Pentacon Six mount

The Pentacon Six mount (commonly abbreviated to P6, or СМ in Cyrillic) is a breech-lock bayonet lens mount originally used by several medium format single-lens reflex cameras from East Germany.

The lens mount was originally designed by Carl Zeiss Jena and Kamera Werkstätten (KW) for the Praktisix camera. KW later merged with several other companies to become VEB Pentacon; the Praktisix was improved and renamed the Pentacon Six. This camera was manufactured for a much longer time (almost 40 years) and exported widely; hence the lens mount became associated most with the Pentacon Six name, rather than the original Praktisix.

Variants

Original

The P6 mount is a simple bayonet mount. It has three short tabs on the lens; they are identical and correct orientation is assured by the placement of a post in front of the "top" tab. A pin holds the diaphragm open for fully-open metering and focusing; this pin is released before the shutter is opened.

The lens is inserted into the front of the camera and is held in place by a rotating collar.

This variant is seen on the Praktisix, Pentacon Six, and Kiev 60.

Exakta 66

The Exakta 66 added a TTL metered prism coupled to the shutter speed dial on the camera body and the aperture ring on the lens. It did this by projecting slightly over the front of the camera, allowing a rotating cam on the specially designed Schneider lenses to tell it what aperture setting was selected. And for lenses with a maximum aperture other than f/|2.8, a separate pin projects from the lens to the prism to tell it the maximum aperture.cite web | url=http://www.pentaconsix.com/Prisms.htm | title=Prisms | work=The Pentacon Six System | author=TRA | accessdate=2008-09-02]

Kiev 88 modifications

The Kiev 88 is essentially a clone of the first Hasselblad - the 1600F/1000F. Like the Hasselblad, it has a threaded lens mount and Kiev-Arsenal manufactured its lens range in both the Pentacon Six mount (for the Kiev 60) and the Kiev 88 screw mount. However, there was interest in using Pentacon Six mount lenses from Carl Zeiss Jena and others on the "Hasselbladski". Thus various third-parties worked to machine a P6-compatible lens mount into the Kiev 88. A major issue was the fact that the Kiev 88 has a much greater flange focal distance than the Pentacon Six, requiring the lens to be recessed into the front of the modified Kiev 88. This caused physical clearance issues with some lenses, particularly the Exakta 66 lenses with their extra pin meant to couple the lens to the TTL prism.

A consequence of these early modifications was that the lens mount became twist-lock instead of breach-lock; the lens is inserted and turned.

Kiev 88СМ

The Kiev 88СМ is a later version of the Kiev 88 manufactured with a P6 mount from the factory. Like the earlier Kiev 88 modifications, the lens is recessed in the front of the camera body. However it returns to the breach-lock origins of the mount. It has an "internal" collar that is turned by a tab accessible from the front of the camera.

Cameras

From KW/Pentacon:
* Praktisix
* Pentacon Six

From Ihagee Kamerawerk:
* Exakta 66

From Kiev-Arsenal:
* Kiev 60
* Modified Kiev 88's
* Kiev 88СМ

Adaptors are also available. They allow the use of P6 lenses on Mamiya 645, Pentax 645 and Contax 645 medium format cameras, as well as Canon EF, Canon FD, Nikon F, Minolta AF, Minolta MD, Contax/Yashica, Pentax K, M42, and Leica R 35 mm cameras. There are also tilt and shift (but not both) adaptors for most of the 35 mm lens mounts, making use of the larger imaging circle to allow control over perspective or focus.

Lenses

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Pentacon

From East Germany, originally Meyer-Optik.cite web | url=http://www.pentaconsix.com/P6data.htm | title=East German lenses for the Pentacon Six | work=The Pentacon Six System | author=TRA | accessdate=2008-10-04]
* 1:4.0 300 mm Orestegor
* 1:5.6 500 mm Orestegor

Carl Zeiss Jena

From East Germany.
* 1:4.0 50 mm Flektogon
* 1:2.8 65 mm Flektogon
* 1:2.8 80 mm Tessar
* 1:2.8 80 mm Biometar
* 1:2.8 120 mm Biometar
* 1:2.8 180 mm Sonnar
* 1:4.0 300 mm Sonnar
* 1:5.6 1000 mm (catadioptric)

