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

Volna-3 80mm f/2.8

Arsenal · Pentacon Six + Kiev 88 · 1979

Also known as: Volna-3 · Volna 3 · MC Volna-3 · MC Volna 3 · Volna-3 80mm · Volna 3 80mm · Volna 80mm f/2.8 · Volna 80mm f2.8 · Volna 2.8/80 · Volna 80/2.8 · Volna-3B · Volna-3V · MC Volna-3B · MC Volna-3V · Волна-3 · Волна 3 · МС Волна-3 · Волна-3Б · Волна-3В · Arsat 80mm f/2.8 · Arsat 80mm f2.8 · Arsat 2.8/80 · Arsat 80/2.8 · Arsat 80 mm f/2.8 · Arsat 80mm 1:2.8 · MC Arsat 80mm · Arsat C 80mm · Arsat B 80mm · Arax 80mm f/2.8 · Arax 2.8/80

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
MC Volna-3B (МС Волна-3Б), Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six mount Pentacon Six — — —
MC Volna-3V (МС Волна-3В), Salyut / Kiev-88 mount Kiev 88 — 8917567 — on Kiev-88 no. 8909193 with TTL prism, Foto Köberl, dealer listing, €229 for the outfit —
MC Volna-3 for the Kiev-90 (Pentacon Six mount) Pentacon Six (Kiev-90 outfits) 1983–1989 830320 — 1983, with Kiev-90 no. 8300001, the first camera (Leitz Auction 39)
8817813 — 1988, with Kiev-90 no. 8800083 (Leitz Auction 42)
8902862 — described by Leitz as a 'special MC-Volna-3', with Kiev-90 no. 8800002 (Leitz Auction 24) 		—
MC Arsat C 80mm f/2.8 (Pentacon Six mount) Pentacon Six — — —
Wiese 80mm f/2.8 (Pentasix outfits, Pentacon Six mount) Pentacon Six — — —
  1. Specifications differ by source. TRA's table: 53° angle, 0.6 m, M62×0.75, 76 × 57 mm, 340 g, with a depth-of-field preview lever. araxfoto (reproduced by TRA) and kievaholic: 2.8–22, 45°, 0.6 m, 6/5, 50/20 lines/mm centre/edge, 62 mm; araxfoto 0.38 kg, kievaholic 57 × 76 mm and 0.3 kg. Abramov: 45/25 lines/mm, MC, f/22, 0.6 m, M62×0.75. allphotolenses: 6 elements in 3 groups, 6 blades, 340 g, 53 mm long, 45/25 lines/mm, first year 1982. Russian Wikipedia: 44°. Kamerastore: 360 g (Volna-3 MC, P6) and 372 g (Arsat C), 6 blades. The header gives TRA's weight and length.
  2. Dates: Abramov gives '1979(?) – 1993(?)' and says the first pre-series lenses, without multi-coating, date from 1979; the header year follows him. Russian Wikipedia makes the MC Volna-3V the standard lens of the Kiev-88 from 1980, citing Sovetskoe Foto of that year; allphotolenses gives 1982. The Arsat-branded lens was still sold after the Soviet period, and Russian Wikipedia says the Kiev-88 was made until 2009, so no end year is given.
  3. The Arsat letters are not settled. Camera-wiki says the lens became 'Arsat B or Arsat C'. TRA photographed an Arsat Mir-26 marked B in the Pentacon Six mount and reads C as the later P6 letter, while Matt's Classic Cameras calls the Arsat-C the lens 'usually found on the Kiev 88'. No Arsat B 80mm is documented by a photograph or a primary source, so it has no variant row; on any Arsat lens, check the mount.
  4. araxfoto lists the lens as 'MC VOLNA-3 (Arsat, Arax)', and TRA lists a 'Hartblei MC 2.8/80, modified Arsenal lens, variations' among the Hartblei lenses he says were reported. No Arax- or Hartblei-engraved 80mm is documented, so neither has a variant row; if one turns up it belongs here. The Hartblei PCS 80/56 shift lens is a different lens.
  5. Russian Wikipedia lists a single-coated Volna-3B beside the MC version as a Kiev-60 kit lens, and Abramov says the 1979 pre-series lenses were not multi-coated. No single-coated example is documented by a photograph here.
  6. Russian Wikipedia's Volna article says the Volna-3 and Volna-5 were computed as the standard lenses of the Kiev-88 and the Avtolikon-645 (citing Suglob, 1200 fotoapparatov iz SSSR, 2009). The Kiev-645 prototype of 1991 was to have a newly computed 75mm f/2.8, which TRA, after Braas, says was much smaller than the 80mm Volna. Abramov describes a Volna-14 2.8/75 of 1988 as a prototype standard lens for the Kiev-90, of which about 20 were made, and Russian Wikipedia lists a Volna-14 75mm f/2.8 in both Kiev mounts. It is a different lens.
  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: Volna-3B (Cyrillic Б) for the Kiev-6S / Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six breech-lock, Volna-3V (Cyrillic В, Latin V) for the Salyut / Kiev-88 thread. The letter is usually not engraved on the front ring, and Western sellers write 'B' for both, so check the mount: three narrow tabs for the P6 lens, a wide coarse thread for the Kiev-88 lens
  • Small for a 6×6 standard lens: about 76 mm across and 57 mm long, taking 62 mm filters, the same filter size as the Vega-28 120mm and Telear-5 250mm (TRA)
  • Red MC before the name on multi-coated lenses, the Arsenal logo on the front ring, and a depth-of-field preview lever on the side of the barrel; automatic diaphragm, f/2.8–22
  • Kiev-60 and Kiev-88 kits came with it and with UV and yellow-green filters (Russian Wikipedia); TRA's Kiev-60 kit also had a collapsible rubber hood and a large fitted case

