Review of World-1B

Lens Instance Mir-1V 2.8 / 37 from this review was released in 1985 on Vologda plant. Unlike some of his brothers, the lens has yellow lens enlightenment.

Mir-1V view of the lens

Mir-1V view of the lens

TTX Mir-1V:
Focal length: 37mm
Aperture limits: F2.8-F16
Number of lenses / groups: 6 elements in 5 groups
MDF: 70cm
The weight: 240g
Number of aperture blades: 8
Mount: M42 thread
Front Filter Diameter: 49mm
Resolution according to technical specifications (center / region): 45/23 lines / mm
Light transmittance: 0,78

Dimensions of the Mir-1V and Helios-81N lens

Dimensions of the Mir-1V and Helios-81N lens

The first thing that surprises is that the lens is very small and compact, there are three control rings on the lens, therefore it looks rather strange. The focusing ring has a pronounced similarity to the nut due to the clear edges.

In 1958, Mir-1 (under M39) received the Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Brussels, and in 1959 Mir-1 was awarded the II Degree Diploma of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements of the USSR. Honestly, I don't know how prestigious it is, but nowadays lenses do not have the same quality as receiving awards. Some charm has been lost, and it is very pleasant to use the lens that has the “Name”. The lens was copied from Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm F2.8, they say that there was even an FK (Flektogon Krasnogorsky) F2,8 37 mm lens, which later, in fact, became the MIR-1 lens.

Sample photo on Mir-1V

Sample photo on Mir-1V

Modifications:

You can find a lot of lens modifications, for example such a. They have the same optical design, but different frames and enlightenment. Basically, you can often find such instances:

World 1 thread M39 or M42 for SLR cameras.
World-1 Automatic under the SLR cameras Kiev-10, -15.
Mir-1Ts for SLR cameras Zenit-4.
Mir-1A with interchangeable shank. Using an interchangeable shank, you can hook the lens without losing infinity to Nikon or Kenon.
Mir-1V - lens variant from this review. Yellow enlightenment and a slightly different frame.
Mir-1Sh special budget option.
Mir-1-R special budget option, it’s very well written about them on the website of Sergey Elizarov in the section MIR-1.

Sample photos on World 1 B

Sample photos on World 1 B

Advantages:

  1. Like any other old Soviet lens - Mir-1B is made glass and metal, because he will serve for a very long time, but with careful handling - forever. And it’s simple, working with a well-assembled lens is much more pleasant than with cheap Chinese plastic. Now it’s very fashionable to write in the lens reviews that the lens has a metal mount. But in the old Soviet and indeed in the old manual lenses of all countries of the world - the entire body is made of metal alloy, in the extreme case it has several plastic parts.
  2. I repeat, but Mir-1V is perfect and full frame and cropped cameras and other, smaller formats. This is important because many Soviet optics enthusiasts use it on cropped digital SLR and mirrorless cameras, and after upgrading to full format, they can continue to use this lens.
  3. The lens has aperture preset ring. An irreplaceable thing for manual lenses. Pointed at aperture 2.8, and at the time of shooting, closed the aperture to the desired value. But there is one but described in the flaws.
  4. When used on Nikon DX cameras, the viewing angle will be equal to the viewing angle for the lens in 55.5mm in full frame. That is, the lens almost turns into a standard fifty dollars on the crop.
  5. Gives an interesting picture.
Bokeh is not MIR-1 V

Bokeh is not MIR-1 V

Disadvantages:

  1. Very not convenient focus ring. The ring is located near the lens mount to the camera. Also, the focus distance indicators are very poorly visible, as they are located even closer to the focus ring. And even worse, the aperture control ring is much larger and wider and is located almost in the middle of the lens. Personally, I often, instead of twisting the focus ring, twisted the aperture ring.
  2. Easy travel of the diaphragm ring. Since the focusing ring is rather inconvenient, you often touch the aperture ring and knock it down. Do not knock down the aperture preview ring only at 2.8 when the control ring and the preview ring are in the same position. Therefore, most of the photos from this review were taken precisely at 2.8.
  3. Custom front filter diameter of 49mm. All Soviet lensesthat went through my hands with a front filter diameter of 49mm were without a front cover or filter. This is a real flaw in our time. True, the lens comes in a stylish box where it can be stored without a back and front cover.
Photo on Mir-1V

Photo on Mir-1V

How to use with modern cameras?

Lenses with mounting thread M42 (M42 X 1 / 45.5), such as the lens from this review, are very easy to use on almost any modern digital camera (both SLR and mirrorless), for this it is enough to choose the right adapter (adapter). You do not need to carry out any additional steps to modify the lens.

