MS-20N 3.5 / 20 review

For the opportunity to review the Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 lens, many thanks to Alexander from the manual optics section.

MS MIR-20N 3.5 20mm review from Radozhiva

MS MIR-20N 3.5 20mm review from Radozhiva

TTX of the lens Mir-20N 3.5 / 20

  • Focal Length: 20mm
  • Aperture: F / 3.5-F / 22.0
  • Number of aperture blades: 5 pieces
  • MDF: 18cm
  • Weight: about 450g
  • Front Filter Diameter: 77mm
  • Bayonet mount: N (Nikon F analogs, AI-S type)

Please note that the Mir-20 lens had a large number of different modifications. Basically, the differences concerned enlightenment and attachment to the camera, as well as the frame of the case.

View MS Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 from different sides

View MS Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 from different sides

There are lenses World 10, Mir-20M и MS Mir-20M with landing thread M42 and with different aperture control options. there is MS Mir-20K, for K mount (Pentax) and Mir-20-machine (from Kiev-10, -15). Mir-20 and Mir-20 are one and the same lens.

View of the Mir Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 from different sides on a modern camera

View of the Mir Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 from different sides on a modern camera

The lens presented in this review is MS Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 with multi-coating, H-mount, manufactured at the Arsenal plant, Ukraine, Kiev. The letter “H” in the lens name indicates that the lens mount (mount to the camera) is the same as the Nikon F. MS Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 is also AI-S (including AI) compatible lens for Nikon. Simply put, MS Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 can without problems and adapters immediately use on any modern Nikon digital SLR or film camera. I use MS Mir-20N on cameras Nikon D40, D80, S5 Pro. When used on modern digital SLR cameras, it will be possible to semi-automatically control the diaphragm. Measurement exposure will only work on parts of the cameras. In more detail, about how to use the old Soviet lensesread section Soviet optics.

Sample photo on Mir-20N

Sample photo on Mir-20N

When you first take the lens, the convex front lens, which has a wide edging that resembles a lens hood, attracts attention very much. The lens is somewhat similar to the legendary Nikkor 14-24mm F2.8. The front lens cap is also convex. The cap is simply snugly fixed to the lens, without clamps.

Sample photo on Mir-20N

Sample photo on Mir-20N

Basic information about MS MIR-20N F3.5 20mm for the photographer

  1. The focusing of the lens is very smooth, even slightly tight. Due to the fact that the front lens forms a kind of hood, the focusing ring remains sandwiched between the camera body and the hood. It was not very convenient for me to focus. But the focus ring rotates 320 degrees, thus providing very precise focusing. When focusing, the front lens does not rotate, and the lens unit with the front lens extends half a centimeter relative to the camera.
  2. The lens aperture is only F / 3.5. This is a low aperture ratio. But wide-angle is often used for landscapes, and there’s a big aperture need not. I do not think that aperture plays a key role in this lens.
  3. The lens MC MIR-20N shows the depth of field for each aperture value. My copy can close the aperture down to f / 22.0. “Infinity” for the lens starts from 2 meters on the focusing scale.

    Example photo on the Mir-20N 3.5 20mm MS

    Example photo on the Mir-20N 3.5 20mm MS

  4. To install the filter on my copy, you need an additional ring, which is screwed into the thread in front of the lens. This imposes restrictions on the use of filters, also, most likely at full frame due to the additional ring and filter, vignetting may deteriorate. There are different versions of the MIR-20, some do not support the installation of filters in front of the lens at all, some use filters that are installed near the rear of the lens group. The problem with the filter is due to a very strongly convex front lens.

    Example photo on the Mir-20N 3.5 20mm MS

    Example photo on the Mir-20N 3.5 20mm MS (in the left corner, the sun is in the frame)

  5. The lens is very well assembled. Iron and glass. The first two digits of my lens number are 83. This means that the lens was most likely made in 1983. 30 years have passed, and he continues to work.
  6. On Nikon's APS-C cameras, by virtue crop factor, EGF Mir-20N lens will be 30mm (20 * 1,5), and 30mm is no longer a super wide angle. For APS-C Canon EGF will be 32mm (20*1.6)

