The mighty Salyut-S; Or how I learned to love a Hasselbladski

by Nick Orlof. December 18, 2019Updated July 31, 2021

While there were a number of different models made – see below – the
Soviet copy of Hasselblad’s 1600F modular camera is commonly known
as a Kiev, which was both a model name and a reference to it’s place of
manufacture, The Arsenal, or more correctly, the Arsenal State
Enterprise of Special Instrumentation in Kiev. Some folk call them
Hasselbladskis. 

Released in 1948, the Hasselblad 1600F – named for it’s fastest shutter

speed – was an early post-WWII effort by the company to build high-
quality cameras for the civilian market. The 1600F’s weak spot was its
focal plane shutter and while the second version, released in the early
1950’s was an improvement, the camera didn’t really come into its own
until, in 1957, they changed the focal plane shutter for a leaf version
when the first 500C model was released.

The Hasselblad 500C quickly became THE camera of choice for

professionals and well-to-do amateurs around the world, and the 500
series, in various models, remained in production until the late 1990s.

Around 1957, just as Hasselblad was switching to a leaf shutter, the

Soviets released their copy of the 1600F, the Salyut. They continued to
manufacture basically the same camera – as the Salyut, Salyut-S, Zenit-
80, Kiev-80 and finally the Kiev-88 and Kiev-88CM, which had a different
lens mount (Pentacon 6) to the earlier models, until the early 2000s

This article was originally planned as a shoot-out between my Salyut-S

— probably manufactured in 1973, I can only find one reference online
for serial numbers — and my 1994 Hasselblad 503CX: how they operate,
how the lenses compare, handling, usability, that sort of thing. I’m sure
you’ve read posts like that before.
But it felt too much like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

They don’t compare well, and to be fair to the engineers at the Arsenal
factory in Kiev (and who wouldn’t want a camera from an Arsenal? It’s
built like a tank) copied a flawed camera. Unlike the good folks at
Hasselblad, however, they stuck with the original crappy design.

Superficially the cameras look alike but while the Hasselblad has a
wonderful leaf shutter the Kiev’s is a monster of bronze coloured focal
plane curtain. Crash bang! This means the lenses for the Kiev are
cheaper, and also that the sync speed is 1/30 – in other words, this is an
available light camera. You should maybe forget about anything much
slower than 1/15 … the mirror belting up and back gives the entire
camera such a shake you’re not going to get a sharp image at slower
speeds. It’s a pity there isn’t a mirror lock-up gizmo on the early models
like mine, although this was added later.

But it’s got the Hasselblad’s modular design: basic box in the middle
holding the shutter and focusing screen, 120 and 220 film backs (all
seem to leak light some of the time – but more on that later), waist level
and prism viewfinders…and a nice selection of lenses, from fisheye (I
tried to take mine apart to clean it. Don’t) to a very heavy 250mm
telephoto which is roughly the same focal length as a 150mm lens on
35mm camera.
I bought mine – body, back, waist level finder and 80mm f/2.8 lens –
because I wanted to try medium format but I didn’t want to spend too
much “in case I didn’t enjoy it” … I did enjoy it, and of course GAS sort
of took over. I needed a second back (one for B&W and one for colour,
or two different speed B&W films for the same shoot) and a prism finder.
I’m more than capable of using the waist level finder but on the Kiev, it’s
a bit like looking down a mineshaft, unlike a Hasselblad, which are
wonderfully bright and easy to use.

You might be interested in...

I saw a couple of lenses on a trip to Singapore – a 60mm and a 120mm

– in the window of a camera shop with a note on the door saying they
were shut for a few days. “Hmm, that 120mm would be great for
shooting portraits” I said to no one in particular.

Back home I tried to contact the shop. Not easy. Two weeks later,
thanks to a Singapore-based film shooters blog, I reached the owner
through WhatsApp. All I wanted was the 120mm lens. But I think I
might have been the first person to enquire about anything Kiev for
quite some time, if ever, and after a little back and forth a couple of
kilograms of Zeiss Jenna glass was being shipped from Singapore to
Australia. 60mm, 80mm, 120mm, 250mm, and the aforementioned (now
garbage) fisheye.
They’re great, but I learnt very quickly not to shoot wide open, the
results are way too soft. But stop down to f/5.6 and beyond and things
get interesting:

I have two backs, both leak light, so now – thanks to some advice from
EM – I slather mine with duct tape before use. Which means the dark
slide is out the whole time. Doesn’t really have an impact.

This helps, but I still get light leaks. Sometimes. Sometimes half the roll
is messed up and half not.

I’ve had the camera CLAed: it was too expensive to have it done locally
so my Kiev went to hospital in … wait for it … KIEV!

Gevorg at ARAX did a great job and if you’re thinking about buying a

Kiev – remember, they’re cheaper than a ‘blad – I’d suggest buying one
of Arax’s serviced and rebuilt models, not something with unknown
provenance from eBay.