The cheapest adapters can be found at Aliexpress.com... There are adapters (adapters) with a chip that provide more convenience during shooting, usually chips are used to confirm focus and / or metering exposure, and form the correct EXIF. The chip does not affect the image quality in any way.

For some SLR cameras (for example, with the Nikon F-mount), you need to use adapters with a corrective lens, which allows you to focus correctly at all focusing distances. For any mirrorless cameras, such a lens is not needed, and the adapter is a simple decorated hollow metal tube with an appropriate mount.

For SLR cameras

  1. Canon: For cameras Canon EOS with bayonet mount EF / EF-S need an M42-Canon EOS adapter, such an adapter with a chip can be found herewithout chip here.
  2. NIKON: For cameras Nikon DX / FXas well as for cameras Fujifilm и Kodak with a Nikon F mount, you need an M42-Nikon F adapter, you can buy such an adapter without a lens and a chip here, with a lens without a chip herewith chip without lens here, with lens and chip here. Why a lens? Why chip?
  3. PENTAX: For Pentax cameras with K mount, you need an M42-Pentax K adapter, you can buy such an adapter here.
  4. SONY/MINOLTA: For cameras with a Sony / Minolta A mount, you need the M42-Sony A adapter, you can find such an adapter without a chip at this linkwith a chip at this link.
  5. OLYMPUS/PANASONIC/LEICA: For cameras with a 4/3 bayonet mount (not to be confused with Micro 4/3!) You need an M42-4 / 3 adapter, you can buy such an adapter here.

For mirrorless cameras

  1. SONY: For cameras with 'E'/'FE' mount series SonyNEX и Sony Alpha you need an adapter M42-Sony E (aka M42-Sony Nex), you can find it at this link. An autofocus adapter is also available for these cameras. Techart PRO Leica M - Sony E Autofocus Adapterwhich can be found at this link.
  2. OLYMPUS / PANASONIC / KODAK / XIAOMI: For cameras with a bayonet mount Micro 4/3 (Micro 4:3) you need an adapter M42-Micro 4/3, you can find it at this link.
  3. CANON M: For cameras with Canon EF-M mount need adapter M42-Canon M, it can be found at this link.
  4. CANON R and RF-S: For cameras with Canon RF mount need adapter M42-Canon R, it can be found at this link.
  5. Nikon 1: For cameras Nikon 1 Series need adapter M42-Nikon 1, you can find it at this link.
  6. Nikon Z: For cameras Nikon Z series (FX/DX) need an adapter M42-Nikon Z, it can be found at this link.
  7. FUJIFILM X: For cameras with mount X need an M42-Fuji X adapter, you can find it at this link.
  8. FUJIFILM GFX: For medium format cameras G-mount need M42-Fuji GFX adapter, you can find it at this link.
  9. SAMSUNG: For cameras with NX mount, you need an M42-Samsung NX adapter, you can find it at this link. There are no adapters for the NX mini camera yet.
  10. PENTAX: For Q-mount cameras, you need an M42-Pentax Q adapter, you can find it at this link.
  11. SIGMA / PANASONIC / LEICA: For cameras with L mount you need an M42-Leica L adapter, you can find it at this link.
  12. LEICA: For cameras with a bayonet mount Leica M need adapter M42-L / M, you can find it at this link.

If you have any questions on compatibility and adapters - ask in the comments (comments do not require any registration at all).

 

Photo at MIR-1V

Photo at MIR-1V

Sample photos on Mir-1V made on Nikon D200 without any processing with imprinted data from EXIF and reduced size to 1600 * 1200.

About the picture:

It is rather difficult for me to judge, since the lens with my adapter works only at a distance of up to 50 cm, but still, I will draw a few conclusions. The lens really cuttingbut the picture has gentleness, which is quite a big rarity. The color rendition is neutral, the contrast of the lens is not very good. Due to the low contrast and not very saturated picture, photos turn out a bit similar to photos with monocle. Contrast and color can very easily be adjusted using a graphical editor, especially if you shoot in RAW. The lens is not very strong HA (virtually invisible). There is no distortion on my cropped matrix, just like vignetting. It may be a wide-angle lens, but it's still as much as 37mm, and I like the bokeh of the lens - see the sample photos for yourself. The lens gets very sharp at 5.6 and holds back and side light, which is important for landscape photography.

