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

Volna-4 50mm f/1.4

Arsenal · Nikon F + Other · 1977

Also known as: Volna-4 · Volna 4 · Volna-4N · Volna 4N · Volna-4H · MC Volna-4 · MC Volna 4 · MC Volna-4N · Volna-4 50mm f/1.4 · Volna-4 1.4/50 · Volna-4 1.4/53 · LOMO Volna-4 · Wolna-4 · Волна-4 · Волна-4Н · МС Волна-4

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Volna-4 (Arsenal, 'Н' bayonet, no letter after the number) Nikon F (Arsenal 'Н' bayonet of the Kiev-17/20) 1977–1984 #770003 — 1977, engraved 'ВОЛНА-4 1.4/50', photographed on Abramov's page
#780012 — 1978, engraved 'ВОЛНА-4 1.4/53' (Abramov's page)
#790003 — 1979, on the Kiev-17M prototype body #7900003 (ussrcameras.ru, credited to I. Stolyar)
#840240 — 1984, engraved 'ВОЛНА-4 1.4/53', shown mounted on a body (Abramov's page) 		Trial batches only, never series-produced (Abramov); no figure published
MC Volna-4N (Arsenal, 'Н' bayonet) Nikon F (Arsenal 'Н' bayonet of the Kiev-17/20) — — No figure published
MC Volna-4 (LOMO, 'К' bayonet) Pentax K (LOMO 'К' bayonet of the Almaz cameras) — #800001 — 1980, a prototype on the Almaz-101 prototype in the Claire and Alain Berry collection (ussrcameras.ru)
#820010 and #820058 — 1982, both engraved 'МС ВОЛНА-4 ЛОМО 1.4/50' (Abramov's page) 		Trial batches at LOMO in the early 1980s (Abramov); no figure published
  1. The specification is Abramov's: 24×36 mm, true focal length 53 mm, 44° field (45° by other data he cites), resolving power 45/25 lines/mm centre/edge (42/22 by other data), f/1.4–22, seven elements in six groups. His Kiev-17 page gives the lens as seven elements in five groups. LensTip's catalogue gives 7/6, f/22 and 45°, and names LOMO, Leningrad, as the maker.
  2. The 0.45 m closest focus is from the English translation of the Kiev-17 manual, which gives 0.5 m for the Helios-81M; AllPhotoLenses gives the same 0.45 m. The 52 mm filter thread is from AllPhotoLenses only, which also gives six aperture blades and a weight of 52.5 g, the last implausibly light for a 50mm f/1.4; no blade count or weight is entered above.
  3. Trial lens or kit lens. Abramov says the Volna-4 was never series-produced and was made in trial batches at Arsenal in 1977–1984 and at LOMO in the early 1980s. Yet the Kiev-17 manual and the Kiev-20 manual of 1984 both name it as a standard lens, Abramov gives it as the lens of the Almaz-102, the Almaz-101 and the Kiev-18, and serials survive from 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1984. Both are recorded: it was announced and supplied with cameras, but in small numbers that no source quantifies.
  4. Abramov's page heads the lens 'ЛОМО, з-д "Арсенал"', naming LOMO first; no source read says which plant calculated it, and none names a designer; LensTip lists LOMO as the maker. The entry files it under Arsenal, whose batches were the longer and which put it in the Kiev manuals.
  5. The Kiev-18, an Arsenal body with an electronic shutter from 4 s to 1/1000 and aperture priority, made only in small batches, is given the MC Volna-4 1,4/50 on Abramov's Kiev-18 page. His Volna-8N page also names the Kiev-18 among the bodies that lens was meant for.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Arsenal's and LOMO's 50mm f/1.4 of 1977 to the mid-1980s; the Volna-3 is an 80mm f/2.8 for the Kiev-88, the Volna-8N a 50mm f/1.2, the Volna-9 a 50mm f/2.8 macro and LOMO's MC Volna a 50mm f/1.8
  • Two mounts under one name: Arsenal's 'Н' (Nikon F) for the Kiev-17 and Kiev-20, and LOMO's 'К' (Pentax K) for the Almaz. Look at the mount and at the maker's name or logo on the front ring
  • Not the Helios-123, Arsenal's other 50mm f/1.4 for the same bodies, dated to 1990 by its serials and later sold as the Arsat H 1:1.4

Volna-4 (Arsenal, 'Н' bayonet, no letter after the number):

  • Front ring engraved 'ВОЛНА-4' in Cyrillic with the serial and the maker's logo, and no letter after the 4
  • Engraved either 1.4/50 or 1.4/53: on Abramov's page #770003 (1977) and an undated lens shown on a body read 1.4/50, #780012 (1978) and #840240 (1984) read 1.4/53
  • All-black barrel with a deeply knurled focusing ring; the undated 1.4/50 lens shown on a body on Abramov's page has a second, smaller row of f-numbers on the aperture ring, like a Nikon AI lens