The camera was returned with a wonderful set of instructions that seem
to sum up the entire Kiev experience, very Eastern European, that all
start with NEVER: Never change the shutter speed if the shutter isn’t
cocked; Never try to remove the film magazine without the darkslide in
place; Never do any actions – cocking shutter, magazine removal, etc –
when the shutter release button is pressed, even slightly; Never .. well
I’m sure you get the idea.
Overall I enjoy using the camera, although at times it feels like a battle
to end up with usable images … I wouldn’t ever shoot something
“important” with it – that’s what the Hasselblad is for, or one of my
digital cameras – but for messing about it’s great.

And there’s something quite wonderful in the “crash, bang!” noise the
mirror & shutter make.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Salyut-C (Salut-S / Салют-C) is a medium format camera. It is a

reflex camera with a viewfinder. The design of the camera is „inspired“
by the Hasselblad cameras (Hasselblad 1000F/ 1600F). The Arsenal
company built it from 1972 to 1980 in the Soviet Union. Later the model
was replaced by the Kiev 88, which got a hot shoe.

The lenses of the Salyut-C are interchangeable. Lenses with a Salyut B

mount can be used. They are often found with an 80 mm lens. This
corresponds to a normal focal length on a 35 mm camera. There is no
autofocus with the medium format camera. You have to manually focus
on the subject.

The camera cannot measure the correct exposure because it does not
have a light meter. The aperture and exposure time can be freely
adjusted by the photographer. The Salyut-C has a bulb mode. An
external flash can be used via the PC flash socket.

Films for the Salyut-C

The film is exposed in 6×6 format. A 35mm film can hold around 36
photos. When taking pictures with the medium format camera, a film
change is due after only 12 pictures. The film in the camera must be
rewound manually because there is no automatic film transport. The
backs of the Salyut are interchangeable. So you can also switch between
different films in the middle of the roll.

The Salyut-C has a cable release and a tripod thread. Normally the
camera comes with a viewfinder. This can also be exchanged.

The medium format camera can only be found used. The used price
varies depending on condition and functionality.

Attractions and problems of Kiev medium format cameras

The low price of the Kiev medium format cameras has attracted many
amateur photographers wishing to enter the medium format camera
market on a budget. Some have reported that the prices of a
Kiev Hasselblad-type camera setup with
other Russian or Ukrainian components, such as lenses, viewfinders and
film magazines, can be just a fraction of the price of a
similar Hasselblad setup.

On the other hand, prices of Pentacon Six cameras are comparable to

prices of its Ukrainian counterparts. One of the reasons for the lasting
demand for these cameras is the price of the lenses that can be used on
them. Despite the cheap price (compared to Pentacon Six mount lenses
from other manufacturers) the Kiev lenses are optically excellent, with
many of the lenses being based on Carl Zeiss Jena designs.

Historically, the Arsenal plant is reported to have generally poor quality

control and some buyers have reported receiving cameras with small
cosmetic or functional defects. Many of the less favorable reviews come
from people comparing the camera directly to the more expensive
Hasselblad models. The quality control seems to have fluctuated
throughout different years of production though, and thus varies from
camera to camera. It's important to note that Hasselblad-like Kiev
cameras are based on camera designs even Hasselblad gave up on.
Having poor quality control only made things worse.

For this reason, a number of third party distributors have appeared

offering Kiev cameras in improved, quality controlled forms. However,
some have taken advantage of the Arsenal plant's variable quality to add
value through varying levels of third-party rebuilding, modification, and
testing of the Arsenal-supplied cameras.

The cameras, however, still have a number of quirks that no simple

servicing will remove. The most notable quirk is that the shutter speed
on some of the original Hasselblad-like Kiev cameras should only be
changed after cocking the shutter (spring-loading the shutter mechanism
and advancing the film). Changing the shutter speed on an un-cocked
camera will damage the timing mechanism.[10] This is not a problem
with the Pentacon Six-based Kiev and Kiev 88CM variants. There are
also mixed reports that the shutter speed dial should be turned only
clockwise, never counter-clockwise. This is certainly known to be an
issue with some cameras modified by Hartblei to add a mirror lock-up
(MLU) feature. Other cameras may or may not have this problem, so
special care is advised.
Common modifications of Kiev medium format cameras

Kiev 60 modified for the 6×4.5 frame and MLU with Arsat 30mm Fisheye
lens

The vendors that sell Kiev cameras outside of the former Soviet

Union often make their own modifications to the cheap and basic
cameras coming from the factory.

Mirror lock-up is a feature that can be added to these cameras. This

removes the small amount of motion blur that can be caused by the
mirror hitting the top of the mirror box just before the shutter opens,
however, other sources of motion-blur still remain. This is most useful
when the subject is greatly magnified (when using long or telephoto
lens) or with macro photography. Some of these cameras have a really
strong mirror slap, creating motion blur even when not shooting
handheld, so MLU is a really useful feature if you tend to use the slower
shutter speeds.