Photo at MIR-1V

Photo at MIR-1V

More nuances:

The difference between the 35mm and 37mm focal length is almost not felt. The lens is pretty hard to focus. True, the depth of field is pretty decent, and even for the F2.8 diaphragm, the depth of field is indicated. In general, it is best to focus on a wide-angle lens with the help of information about the focusing distance; it’s quite difficult to get into the zone of sharpness by eye. When focusing, the front of the lens moves only 0.5 cm forward, while the entire lens block moves. Most likely, the use of an adapter with a lens will also not allow you to focus on infinity, since the rim of the rear lens will abut against the lens of the adapter.

Example photo on MIR-1V

Example photo on MIR-1V

For owners of modern Canon cameras there is a modern similar lens - Canon EF 40mm f / 2.8 STM:

Catalog modern brand lenses 'Zenitar' и 'Helios' can look at this link.


Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.


Conclusions:

An interesting wide-angle lens with good sharpness and softness of the picture. There were many different options for the Mir-1 lens, because their quality can be very different, especially it is worth paying attention to the difference in enlightenment and frame of the case.

Update

  • Full-size examples and lens overview MIR-1V 2,8 / 37 (produced by VOMZ - Vologda Optical and Mechanical Plant, Vologda, with a new emblem) you can see here.
  • Full-size examples and lens overview MIR-1 2.8 / 37 AUTOMATIC (with a rare mount Kiev-Avtomat) you can see here.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

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Comments: 247, on the topic: Obzor Mir-1V

  • Smetanka

    cat - gorgeous)))) hurray! finally snow in Kiev!)))

  • Arkady, good day!
    with great interest and pleasure I looked at your site :)
    about mir-1 - well, absolutely terrible spherical aberrations :) which completely kills the possibility of using it for a landscape on ff (in my case - d700), but leaves a chance to be used on a crop as a fifty dollar for portraits - there CAs are quite appropriate :)
    As for voting on your site for portraits, my favorites are industrial-24 (105 / 3.5) and Jupiter-6 (180 / 2.8). I also have 9-11-37, but they are used much less often :)
    on adapters with lenses - you don't have to bother too much - all shovel optics have adjusting rings with a thickness of at least a millimeter. stupidly removed and infinity is obtained on a lensless adapter.
    Regards, Vlad.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Actually, I wrote that the picture looks like a photo from a monocle that has spherochromatism. Industar-24 added here in this is a vote. Thanks for the feedback.

  • Konstantin

    Hello. I recently became the owner of this lens, but my lens has ten aperture blades. I tried to find a description of this modification, but I could not find anything. I am interested in the year of production, maybe some other features ... Can you tell me something about this? Thanks.

    PS: Thanks for the site, I always read it with pleasure, I learn a lot.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Usually, the year of manufacture is the first 2 digits of the lens number. There were many modifications, perhaps in one of them 10 petals were made in the lens.

      • Sasha

        Sorry for the necroposting.
        I bought a pair of Mir-1V, both with 10 blades aperture. Both are Vologda (VOMZ), one in 1984 - with the old logo (letter B with an arrow), the other - in 1989 - with a new logo.

  • Eugen

    Good day. Vikoristovaya Mir-1v on cropi 1,6 (eos 450d); remembering that on the “lack of focus” on the edges of the frame, the focusing at the center of the frame is very low. It is especially visible if a robish landscape panorama with a few frames for making a picture. Tobto, on FF win vzagal nikudi is not suitable. Yak standard of vіn nepoganiy. Dyakuyu for you looking around!

  • Oleg Muravitsky

    The sharpness in the examples shown is not impressive. However, in any case, thanks, today I will have such a lens, I will try it on the Samsung NX11. The available Helios-44M and Jupiter-37A performed well, but both are too long / narrow. Judging by the results of the zoom tests 35-70, which I returned, 37 will be quite acceptable.

  • Oleg Muravitsky

    Well, I played with this miracle of Soviet optics today. I like the compactness, lightness, depth of field scale, successful FR with the crop taken into account. The aperture ring is really very light, but if you first set the desired value with the limiter and fix it in the covered position with your left finger, holding the lens from below, you can use it. As soon as I started shooting, all the positive disappeared. I don't know, maybe I got this copy? Sharpness even at aperture of 16 is worse than that of a whale Samsung by 5.6, and at 2.8 / 4 / 5.6 - soapy soap throughout the frame. You can shoot only at 8-16, that is, only in the sun. And it is very difficult to focus on focus - you definitely cannot focus on a closed diaphragm, but at an open focus there is no such thing at all. In general, I'll put it on the shelf. If this is a marriage / wear and tear of a particular specimen, then I will look for one in good condition.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Most likely, you came across a bad instance.