MC Volna-4N (Arsenal, 'Н' bayonet):

  • Front ring engraved 'ВОЛНА-4Н 1.4/53', the 'Н' being the Cyrillic letter for Latin N; sellers write it 'Volna-4N' or 'Volna-4H'
  • Markings in orange as well as white on the barrel in the photograph on Abramov's page

MC Volna-4 (LOMO, 'К' bayonet):

  • Front ring engraved 'МС ВОЛНА-4' with 'ЛОМО' and the serial, where the Arsenal lenses carry a logo instead
  • Engraved 1.4/50; a bright metal rim round the front of the barrel on #820010 and #820058
  • The K bayonet at the rear, which fits a Pentax K body and not a Kiev; check the mount itself, because both makers' lenses are titled 'Volna-4'

Specifications

Formula
Seven elements in six groups (Abramov's Volna-4 page; his Kiev-17 page gives seven in five). True focal length 53 mm by Abramov; the lenses are engraved 1.4/50 or 1.4/53
Construction
7 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/1.4–f/22
Min. focus
0.45 m
Filter
52 mm
Years manufactured
1977–1984
Country
Soviet Union: Arsenal, Kyiv (the 'Н' bayonet lenses) and LOMO, Leningrad (the 'К' bayonet lenses)
Coating
Multicoated (МС) by AllPhotoLenses and by the names in the Kiev-20 manual (MC Volna-4N) and on Abramov's Almaz pages (MC Volna-4); the LOMO lenses photographed by Abramov are engraved МС, while the Arsenal lenses #770003, #780012 and #840240 carry no МС mark

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 Volna-4 is a fast standard lens, 50mm f/1.4 with a true focal length of 53 mm, made in two mounts in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Arsenal in Kyiv made it with the Nikon-type bayonet it called ‘Н’ for its Kiev-17 and Kiev-20 SLRs, and LOMO in Leningrad made it with the ‘К’ bayonet, the Pentax K mount, for its Almaz cameras. Georgy Abramov’s catalogue of Soviet lenses gives it seven elements in six groups, f/1.4 to f/22 and a 44° field, and the English translation of the Kiev-17 manual gives its closest focus as 0.45 m.

It matters as a lens that was announced as standard equipment yet made only in small numbers. The Kiev-17 manual offers the camera with either the Helios-81M 2/53 or the Volna-4, and the 1984 Kiev-20 manual, as Abramov quotes it, with the MC Helios-81N or the MC Volna-4N. LOMO’s Almaz-102, of which Abramov reports 63 made, had the MC Volna-4 as its standard lens. Yet Abramov says the lens was never series-produced: Arsenal made trial batches from 1977 to 1984 and LOMO in the early 1980s. The serials in Abramov’s and ussrcameras.ru’s photographs fit that: #770003, #780012, #790003 (on the Kiev-17M prototype), #800001 (on the Almaz-101 prototype), #820010, #820058 and #840240, all low numbers after their two-digit year prefix. AllPhotoLenses dates the lens 1978–1984 against Abramov’s 1977–1984; the 1977 serial supports Abramov.

The versions are told apart by the front ring. Arsenal’s lenses read ‘ВОЛНА-4’ in Cyrillic with a maker’s logo and no letter after the number, and are engraved either 1.4/50 (the 1977 lens and an undated one on Abramov’s page) or 1.4/53 (the 1978 and 1984 lenses); none of these carries an МС mark. At least one Arsenal lens reads ‘ВОЛНА-4Н’, the name the Kiev-20 manual uses, and sellers write that ‘Volna-4N’ or ‘Volna-4H’. LOMO’s lenses read ‘МС ВОЛНА-4’ with ‘ЛОМО’ on the ring and 1.4/50. The mount at the rear is the final test: an Arsenal lens fits a Nikon F body and a LOMO lens a Pentax K body, and neither fits the other without an adapter.

When buying, expect very few to be offered, and check the mount and the engraving against the description. The LOMO ‘К’ version will not go on a Kiev, and the Helios-123, Arsenal’s other 50mm f/1.4 for the same bodies, is a different lens, dated to 1990 by its serials. Date a lens by the first two digits of its serial. No hands-on review of the Volna-4 is cited here, so nothing is said about how it draws.

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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 Volna-4 50mm f/1.4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, EUR: a median of €25 across 3 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half €8–€25). 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 2026-11-10. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Sources (13)

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.