MC Volna-3B (МС Волна-3Б), Kiev-60 / Pentacon Six mount:

  • The Praktisix / Pentacon Six breech-lock: three narrow tabs at the rear, held by the camera's turning ring. Russian Wikipedia names this version Волна-3Б (Cyrillic Б = Latin B) and gives it as the kit lens of the Kiev-60
  • The mount letter is not on the front ring of the lenses seen: Kamerastore's Pentacon Six example is engraved MC VOLNA in Latin type, and the Kiev-88 lenses seen carry no letter either, so the mount itself is what tells it apart
  • Yellow depth-of-field lines and a 22–2.8 aperture ring behind a squared knurled focusing grip (Kamerastore photographs)

MC Volna-3V (МС Волна-3В), Salyut / Kiev-88 mount:

  • The Salyut / Kiev-88 thread-and-bayonet: the lens screws in on a wide three-start thread and is held by a button on the camera, with no breech-lock ring. Russian Wikipedia names this version МС Волна-3В (Cyrillic В = Latin V)
  • Western sellers often write 'Volna-3B' for this version, because the Cyrillic В looks like a Latin B; go by the mount in the photographs, not the letter
  • Front ring engraved МС ВОЛНА-3 2,8/80 with the Arsenal logo and the serial, and no mount letter, on the Foto Köberl Kiev-88 lens

MC Volna-3 for the Kiev-90 (Pentacon Six mount):

  • Front ring engraved МС ВОЛНА-3 2,8/80, the Arsenal logo and the serial, with no mount letter, as on the ordinary lenses (Leitz photographs)
  • In Leitz's photographs of the 8902862 and 8817813 lenses a silver triangular tab sits at the rear of the barrel; neither lot description says whether this is the aperture prong of the Kiev-90 lenses
  • Best identified by provenance: sold with a Kiev-90 body (the Leitz bodies are numbered 8300001, 8800002 and 8800083)

MC Arsat C 80mm f/2.8 (Pentacon Six mount):

  • Engraved ARSAT C, 1:2.8 and 80mm with the Arsenal logo, in Latin type; no Volna name (Kameraplanet photographs)
  • A different barrel from the Volna-3: a broad squared focusing grip, green depth-of-field figures, a separate ribbed aperture ring and a plain front section (Kamerastore photographs)
  • The C marks the Pentacon Six mount: TRA reads the Arsat C on a later Arsat 1.4× converter as Arsenal's way of ending the B/V confusion; araxfoto calls the P6 bayonet the Kiev-C mount

Wiese 80mm f/2.8 (Pentasix outfits, Pentacon Six mount):

  • Front ring engraved MC, WIESE FOTOTECHNIK and 2,8/80 in Latin type, with no Volna or Arsenal name (TRA's photograph)
  • A barrel TRA calls totally new and likens to the 1990s Hartblei lenses; in his photograph it has a broad ribbed grip, green depth-of-field figures and a separate aperture ring
  • Supplied on Wiese Fototechnik's Pentasix cameras: a Kiev-60, and a Kiev-88 converted to the Pentacon Six mount (the Pentasix 636)

Serial-range notes

830320, 8817813, 8902862, 8917567
allphotolenses says the first two digits of the serial give the year of manufacture. The dated examples agree: Leitz calls 830320 a 1983 lens and 8817813 a 1988 one, and lens 8917567 came on a Kiev-88 numbered 8909193. The 1983 lens has a six-digit number, the later ones seven. Lenses and bodies were numbered separately, so a body serial in a listing title (as in Foto Köberl's 'Volna-3 ... #8909193') is not the lens's number.