    • vitally_a

      I came across a good specimen, sharp already open. The range of colors tends to cool shades. Crop frame in the open, exposure 1/60 - shot hand-held, resize without processing.
      http://pixs.ru/showimage/mirPNG_5445422_7275981.png
      IMHO if offered inexpensively - take it. As a staff member, it probably won't pull, but it's the most to play. In these glasses there is a great untapped potential, which earlier (on a low-quality film) was unrealistic to reveal. And when in the 90s high-quality agfa, kodak, konika, etc. appeared, people had already switched to soap dishes and felt dry and comfortable)

    • Gor

      A friend of mine howled at Jupiter 37 howled, just soaped the horror. He gave it to me, I took it apart and there are lenses in oil. After cleaning, the sharpness is ideal for the 37th. Think it over.

    • Alexander

      I also have a copy, which is sharp only on closed up to f8. In addition, it was not possible to use it on the full frame (6D), because the mirror hits the lens. So only on the crop can it be used. I don’t think the reason is the oily lenses. at f8, sharpness is normal. If there was something with the lenses, there would probably be soap at all apertures ...

  • Andrei

    I have a copy lying around 10 years from the time of Zenith. found three weighty scratches on the rear window. I use a month - approx. only on the open. it seems to have little effect on the result.
    You have - yes, the copy was most likely not the same….
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/sxtsx/7229764658/

  • Ismail

    Good day! I have been shooting with this lens since April and I cannot get enough of it. Maybe you come across different lenses and the quality does not have stability, in my case, the copy is very high quality both in terms of assembly and picture. I shoot mainly landscapes. On my 500 Kenon, the focal length is more than fifty, but I mainly shoot panoramas and several vertical shots glued together, compensating for the lack of angle. Completely switched to Mir 1B and Porst-tele 135mm. MC. f / 2.8. After these glasses, you don't even want to touch the whale-plastic abomination.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Thank you for sharing your experience. Indeed, there is a strong variation in quality. It’s good that you have a great copy.

  • Alexander

    I'm going to buy and put on Nikon D5000 ... the ring is already there, without glass, infinity is not interested in how to actually shoot a portrait ??? ... and how to really check it ??? ... thanks in advance :)

    • Arkady Shapoval

      In reality, the portrait should not be shot on Mir-1V. It's very simple to check - like it, sharp - take it, if you don't like it - don't take it.

  • Alexander

    thanks ... I'll try for sharpness, the main thing in the center, call me, I'm an amateur, and in the portrait I meant not softness, but sharpness in the center ,,,,, :)

  • Alexander

    got hold of this subject ... do not believe it! just right from the factory, perfect condition, both the case and the lenses ... .. made a couple of shots (nikon 5000) ... you are right, it does not focus further than half a meter, and the ring, as it seems to me, did not come across very well, there is a slight backlash, but nevertheless, the pictures turned out better than with G44 / 2 ,,, and now please tell me, do I need a ring with a lens ??? ... or is it a useless waste ???

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Yes, with a lens. It is worth \ not worth it - you decide.

  • Edgar Bunga

    Thanks for such a great project. Throughout the past year, by trial and error, I was looking for a set of optics for myself, it’s a pity that I didn’t stumble upon your site before. At the expense of World 1c, I can say that he was very pleased with me at one time (sharpness, colors, contrast for ridiculous 4 USDs), I even forgot about the rikokh 55mm f1.4. Sey4as I use glasses from medium format Kiev more (world 38B and Kalegar 3B ), by the way, it was very interesting to hear your opinion about these glasses.

  • Edgar Bunga

    I recommend trying it, it gives out a very soulful picture (but it suffers terribly from chromatic aberrations), and besides, it is not killable (there was a case, I got off my bike at a more than decent speed, and fell on the camera ... the result, not much the thread for the filter is bent, and so it works without any problems).

  • Sergei

    Arkady, what other widths from Soviet optics would you recommend? The site has a competition of portraiturers, but about the breadth of this I have not seen. It would be interesting to see comparative tests.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      MS Mir-20N 3.5 / 20, Mir-47, Mir-73

      • Sergei

        Thank you!

  • Alexander

    Here, many write reasonably that the lens is bad .. probably, it is especially bad in the hands of those who are greedy for “accordion Internet copying” - after all, by definition, it should be nauseous from the sharpness and detail :). Funny. If you need high optical qualities, then do not regret money! And Mir 1b is a reinforced concrete economy option at its focal point - it costs an average of $ 25 and there is NOTHING BETTER for this money. And if at all, to be honest, then the best option is when your hands are from the right place and your head is on your shoulders. Buy a film (agfa, fuji-1 $ pcs on the market) and a good used film camera (praktica, nikon, minolta, contax, canon -50 $), which will already be with a sensible fifty dollar (the same as 37 on the digitalcrope). You will get extraordinary dynamics, color and contrast, which are many times more important than detail and quality. On an inexpensive set of numbers, it is not realistic to get a similar result. It is better to thoughtfully shoot 2-3 coils over the weekend than to fill an 8GB flash drive in bursts in an hour.

