ZM-3 600mm f/8 mirror
Arsenal · Pentacon Six · 1974
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: ZM-3 600mm · ZM-3 600mm f/8 · ZM-3B 600mm · ZM-3B 600mm f/8 · ZM-3B 8/600 · ZM-3B 600 · 3M-3B 600 · 3M-3B 8/600 · ZM 3B 600mm · ZM3B 600mm · 3M-3B 600mm · 3M-3B 600mm f/8 · 3M 3B 600mm · M-3B 600mm · Arsat ZM-3B 600mm · Arsat ZM 3b 600mm · Arsat 3M-3B 600mm · Arsenal ZM-3B 600mm · Arsenal 600mm f/8 mirror · Kiev 600mm f/8 mirror · Kiev 3M-3B 600mm · ZM-3V 600mm · ЗМ-3 · ЗМ-3Б · ЗМ-3В
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluted focusing ring, rotating tripod collar (example dated 1974) | Pentacon Six | — | — | — |
| Studded focusing ring, fixed tripod foot (example dated 1981) | Pentacon Six | — | — | — |
- Figures from TRA's lens table (pentaconsix.com, RussUkrdata): f/8 fixed, angle of view 7.5°, closest focus 6.0 m, front thread M98 × 1, rear thread M52 × 0.75, 115 × 195 mm, 2,200 g. Araxfoto's specification table gives 600 mm, f/8 fixed, 7.5°, 6.0 m, a 52 mm filter and 2.64 kg; TRA's transcription of the same table, downloaded in October 2010, shows 8° rather than 7.5°. The two weights disagree and neither source says how its figure was obtained; the structured weight on this page is TRA's.
- The 6 m closest focus is the published figure; TRA's two examples are marked just under 6 m (1974) and 8 m (1981).
- The 600 mm focal length is the maker's figure. TRA notes that the 500 mm lenses and this lens are given the same 7.5° angle of view, which cannot both be right, and reports that in his tests the ZM-3 frames substantially tighter than the Arsat APO 500 and the Pentacon 500, but less tightly than the two LZOS Rubinar 500 mm mirror lenses, which he found closer to 600 mm than 500 mm.
- The year is that of the earliest example whose serial number is reported (TRA's lens of 1974; the first two digits of the serial give the year). TRA estimates from serials that the lens was made at irregular intervals over about twenty years. No launch or end date from a maker source was found.
- A Kiev-88 mount version (ЗМ-3В, ZM-3V) appears in the lens tables of the English Wikipedia article on Kiev cameras (ZM-3, mounts B and V) and of the Russian Wikipedia article on the Salyut (ЗМ-3В among the bayonet-V lenses). TRA, by contrast, names this mirror lens as a possible exception to the rule that the Arsenal lenses were made in both mounts, and Araxfoto's table lists it only as ZM-3B. No Kiev-88 mount example, photograph or maker document was found, so it is not given a variant here.
- Maker: TRA and Araxfoto describe the lens as Arsenal's, and TRA's 1981 example carries the Arsenal logo. Araxfoto says the optics of the Kiev medium-format lenses were made both at Arsenal and at affiliated plants elsewhere in the USSR. A 2025 Catawiki seller titled the lens 'Kiev, LZOS Litkarino'; no other source names LZOS for it.