Specifications

Formula
Six elements in five groups in the araxfoto table (reproduced by TRA) and on kievaholic; allphotolenses and Kamerastore give six elements in three groups. Russian Wikipedia describes the whole Volna family, computed at GOI in the mid-1970s, as derived from the double-Gauss (Planar) type, with the second component split into two air-spaced menisci in place of a cemented doublet
Construction
6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Diaphragm blades
6
Min. focus
0.6 m
Dimensions
76 × 57 mm
Weight
340 g
Filter
62 mm (0.75 mm pitch)
Country
Soviet Union (Ukrainian SSR: Arsenal, Kiev); Ukraine after 1991
Coating
Multi-coated (red MC) on the lenses photographed here. Abramov says the first pre-series lenses of 1979 were not multi-coated; Russian Wikipedia lists both a single-coated Volna-3B and an MC Volna-3B as Kiev-60 kit lenses; TRA believes most, perhaps all, Arsenal lenses for the Kiev-60 were single-coated until they were made under the Arsat name

What reviewers say

History

The Volna-3 is the standard lens of Arsenal’s later 6×6 SLRs: an 80mm f/2.8 made in Kiev for the Kiev-88, which screws into the Salyut thread, and for the Kiev-60, which takes the Pentacon Six breech-lock. It replaced the 90mm Vega-12 of the Salyut-S and Kiev-6S. Abramov dates it to 1979, when the first pre-series lenses were made without multi-coating. Russian Wikipedia, citing Sovetskoe Foto of 1980, makes the multi-coated MC Volna-3V the lens the Kiev-88 was launched with that year. It was also the lens of the Kiev-90, Arsenal’s electronic 6×4.5 camera. Russian Wikipedia counts it among the Volna family computed at the State Optical Institute in the mid-1970s, all of them double-Gauss derivatives. The araxfoto and kievaholic tables give it six elements in five groups; allphotolenses and Kamerastore say six in three. It is compact for a 6×6 standard lens: about 76 mm across, 57 mm long and 340 g in TRA’s table, with 62 mm filters. It focuses to 0.6 m, stops down to f/22, and has an automatic diaphragm with a preview lever on the barrel.

The two mount versions share the optics. Soviet practice was to add Б (the Latin B) for the Pentacon Six / Kiev-60 version and В (the Latin V) for the Salyut / Kiev-88 version, and Russian Wikipedia names them Volna-3B and MC Volna-3V. The lenses in the photographs cited here carry no letter on the front ring at all, though: Arsenal’s Kiev-88 and Kiev-90 lenses read МС ВОЛНА-3 2,8/80, and a Pentacon Six lens is engraved MC VOLNA in Latin type. Western listings, and some Western writers, also write “B” for the В. The only reliable test is the mount. The Pentacon Six lens has three narrow tabs that the camera’s ring locks. The Kiev-88 lens has a wide, coarse thread. The P6 version fits the Pentacon Six, Exakta 66, Kiev-6S, Kiev-60, Kiev-88CM and the many Kiev-88s converted to P6. The thread version fits the Kiev-88 and the Salyut-S. Later Arsenal sold the lens under the Arsat name. Russian Wikipedia dates the change to 1990; TRA gives “about 1990” in his lens table and the late 1990s on his Arsat page. The Arsat C in P6 mount is a different barrel, with a broad squared grip and green depth-of-field figures. araxfoto, which assembled Kiev cameras from Arsenal parts, lists the lens as “MC Volna-3 (Arsat, Arax)”. Camera-wiki says it was sold as Arsat B or Arsat C, but the letters were used inconsistently, so check the mount on any Arsat lens too. Wiese Fototechnik in Hamburg sold what TRA took to be the same optics in a new barrel engraved WIESE FOTOTECHNIK with its Pentasix cameras. Hartblei is reported to have offered a modified Arsenal 2.8/80 as well.

The Kiev-90 lenses are the collectible ones. TRA writes that the camera’s lenses carried an extra prong that passed the aperture setting to the body’s meter, and Princelle that most Arsenal lenses were offered with it from 1988. Leitz has sold three Kiev-90 outfits with their Volna-3s. The first camera, no. 8300001, came with lens 830320 of 1983 and made €21,600. No. 8800083 came with lens 8817813 of 1988 and made €7,200. No. 8800002 came with what Leitz called a “special MC-Volna-3”, no. 8902862, and made €2,280. All three are hammer prices including premium, for whole outfits. None of the lot descriptions says how the lens differs, so buy one on provenance, not on the lens alone. According to allphotolenses and TRA, the first two digits of the serial usually give the year.

Owners rate it as a sound standard lens. kievaholic calls it a fine performer. Matt’s Classic Cameras reports the general view that a good Volna is a great lens, though somewhat behind the Zeiss Jena lenses for the Pentacon Six, and kievaholic says the comparison with the Biometar 80 is undecided. An allphotolenses owner praises its rendering and bokeh but finds it weak against the light without a hood. The known fault is the preview lever. kievaholic says light leaks through it when the lens is focused closer than about 0.9 m, and that black tape over the lever cures it. Matt glued felt inside next to the lever. Matt also found his focusing ring wobbly and rough, from metal bits in the threads that he thought came from the set screws. When buying, check the mount against the camera first. Then check that the diaphragm snaps shut on release and opens fully again, that the preview lever works, and that the helicoid is smooth. Published weights run from 300 g to 380 g, so a listing’s weight does not identify the version. The lens is often sold as part of a Kiev-60 or Kiev-88 outfit: Foto Köberl’s dealer price for a 1989 Kiev-88 with TTL prism, magazines and its Volna-3 was €229.

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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

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Sample photo wanted — shot with a Volna-3 80mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $190 across 45 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $110–$450). 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 (26)

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.