ to the title. Arsenal’s own booklet, printed in 1997, calls it the ARSAT Н 2,8/20 and certifies it to a 1992 specification. Digital Camera Watch’s 2005 survey of Ukrainian Nikon-mount lenses still lists it in production, though not made continuously, at about US$175 in Ukraine. No source describes an optical difference between the Mir and Arsat names.

Optically it is a lens to stop down. An owner’s review on MFLenses in 2010 found a sharp centre and very soft corners at f/2.8 and f/4, a good image across most of the frame from f/5.6 to f/11, strong colour fringing and a wavy distortion that rules it out for architecture, though he praised its contrast, flare resistance and colour. His new, boxed copy had an irregular aperture, an uneven focusing ring and a front section that wobbled. Digital Camera Watch noted that many Arsenal lenses have metal specks or uneven coating inside, which the instructions say do not affect the picture, and that the lenses made as the Soviet Union collapsed are shabbily finished; the Arsat booklet itself allows small bubbles, slight scratches and fibres in the glass. When buying, check the aperture opens and closes cleanly, the focus turns evenly, and nothing in the front of the lens moves. On a Nikon body, fit it gently. Digital Camera Watch says the Arsenal bayonet is close to Nikon AI but not identical, and that Soviet-era Arsenal lenses can jam on bodies such as the FA, F-301 and F4.

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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-73 20mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $350 across 4 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $250–$600). First day tracked.

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

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

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

Sources (6)

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.