How to tell them apart
- Engraved ZM-3B or 3M-3B: the first character is the Cyrillic З (Z), which on some name rings is cut like the numeral 3; a correspondent of TRA's expands ЗМ as Zerkalny Maksutova (Maksutov mirror lens). The final letter is the Cyrillic Б, the Latin B, which on Arsenal lenses means the Pentacon Six / Kiev 60 breech-lock mount
- Every confirmed example is in the Pentacon Six mount: three bayonet lugs at the rear. A Kiev-88 mount lens would end in a coarse thread instead and would be marked В (Latin V), which Western sellers often transliterate as B; check the mount, not the letter
- Fixed f/8 with no diaphragm and no stop-down lever; exposure is set by shutter speed or ND filter in the 52 mm rear holder
- A barrel about 115 mm across and 195 mm long weighing over 2 kg, with its own 3/8-inch tripod socket; the front rotates when focusing
Fluted focusing ring, rotating tripod collar (example dated 1974):
- Wide focusing ring with fine straight fluting running along the barrel, not the studded pattern
- Rotating, lockable tripod collar with a chrome locking knob on the left seen from the front, and a fixed ribbed section behind it
- No Arsenal logo on the name ring; the first letter of the name is shaped like a Latin Z, so the ring reads ZM-3B
- Long narrow rear section: 19.3 mm at about 72 mm diameter behind the 115 mm barrel, enough to clear the Exakta 66's forward-projecting Schneider TTL prism
- Short focusing travel: about 4 mm of extension from infinity to closest focus; focuses past infinity; closest distance marked just under 6 m
- Full 98 × 1 mm front thread, which takes an adapter ring for a lens hood
Studded focusing ring, fixed tripod foot (example dated 1981):
- Diamond or pyramid studded focusing ring, the finish shown in the 1989 Technointorg export catalogue
- Tripod foot fixed to the barrel: no rotating collar and no chrome locking knob
- Arsenal logo on the name ring; the first letter shaped like the numeral 3, so the ring reads 3M-3B as in the 1989 catalogue
- Rear plate held by visible screws; the narrow rear section is only 10.67 mm long, so the back of the lens fouls the Exakta 66 metering prism
- Longer focusing travel: extends about 27 mm from infinity to closest focus, and closest distance is marked 8 m
- The front thread stops a couple of millimetres short of the front edge; TRA warned in November 2008 that most of the 'new' 3M-3B lenses occasionally offered for sale have no front filter thread
- Fluted focusing ring, rotating tripod collar (example dated 1974): TRA bought this example, whose serial number dates it to 1974; he says it looks brand new. It came with an unlabelled 52 mm × 0.75 filter fitted in the rear holder and a metal front cap like that of his 150 mm Kaleinar, but no hood. He reports that it mounts on the Pentacon Six (and so the Praktisix), the Kiev 60 (and so the Kiev 6S), his Kiev 88 converted to the Pentacon Six mount, and the Exakta 66 even with the TTL prism in place. Its cosmetic finish does not match the lens shown in the 1989 Technointorg catalogue, which has the studded ribbing of the later type.
- Studded focusing ring, fixed tripod foot (example dated 1981): TRA's second example, dated 1981 by its serial number. The barrel diameter, the rear 52 mm filter holder, the front cap and the design of the tripod plate match the 1974 lens. TRA suggests the fixed foot simplified manufacture, or that a rotating collar was judged unnecessary on a square-format camera. He found no pattern in which finish a given year carries: serials he has seen show the fluted and studded styles alternating, which he puts down to stored parts from earlier batches being used up later.
Specifications
- Formula
- Catadioptric (mirror lens); a Moscow correspondent of TRA's expands ZM as Zerkalny Maksutova, a mirror lens by Maksutov, whom he names as its designer. No element count published
- Aperture range
- f/8
- Min. focus
- 6 m
- Dimensions
- 115 × 195 mm
- Weight
- 2200 g
- Filter
- 52 mm (0.75 mm pitch), 52 mm rear screw-in holder; 98 × 1 front thread on early lenses
- Country
- Soviet Union (Arsenal, Kiev; Ukraine from 1991)
What reviewers say
- TRA (The Pentacon Six System) (blog) — In a side-by-side test against the Pentacon and Arsat APO 500s, two Rubinars and 250 mm lenses with converters, the ZM-3 covered the 6×6 frame evenly into the corners, resolved superbly at the point of focus and showed no colour fringing; the 250 mm Telear with a 2× converter was no match for it.
- TRA (The Pentacon Six System), first impressions (blog) — Capable of extremely sharp pictures with very little depth of field, so focusing must be exact; sun reflected off water produced unacceptable arc-shaped flare, and he concludes the lens needs an efficient hood, which he fitted through a custom 98 mm adapter ring.
