The Pentacon Six mount is a breech-lock

Breech-lock

A breech-lock is a system for mounting camera lenses to camera bodies. The lens is attached to the camera by means of a rotating ring which is used to tighten the lens to the camera by friction....

 bayonet lens mount

Lens mount

A lens mount is an interface — mechanical and often also electrical — between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is confined to cameras where the body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the single lens reflex type or any movie camera of 16 mm or higher gauge...

 originally used by several medium format single-lens reflex

Single-lens reflex camera

A single-lens reflex camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...

 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

Pentacon

Pentacon is the company name of a once-important camera manufacturer in Dresden, Germany.The name Pentacon is derived from the brand Contax of Zeiss Ikon Kamerawerke in Dresden and Pentagon, as a Pentaprism for Single-Lens Reflex cameras was for the first time developed in Dresden...

; the Praktisix was improved and renamed the Pentacon Six

Pentacon Six

The Pentacon Six is an single-lens reflex medium format camera system made by Pentacon from 1956 to 1992. The Six accepts lenses with the Pentacon Six mount, a breech-lock bayonet mount.- Praktisix :...

. 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.

Original

The P6 mount is a simple bayonet mount

Bayonet mount

A bayonet mount or bayonet connector is a fastening mechanism consisting of a male side with one or more pins, and a female receptor with matching L slots and spring to keep the two parts locked together....

. 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

Pentacon Six

The Pentacon Six is an single-lens reflex medium format camera system made by Pentacon from 1956 to 1992. The Six accepts lenses with the Pentacon Six mount, a breech-lock bayonet mount.- Praktisix :...

, and Kiev 60.

Exakta 66

The Exakta 66 added a TTL metered

Through-the-lens metering

Through-the-lens metering is a photographic term describing a feature of cameras capable of measuring light levels in a scene through their taking lenses, as opposed to a separate metering window...

 prism coupled to the shutter speed dial on the camera body and the aperture ring on the lens. It does this by projecting slightly over the front of the camera, allowing a rotating cam on the specially designed Schneider

Schneider Kreuznach

Schneider Kreuznach is the abbreviated name of the company Jos. Schneider Optische Werke GmbH, which is sometimes also simply referred to as Schneider. They are a manufacturer of industrial and photographic optics....

 lenses to tell it what aperture setting was selected. And for lenses with a maximum aperture other than , a separate pin projects from the lens to the prism to tell it the maximum aperture.

Kiev 88 modifications

The Kiev 88 is essentially a clone of the first Hasselblad

Hasselblad

Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium-format cameras and photographic equipment based in Gothenburg, Sweden.The company is best known for the medium-format cameras it has produced since World War II....

 - 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 this camera (nicknamed the Hasselbladski). Thus various third-parties worked to machine a P6-compatible lens mount into the Kiev 88. A major issue is the fact that the Kiev 88 has a greater flange focal distance

Flange focal distance

For an interchangeable lens camera, the flange focal distance of a lens mount system is the distance from the mounting flange to the...

 than the Pentacon Six, requiring the lens to be recessed into the front of the modified Kiev 88. This causes physical clearance issues with some lenses, particularly the Exakta 66 lenses with a cam and possibly a pin for coupling the lens to a TTL prism.

A consequence of these early modifications is 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

Pentacon

Pentacon is the company name of a once-important camera manufacturer in Dresden, Germany.The name Pentacon is derived from the brand Contax of Zeiss Ikon Kamerawerke in Dresden and Pentagon, as a Pentaprism for Single-Lens Reflex cameras was for the first time developed in Dresden...

:

• Praktisix
• Pentacon Six

From Exakta GmbH:

• 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, Canon EF

Canon EF lens mount

Introduced in 1987, the EF lens mount is the standard lens mount on the Canon EOS family of SLR film and digital cameras. EF stands for "Electro-Focus": automatic focusing on EF lenses is handled by a dedicated electric motor built into the lens...

, Canon FD, Nikon F

Nikon F-mount

The Nikon F-mount is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35 mm SLR cameras. The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three lug bayonet mount with a 44 mm throat and a flange to focal plane distance of 46.5 mm...

, Minolta AF

Minolta AF

The Minolta Alpha camera system was a collection of photographic equipment from Minolta. The system used a lens mount called A-mount, with a flange focal distance 44.50 mm. The new mount was larger than the older SR-mount making old manual lenses incompatible with the new system...

, Minolta MD, Contax/Yashica, Pentax K

Pentax K mount

The Pentax K mount, sometimes referred to as the "PK mount", is a lens mount standard for mounting interchangeable photographic lenses to 35 mm single-lens reflex cameras. It was created by Pentax in 1975, and has been used by all Pentax 35 mm and digital SLRs since...

, M42

M42 lens mount

The M42 lens mount is a screw thread mounting standard for attaching lenses to 35 mm cameras, primarily single-lens reflex models. It is more accurately known as the M42 × 1 mm standard, which means that it is a metric screw thread of 42 mm diameter and 1 mm thread pitch...

, and Leica R

Leica R bayonet

The Leica R bayonet lens mount is the standard method of connecting a lens to the Leica R series of 35 mm single-lens reflex cameras. The mount is descended from those used for the Leicaflex, Leicaflex SL and Leicaflex SL2 SLR cameras, but differs in the cams used to communicate lens aperture...

 35 mm cameras, as well as Lumix and Olympus micro 4/3 (m4/3), 4/3 system. 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.

• 1:4.0 300 mm Orestegor
• 1:5.6 500 mm Orestegor
• 1:3.5 80mm Meyer Primotar-E

Carl Zeiss Jena

From East Germany.

• 1:4.0 50 mm Flektogon
• 1:2.8 65 mm Flektogon
• 1:2.8 80 mm Tessar
  Tessar
  The Tessar is a famous photographic lens design conceived by physicist Paul Rudolph in 1902 while he worked at the Zeiss optical company and patented by Zeiss; the lens type is usually known as the Zeiss Tessar....
  
  
• 1:2.8 80 mm Biometar (kit lens
  Kit lens
  A kit lens is a "starter" lens which can be sold with an interchangeable-lens camera such as a single-lens reflex camera. The kit consists of the camera body, the lens, and various accessories usually necessary to get started in SLR photography. A kit lens can be sold by itself; ie; not in a kit...
  
  )
• 1:2.8 120 mm Biometar
• 1:2.8 180 mm Sonnar
  Zeiss Sonnar
  The Sonnar is a photographic lens originally designed by Dr. Ludwig Bertele in 1924 and patented by Zeiss Ikon. It was notable for its relatively light weight, simple design and fast aperture. The name "Sonnar" is derived from the German word "Sonne", meaning sun...
  
  
• 1:4.0 300 mm Sonnar
• 1:5.6 1000 mm (catadioptric)

Schneider Kreuznach

From West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

, for the Exakta 66.

• 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
• 1:4.0 40 mm Curtagon MF is a legend and was never seen in the wild

Kiev-Arsenal

From Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

• 1:5.6 500 mm Zoomar Reflectar (catadioptric)
• 1:8.0 1000 mm Zoomar Reflectar (catadioptric)
• 1:4.0 170-320 mm Zoomar

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