The Pentacon Six-based Kievs are sometimes modified to shoot with a

6x4.5 frame size, often called Kiev 645 or similar, yielding more pictures
per roll of film in a "print-friendly" rectangular format versus the original
camera's square 6x6 format. But since the film feeds sideways, the
6x4.5 variant produces photos in the portrait aspect, as opposed to
the landscape aspect seen in most other cameras. On the other hand,
the Hasselblad-based Kievs can shoot the 6x4.5 frame size by simply
using a different film back. The 6x4.5 film back is interchangeable with
6x6 backs on others, for example instant film backs,[11] while
the Pentacon Six-based Kiev frame size modifications are permanent.

The original Pentacon Six lens mount on the Kiev 88CM accepts all the
lenses from Arsenal, but has trouble accepting some other lenses, for
example Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnars for Pentacon Six. It is, however,
possible to overcome this issue by third party modifications that allow
Kiev 88CM to accept all the lenses made for Pentacon Six lens mount.
Kievs cameras utilizing Hasselblad-like screw mount can be modified
to Pentacon Six lens mount, which is more desirable because of the
greater amount on lenses available. Since the register distance of the
new mount is shorter than the original one, the mount is located inside
the camera body and allows to use all existing screw-mount lenses with
an adapter - this is desirable, if we already own screw-mount lenses but
want to modify the lens mount to extend the lens options. In that case,
we don't have to buy all the same lenses with a different mount.

Lenses

Lenses made for Kiev medium format cameras

Name Lens mount Focal length Maximum Aperture
Zodiak-8 B, V 30mm f/3.5
Mir-26 B, V 45mm f/3.5
Mir-3 B, V 65mm f/3.5
Mir-38 B, V 65mm f/3.5
Industar-29 V 80mm f/2.8
Volna-3 B, V 80mm f/2.8
Vega-2 V 85mm f/2.8
Vega-12 B, V 90mm f/2.8
Industar-56 V 110mm f/2.8
Vega-28 V 120mm f/2.8
Kaleinar-3 B, V 150mm f/2.8
Jupiter-36 B, V 250mm f/3.5
Telear-4 B, V 250mm f/3.5
Telear-5 B, V 250mm f/5.6
Tiar-33 B, V 300mm f/4.5
Arsat B 500mm f/5.6
ZM-3 B, V 600mm f/8.0

Lenses for Kiev medium format cameras come in two different lens
mounts - mount B and mount V (be careful, in Cyrillic В actually
represents V with Б being B as we know it). Mount B represents
the Pentacon Six mount lenses and V represents Salyut screw-mount.
Most of the lenses were made in both mounts, but some are exclusive to
just one of them - refer to the table above.

In the 1990s, the lenses were all renamed to Arsat, making harder to
distinguish them from one another, but optically, they are one of the
lenses listed above. When the lenses were renamed, mount designations
were changed. Pentacon Six mount lenses were renamed to Arsat C
where screw-mount lenses kept the letter B.
Among the best regarded is the Zodiak-8 fisheye lens. This lens is
reputedly quite good mechanically and excellent optically, which is
stunning since one would have to spend many thousands of dollars to
get a non-Ukrainian equivalent lens of this type.[12]

Shift and Tilt-Shift lenses made by third-parties, based on the 45mm

and 65mm optics are also available. These lenses allow photographers to
take advantage of the Scheimpflug principle for achieving greater
apparent depth of field without adjusting the aperture, and gain other
controls similar to those found on view cameras.

Specifications

 Film format: 120 roll, picture size 6x6cm

 Lens: Arsenal Vega-12 B 90mm f/2.8, semi-automatic, interchangeable (standard
lens)
 Mount: Salyut B mount (Hasselblad 1600 type), filter thread 58mm
 Aperture: f/2.8 - f/22,
 Focus range: 0.6 - 10m, +inf.
 Lens release: A button on left front side of the camera
 The shutter must be released before changing lenses to prevent damage
to the lens
 Focusing: Fresnel ground glass screen
 Shutter: Horizontal focal plane metallic curtain, speeds: 30 -1 /1000, + B
 Setting: Combined with cocking knob, push-out and turn the knob
clockwise only
 When changing shutter speeds, to prevent damage to the shutter
system, the shutter must be cocked firstly
 Cocking knob: Also winds the film, on the right side of the camera
 When cocking and film winding there are some odd noises, this is normal
 Warning signal windows: For shutter cock/release, and film non exposed/exposed,
red or white, two, on the magazine and on the body, in foremost of the counter
 Viewfinder: Waist level finder with loupe, interchangeable
 Mirror: Not instant-return
 Flash PC socket: w/ X and FP settings dial, synch. 1/30
 Back cover: As a film magazine, interchangeable
 Dark-slide: Metallic, the slot is on the left side of the camera
 Dark-slide must be removed for cocking the shutter
 Dark-slide must be in its slot for removing of the film magazine
 Film loading: Via a special sliding-off part from the Film magazine, removing by a
pop-up semi-circle lever, on the left side of the magazine;
 Winding to the first frame: By turning the semi-circle pop-up lever on the
right side of the film magazine
 Install the newly loaded film magazine when the shutter cocked and
dark-slide in its place only
 Others: Tripod sockets two, 3/8inch; Strap buttons; Memory dial; Red window
 Serial no. stamped on the back side of the body, first two digits of the serial number
indicate the production year