Schneider Kreuznach

From West Germany, for the Exakta 66. [cite web | url=http://www.pentaconsix.com/Schneiderdata.htm | title=Joseph Schneider lenses for the Exakta 66 | work=The Pentacon Six System | author=TRA | accessdate=2008-10-04]
* 1:4.0 40 mm Curtagon MF
* 1:4.5 55 mm Super-Angulon MF
* 1:3.5 60 mm Curtagon MF
* 1:2.8 80 mm Xenotar MF
* 1:2.8 80 mm Biometar
* 1:2.8 80 mm Exakta
* 1:4.0 150 mm Tele-Xenar
* 1:5.6 250 mm Tele-Xenar MF
* 1:4.5 75-150 mm Variogon MF
* 1:5.6 140-280 mm Variogon MF

Kiev-Arsenal

From Ukraine. [cite web | url=http://www.pentaconsix.com/RussUkrdata.htm | title=Russian & Ukrainian lenses for the Kiev 60 | work=The Pentacon Six System | author=TRA | accessdate=2008-10-04] cite web | url=http://www.pentaconsix.com/shfttdat.htm | title=shift & tilt lens data | work=The Pentacon Six System | author=TRA | accessdate=2008-10-04]
* 1:3.5 30 mm Zodiak-8B (fisheye)
* 1:3.5 45 mm Mir-26B
* 1:3.5 45 mm Mir-69B (extremely rare)
* 1:4.5 55 mm Arsat shift
* 1:3.5 65 mm Mir-3B
* 1:3.5 65 mm Mir-38B
* 1:2.8 80 mm Volna-3
* 1:2.8 90 mm Vega-12
* 1:2.8 120 mm Vega-28B
* 1:2.8 150 mm Kaleinar-3B
* 1:3.5 250 mm Jupiter-36B
* 1:5.6 250 mm Telear-5B
* 1:4.5 300 mm Tair-33
* 1:5.6 500 mm Arsat APO MC
* 1:8.0 600 mm 3M-3B (catadioptric)

Hartblei

From Ukraine. [cite web | url=http://www.pentaconsix.com/Schneiderdata.htm | title=Joseph Schneider lenses for the Exakta 66 | work=The Pentacon Six System | author=TRA | accessdate=2008-10-04]
* 1:3.5 45 mm shift
* 1:3.5 45 mm tilt/shift
* 1:3.5 45 mm Super-Rotator tilt/shift
* 1:3.5 65 mm shift
* 1:3.5 65 mm tilt/shift

Kilfitt

From West Germany.cite web | url=http://www.pentaconsix.com/Kilfittdata.htm | title=Kilfitt/ Zoomar Kilar lenses for the Pentacon Six | work=The Pentacon Six System | author=TRA | accessdate=2008-10-04]
* 1:2.8 90 mm Macro-Kilar
* 1:3.5 150 mm Kilar
* 1:5.6 300 mm Tele-Kilar
* 1:4.0 300 mm Pan-Tele-Kilar
* 1:5.6 400 mm Fern-Kilar
* 1:4.0 400 mm Sport-Fern-Kilar
* 1:5.6 600 mm Sport-Fern-Kilar

Zoomar

From the United States.
* 1:5.6 500 mm Zoomar Reflectar (catadioptric)
* 1:8.0 1000 mm Zoomar Reflectar (catadioptric)
* 1:4.0 170-320 mm Zoomar

Novoflex

From West Germany.cite web | url=http://www.pentaconsix.com/Novoastrodata.htm | title=Novoflex & Astro lenses for the Pentacon Six | work=The Pentacon Six System | author=TRA | accessdate=2008-10-04]
* 1:5.6 240 mm Novoflexar
* 1:5.6 500 mm Tele Novoflexar

Astro

From West Germany.
* 1:2.0 150 mm Color-Astrar
* 1:2.3 150 mm Astro-Tachar
* 1:1.8 150 mm Astro-Tachar
* 1:3.5 200 mm Astro-Telestan
* 1:3.5 300 mm Astro-Telestan
* 1:4.5 500 mm Astro-Telestan
* 1:5.0 640 mm Astro-Fernbild
* 1:5.0 800 mm Astro-Fernbild
* 1:6.3 1000 mm Astro-Fernbild
* 1:10.0 2000 mm Astro-Telestan

References

External links

* [http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Pentacon_Six_mount Pentacon Six mount] at camerapedia