    Example photo on the Mir-20N 3.5 20mm MS

    Example photo on the Mir-20N 3.5 20mm MS

  7. They are not afraid of manual focus control, since due to the fact that the Mir-20N is an ultra-wide angle, the focus ring has to be twisted very rarely, and in 90% of cases the lens is focused on infinity.
  8. An unusual property of Mir-20N is the minimum focusing distance, which is only 18 centimeters. This is a very good indicator, with the help of such MDF you can experiment with perspective by shooting small objects, flowers, etc. MS MIR-20N has one of the shortest focusing distances among lenses of this class. Even the legendary Nikon 20mm f / 2.8 NIKKOR AI-s has an MDF of 25 cm. True, Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20 mm f / 4 has 16 cm of MDF and much better image quality.
Sample photo on Mir-20N

Sample photo on Mir-20N

Image quality

The picture quality is normal. The lens sometimes catches hares, in general, the backlight is poorly tolerated. Most likely, the non-MC version is much worse than my MC version. Doesn't spoil the colors. Most importantly, the lens has a distortion, but very small, for a lens of this type. Sharpness in the center, indeed, is already at F3.5, but even on my cropped matrix at the edges of the frame, the sharpness clearly falls. Sharpness should have been much better. Perhaps I came across not the best instance.

Sample photo on Mir-20N

Sample photo on Mir-20N

Sample Photos

All photos in this review were taken on camera. S5 Pro (with Nikon F mount mount) without processing. JPEG L, size compressed to 2048 * 1500 with 80% quality and imprinted data from EXIF. It’s a pity, I don’t have a full shot to drive the Mir-20N MC.

Personal experience:

On cropped cameras, ultra-wide-angle lenses, including Mir-20N, lose their “super wide-angle” and become ordinary “wide-angle”. Therefore, I do not recommend using old wide angle lenses on modern cropped cameras. Of course, Mir-20n will be of much greater interest on full-frame cameras. Cropped, native kit lens 18-55 (e.g. Nikon 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor) will give a wider viewing angle than Mir-20N, with the same aperture. Although, for some tasks, the World-20N is quite suitable. You can still look away Mir-73N 20mm F2.8 MS (with the same viewing angles) and Zenithar 16mm F2.8 MC Fisheyewhich gives an unusual fisheye picture. In general, MC Mir-20N can be bought at least for the sake of its unusual appearance, and the lens is quite cheap. Lens modification with M42 thread and without multi-coating - Mir-20M, turned out to be very unsuccessful at work.

Example photo on the Mir-20N 3.5 20mm MS

Example photo on the Mir-20N 3.5 20mm MS


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


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Conclusions:

MC MIR-20N is an interesting vintage lens that gives excellent sharpness in the center, loses sharpness at the edges of the frame. One of the few Soviet lenses that creates a really wide angle of view on cropped cameras.

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

Add a comment: Sergei

 

 

Comments: 68, on the topic: Survey MS Mir-20N 3.5 / 20

  • R'RёS,R ° F "RёR№

    I took this lens from a friend for a couple of days with a shank for the M42 mount (once I screwed it onto the M42 adapter. But on the canon 40d I encountered a very, very strange problem. He has only 1 cm of focusing distance to the lens, and even at least There is no question about the meter, what could be the problem and how to solve it?

    • Bassoon

      The adapter should be with a lens.

  • anonym

    in clause 8 of the basic information you have a typo:
    “True, Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20 mm f / 4 has 16mm !!! MDF and much better image quality. ”
    there should be 16cm

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Fixed

  • Alexey

    Please help me with information on how to disassemble this lens and the better to lubricate the helicoid. A piece of blackening dangles very tight and even between the lenses.

    • Alexey

      I will answer myself. Domestic grease OKB 122-7 is used to lubricate high-precision instruments. The main disadvantage is packaging of 0,8 kg. and cost from 1200 rubles. Therefore ... I will lubricate the existing brake grease from Bosch point

  • Vladimir

    Good afternoon, tell me what kind of spots on your photos are where the monument and the next, such as greasy spots. If these are oil spots on the matrix, then how to get rid of them and how serious it is.

    • Artem

      Return to service for cleaning.

      • Vladimir

        And if the service is not nearby, it is possible to clean it yourself.

    • Valery A.

      Dust on the matrix. You can clean it yourself.

      • Vladimir

        And this oil, more seriously, yes.

