Originally posted by ivanvernon My copy of the Arsat 30mm f 3.5 fisheye, the single-coated version, was built in Ukraine, USSR, so I think this lens qualifies for the Soviet lens club. The later multi-coated and thus improved version of the lens was built in the same plant in Kiev, Ukraine, but would not qualify because the Soviet empire no longer existed.
I had the same lens, in Pentacon Six mount, but it was built in Russia, and had another name, possibly Zenitar, IIRC.
I am almost sure it did have MC.
I bought it new, used it very little with the Pentacon Six, and when I sold the camera I kept it for a while with the crazy idea to turn it into a shift lens for a Pentax digital.
The idea was baseless, even more so because there were only APS-C cameras at the time.
However I decided to try, bought a shift adapter from an Arsenal vendor on eBay, but found that the distortion was not so easy to correct with the software tools of the time. So I sold the lens and kept the adapter, that I still have.
A CZJ Flektogon would have been a better candidate, but I didn't have one anymore, and 50mm is not the ideal focal for a shift-lens (a little more useful for tabletop use if mounted on a tilt/tilt-shift adapter).
I still have the brand new Arsenal adapter in Pentacon Six to PK mount. With a little adapter ring it can also be used with Hasselblad 1000/Salut mount lenses (which are usually cheaper than Pentacon Six ones). I deeply regret I didn't buy the tilt version. There is a Mir 45mm lens that would work great on my K-1 for still life use.
You have the privilege of using these lenses on the 645, which is the best use you can make of them.
A side note.
I just found that Arsenal makes/made tilt/shift/tilt-shift lenses that actually use the optical kernel of wide angles originally developed for 6x6.
They work okey, stopped down, even on the Pentacon Six/Exacta 66, which means that their real circle of coverage is much bigger than what I thought!
The same lenses should work great on the much smaller sensor of the Pentax 645, but I have no idea if shifting/tilting adapters for such cameras have been made, or if they are at all possible, given the register.
The tilt-shift lenses made by Arsenal are mechanical marvels, though the price is not cheap at all, unless you find a good deal second-hand.