Salyut

A medium format 6x6 SLR system created on the basis of Hasselblad developments and produced by the Arsenal Plant (Kiev, USSR). Like the prototype, the cameras of this system had interchangeable pentaprisms, interchangeable cassettes, and even a Polaroid back was available.

THE CAMERAS:

• Salyut (for export: KIEV 80, ZENITH 80) - the Soviet Hasselblad 1600F copy;
• Salyut-S (for export: KIEV 80, ZENITH 80) - as the Salyut, but with support for automatic aperture;
• Kiev-88 - a modernized Salyut-S with an improved viewfinder hood and a hot shoe. After a TTL prism finder was developed for this camera, it became known as Kiev-88 TTL.

THE LENSES:

For a long time, only the standard lens (semi-automatic Industar-29 for the Salyut or fully-automatic Vega-12 for the Salyut-S) and two accessory lenses (Mir-3 wide-angle, Tair-33 telephoto) were available in the system. Both of accessory models were considered unsuccessful by professional photographers. The range of accessory lenses began to be expanded only in 1978 or later.