    • Gennady

      I strongly agree with your opinion about the benefits of the good old film. Until now, I take pictures with pleasure on it, my beloved, I use Pentax both autofocus and RF. Optics - a decent set of "native", from the domestic - Mir-20, Mir-1, Tair-11 through adapters, on a threaded Pentax, of course, and so they become. I have nowhere to rush, I shoot for pleasure, and I get it in full.

  • Sergei

    Thanks for your articles!
    Please tell me, is it possible to “fasten” the “Mir-600 Automatic” to the “EOS 1D”?
    Thank you.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      It’s possible to screw it somehow, but it’s not possible to shoot normally, since the Automata have a short segment.

  • Eusebius

    I just bought a DSLR and I’m not much in the selection of lenses. Please tell me for Sony A57 suitable?
    If not, what kind of lens can I buy for him for everyday shooting?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      You can look at the native Sony SAL-1855 18-55mm F3.5-5.6

      • Alexander

        If we compare the native whale from Sony, Helios 44m-4 and Zenitar, then the whale (Sony) loses as a photo. Soviet both lenses are sharper.

  • Varganchik

    Have you encountered the MIR 11 lens? It is possible to take

    • Arkady Shapoval

      No, it didn’t work.

  • Eugene White (author of the photo)

    mined Brussels world-1. the one that is white and engraved.
    In a nutshell:
    - you need a shirik for pictures that are cool by modern standards - don't buy and don't think about it
    - you need a width for beautiful photos (provided that sharpness and technical quality are not the main thing) - it is worth taking a closer look
    - you need a rare shirik for the zenith with M39 thread and photographing for the sake of the process - that's it!

    Reasons: DOF, like fifty dollars, by 1,4, or even 1,2. Pointing it even across the screen is a problem.
    the contrast is low, it is illuminated by any light source in the front (enough 5 cm of a fluorescent lamp, which is at the top of the frame, catches all possible hares, plus gives birth to its own. Shamelessly soap up to a quarter of the frame, even on crop.

    In short, the diagnosis is intended for those who have a diagnosis of "film addiction"))

  • Alexander

    acquired in the summer the same as yours on the first photo. the quality was terrible too.
    two days ago I acquired another world-1v. but for some reason his appearance is different, knurled by squares. The quality is dramatically different. the sharpness is higher than that of the whale 18-55, the contrast also does not go into comparison. it seems like a really big variation in the quality of these lenses. my recently bought, the first two digits in number 99. is that what it means was released in 1999?

  • Nicholas

    At the expense of a bright thought ... ... I do not know if I have them, but the Soviet lenses are Mir1v, Helios 44, Helios 40 / 1.4 Jupiter 37a. Only Jupiter-sharp glass-class works normally! I shoot Sony A65 a very good camera. Other glasses mentioned do not have dir. infinity I want to somehow implement it as unnecessary.

    • Yana

      And give the girl a dream about Helios and Jupiter :-) jna22@yandex.ru

  • Fedor

    Good evening. Arkady tell me the difference between world1B and world1

  • VALENTINE

    The Grand Prix was received not by MIR-1V, but by MIR-1 of the Zagorsk Plant (M39, white). Then, in 1973, the Zagorsk factory produced a very small series MIR-1A with an A adapter, thread for the SF M52 / 0.75 and a minimum focusing distance of 0.24 m. At the Vologda plant, the production of the MIR-1B lens was begun much later (somewhere at the end of 70 -h) in the frame, the same as that of the old Zagorsky, but black and under M42, unfortunately, noticeably worse quality, which is easy to see even with an external examination.

  • Dmitriy

    Good afternoon, Arkady.
    Here, miraculously, I got several Soviet lenses)), including WORLD 1B and 1Sh. while test current 1Sh (at work). The problem is that through the adapter to Kenon there is no infinity. In focus, everything is 15 meters, further erodes. I found only one topic on the Internet with the same problem on Kenon and MIR 1B, but the solution is not described there, can you tell me something?

  • Vladimir

    All M42s are convenient to use on Pentax machines ... Without a focusing screen, it is very difficult to point Mir-1 even on confirmation ...

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