History
The ZM-3B is a 600 mm f/8 mirror lens that Arsenal in Kiev made in the Pentacon Six breech-lock mount for its Kiev 6S and Kiev 60, and which therefore also fits the Praktisix, Pentacon Six, Exakta 66 and the Kiev-88CM. It is the longest lens in TRA’s table of Russian and Ukrainian lenses for the Kiev 60, and one of the scarcest. TRA, whose Pentacon Six site is the main record of the lens, calls it extremely rare in his lens table, though in his 2007 tests he called it “reasonably rare” and noted that a Kiev seller on eBay routinely offered it. He writes that it was made in small runs separated by gaps of many years. Judging by serial numbers, whose first two digits give the year, he puts production at irregular intervals over about twenty years; the earliest example he reports is dated 1974. The name is often written 3M-3B because the Cyrillic З is cut like a 3 on some rings. A Moscow correspondent told TRA in 2024 that ZM stands for Zerkalny Maksutova, “mirror-type by Maksutov”, and that Maksutov designed the lens. The Б at the end is the Cyrillic B, Arsenal’s letter for the Pentacon Six mount.
The published figures come from two tables that mostly agree. TRA gives f/8 fixed, 7.5°, 6 m closest focus, a 98 × 1 mm front thread, a 52 mm × 0.75 rear filter thread, 115 × 195 mm and 2,200 g. Araxfoto, the Kiev dealer, gives the same aperture, angle, distance and 52 mm filter but 2.64 kg (TRA’s 2010 copy of its table shows 8° rather than 7.5°). Neither says how its weight was arrived at. TRA also doubts the focal length. The 500 mm lenses are published with the same 7.5° angle, which cannot be right for both, and in his tests the ZM-3 framed tighter than the Pentacon and Arsat 500s but looser than two LZOS Rubinar 500s. As a mirror lens it has no diaphragm and no stop-down lever. A filter screws into a holder at the rear, and an ND filter there is the only way to cut the light.
TRA compared two examples, dated 1974 and 1981, and they differ in more than finish. The 1974 lens has a fluted focusing ring and a rotating tripod collar locked by a chrome knob. Its name ring reads ZM-3B with no logo, and it focuses through only about 4 mm of travel, slightly past infinity, to just under 6 m. Its narrow rear section is long enough to clear the forward-projecting TTL prism of the Exakta 66. The 1981 lens has the studded ring shown in the 1989 Technointorg export catalogue, a tripod foot fixed to the barrel, and the Arsenal logo. Its name ring reads 3M-3B. It extends 27 mm while focusing, is marked to 8 m, and its shorter rear section fouls the Exakta 66 metering prism. TRA found no pattern in which finish a given year has: the two styles alternate across the serials he has seen. He also warned in 2008 that most of the “new” lenses occasionally offered for sale have no front filter thread, which leaves no easy way to mount a hood.
A Kiev-88 version in the Salyut thread-and-bayonet mount, ЗМ-3В, appears in the lens tables of the English and Russian Wikipedia articles on the Kiev cameras. TRA lists the mirror lens as a possible exception to Arsenal’s habit of making each lens in both mounts, and Araxfoto lists only the ZM-3B. No Kiev-88 mount example has turned up in the sources consulted here. A Kiev 88 takes the lens only after conversion to the Pentacon Six mount, as TRA’s Brenner-converted body did. A seller offering a ZM-3V should be asked to show the mount. Western sellers often write B for the Cyrillic В, so the letter alone does not settle it: a Pentacon Six lens has three bayonet lugs, a Kiev-88 lens a coarse thread.
TRA’s tests explain why the lens is wanted. On 6×6 it covered the frame evenly into the corners, which neither Rubinar did, and it resolved superbly at the point of focus with no colour fringing. Shot towards sun reflected off water, though, it threw arc-shaped flare, so a hood is not optional. TRA fitted a Hasselblad Professional shade through a custom 98-to-86 mm ring, which only works on lenses with the full front thread. When buying, check that the rear filter or an equivalent is in place, since the lens is designed with glass there. Look at the tripod socket, because the lens is too heavy to hang from the camera’s own socket. Make sure the infinity stop is reached, and check which rear section you are getting if the lens is meant for an Exakta 66. Auction prices are those of a rarity: a Catawiki lot titled “Kiev, LZOS Litkarino ЗМ-3B 8/600mm”, with the same description each time, closed in May and again in July 2025, and the Barnebys aggregator shows hammer prices of US$794.33 and US$824.54. Barnebys does not say why the same lot was offered twice. The LZOS attribution is that seller’s alone.
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
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