  • Ivan

    I bought this lens and ran into the problem of worn glass on the lens mount, changed the lens unit in a bunch. The picture naturally became sharp, and a covered aperture saves the edges of the frame in terms of sharpness. During operation, I came to the conclusion that the spring-sliding diaphragm system is simply disgusting, and going through the lens, lubricating it completely removed the spring system, bearings for the jump and inserted a banal iron clip. As a result, it fails, it turns and the focus ring is very smooth, the aperture clicks are not audible on the video. the minimum focusing distance has miraculously changed to 1 cm, but I guess what is the reason.

  • Dmitriy

    In the examples of the photo, MS MIR 10H is indicated ????

    • anonym

      One may ask, why do you doubt?

  • Dmitriy

    Do not confuse people! Ps your photos, as always, prove that Art is a hoax)

  • Boris

    Hello, please tell the owners of the Mir-20N MC to Nikon that he has a diaphragm ring, I don’t understand if there is a switch for the manual there like the Mir-20M or is it not needed and the ring is already in manual mode and the diaphragm does not jump ( i.e. it is clamped only by pressing the shutter release and is open all the time). I want to buy a lens for video (I like the picture of Mirovsky lenses very much) and now I’m peering at the Nikon model because of the ability to wind up the filter and lens hood, but I need a manual aperture to shoot the video. But the reviews and photos do not understand anything.
    Thanks in advance!

    • B. R. P.

      There is no switch there. Jump, as on all H (F) mounts. And the review states: “This review presents the MC Mir-20N 3.5 / 20 lens with multi-coating, H mount, manufactured at the Arsenal plant, Ukraine, Kiev. The letter “H” in the lens name indicates that the lens mount (mount to the camera) is the same as Nikon F. ”

  • Shurik

    “… It’s a pity, I don’t have a full shot of driving the Mir-20N MC…” - why then did you do it at all, why, forgive me? This lens is for a FULL frame, and you stupidly screwed it on the crop ...

    • Arkady Shapoval

      is it forbidden or offends the feelings of believers? Interestingly, for example, between 1999 and 2007, when Nikon did not have a digital full frame, people were forbidden to put full frame lenses on a crop?

    • Oleg

      If he loses sharpness at the edges of the frame on the crop, then what can we say about the full frame

    • Nicholas

      Shurik, I have a question, I have a Canon 600D and about 20 units of Soviet optics, and it is all from film cameras to 24 * 36 and 60 * 60 mm frames. May I, with your permission, use it?

    • Nicholas

      Shurik, I have a question. I have a Canon 600D and about 20 units of Soviet optics at my disposal, and it is all from film cameras to 24 * 36 and 60 * 60 mm frames. May I, with your permission, use it?

  • Dmitriy

    I had a threaded World in my youth - the 80s. Bought for crazy, at that time, money. Not knowing how to shoot yet, I did not find a clear use for it and sold it. I looked on eBay and no one sells them cheap anymore. It's a pity. There is no point in taking Nikkor for the price. Soviet optics is good only in the lower price category.

    • Sergei

      KMZ and LZOS think differently.

      • Rodion

        Well, KMZ, with the exception of a few lenses, already makes, as it were, non-Soviet optics. And new Rubinars cannot be compared with flimsy Soviet ones.

        • Sergei

          In the structure of sales of interchangeable optics manufactured by KMZ, the lion's share falls on veterans of the Soviet period - Helios-40 and Zenitar 16mm

    • Nicholas

      Dmitry, what price do you think this optics should have at the moment?

      • Victor

        Judging by the quality of the image - for a liter of juice or a kilogram of sugar.

      • Dmitriy

        I can't name any figure, because we are not talking about working equipment, but collection equipment. Only in this sense Mir-20 (or Mir-73) is of value. And to shoot (if you need something small, and not a hefty 14-24), then for a focal length of 20 mm there is a large choice: Nikkors AF 16-35, 17-35 and even lighter nikkors AI 20 / 2.8, 20 / 3.5, 20 /4 - all of them give an image of approximately comparable quality at aperture 8-11. The most compact option is the Voigtlander 20/3.5, which is also an Ai-P. All this optics that I have named will give a picture better than that of Soviet lenses. And for the price - the same 200-400 dollars on Ebay. If you need maximum quality at 20 mm, then these are 14-24 (near-zero distortion by 19-20 mm, ideal angles at aperture 8, no color-shift, no coma, sharp in the center from 2.8) and 20/1.8, but they - is already more expensive.

  • Egor

    MIR-10 is indicated in the captions for example photos. Typo?

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