Rehoused Soviet Lenses

9 Products

  • MIR-20M 20mm T3.6 – MKII Rehousing Iron Glass 11MIR-20M 20mm T3.6 – MKII Rehousing Iron Glass 12
    From $2,900

    Important: The estimated delivery for MKII lenses is 16-18 months.

    The all-new and improved MKII Rehousing. Same legendary, unique Soviet optics, but even better mechanics, improvements and new features, including:

    • Completely New & Improved Design
    • Internal Focusing System
    • Full clip-on Matte Box compatibility
    • Shimmable Stainless Steel PL / EF mounts
    • Increased 300-degree focus ring rotation
    • Unified Focus and Iris Ring positioning on all lenses
    • Improved Close Focus
    • T-stop markings
    • Reverse direction focus scales
  • MIR-10A 28mm T3.6 – MKII Rehousing Iron GlassMIR-10A 28mm T3.6 – MKII Rehousing Iron Glass 2
    From $2,900

    Important: The estimated delivery for MKII lenses is 16-18 months.

    The all-new and improved MKII Rehousing. Same legendary, unique Soviet optics, but even better mechanics, improvements and new features, including:

    • Completely New & Improved Design
    • Internal Focusing System
    • Full clip-on Matte Box compatibility
    • Shimmable Stainless Steel PL / EF mounts
    • Increased 300-degree focus ring rotation
    • Unified Focus and Iris Ring positioning on all lenses
    • Improved Close Focus
    • T-stop markings
    • Reverse direction focus scales
  • MIR-1V 37mm T2.9 – MKII Rehousing Iron GlassMIR-1V 37mm T2.9 – MKII Rehousing Iron Glass 2
    From $2,900

    Important: The estimated delivery for MKII lenses is 16-18 months.

    The all-new and improved MKII Rehousing. Same legendary, unique Soviet optics, but even better mechanics, improvements and new features, including:

    • Completely New & Improved Design
    • Internal Focusing System
    • Full clip-on Matte Box compatibility
    • Shimmable Stainless Steel PL / EF mounts
    • Increased 300-degree focus ring rotation
    • Unified Focus and Iris Ring positioning on all lenses
    • Improved Close Focus
    • T-stop markings
    • Reverse direction focus scales
  • HELIOS 44-2 58mm T2.1 – MKII Rehousing Iron GlassHELIOS 44-2 58mm T2.1 – MKII Rehousing Iron Glass 2
    From $2,900

    Important: The estimated delivery for MKII lenses is 16-18 months.

    The all-new and improved MKII Rehousing. Same legendary, unique Soviet optics, but even better mechanics, improvements and new features, including:

    • Completely New & Improved Design
    • Internal Focusing System
    • Full clip-on Matte Box compatibility
    • Shimmable Stainless Steel PL / EF mounts
    • Increased 300-degree focus ring rotation
    • Unified Focus and Iris Ring positioning on all lenses
    • Improved Close Focus
    • T-stop markings
    • Reverse direction focus scales
  • HELIOS 40-2 85mm T1.6 – MKII Rehousing Iron GlassHELIOS 40-2 85mm T1.6 – MKII Rehousing Iron Glass 2
    From $2,900

    Important: The estimated delivery for MKII lenses is 16-18 months.

    Helios 40-2 85mm T1.6 is an exceptional prime lens, based on the legendary Carl Zeiss Biotar 75mm. It’s one of the fastest Soviet lenses providing strong separation between the subject and the background. Quite sharp in the middle with a strong focus fall-off towards the edge, especially wide open, but much stronger optically at the same T-stops when compared to Jupiter-9. Its main feature, though is the incredibly painterly, swirly bokeh in the T1.6-2 range, making it a very special portrait lens, especially with the improved close focus of the MKII rehousing. This lens is a true King of Bokeh!

  • JUPITER-9 85mm T2.1 – MKII Rehousing Iron GlassJUPITER-9 85mm T2.1 – MKII Rehousing Iron Glass 2
    From $2,900

    Important: The estimated delivery for MKII lenses is 16-18 months.

    The all-new and improved MKII Rehousing. Same legendary, unique Soviet optics, but even better mechanics, improvements and new features, including:

    • Completely New & Improved Design
    • Internal Focusing System
    • Full clip-on Matte Box compatibility
    • Shimmable Stainless Steel PL / EF mounts
    • Increased 300-degree focus ring rotation
    • Unified Focus and Iris Ring positioning on all lenses
    • Improved Close Focus
    • T-stop markings
    • Reverse direction focus scales
  • TAIR-11A 135mm T2.9 – MKII Rehousing Iron GlassTAIR-11A 135mm T2.9 – MKII Rehousing Iron Glass 2
    From $2,900

    Important: The estimated delivery for MKII lenses is 16-18 months.

    The all-new and improved MKII Rehousing. Same legendary, unique Soviet optics, but even better mechanics, improvements and new features, including:

    • Completely New & Improved Design
    • Internal Focusing System
    • Full clip-on Matte Box compatibility
    • Shimmable Stainless Steel PL / EF mounts
    • Increased 300-degree focus ring rotation
    • Unified Focus and Iris Ring positioning on all lenses
    • Improved Close Focus
    • T-stop markings
    • Reverse direction focus scales
  • MKI to MKII Trade-in Program Iron GlassMKI to MKII Trade-in Program Iron Glass 2
    $0

    As an existing MKI customer, you can trade them in and upgrade to our MKII Rehousing.

    MKII has many improvements and high-end usability features, such as:

    • Completely New & Improved Design
    • Internal Focusing System
    • Full Clip-on Matte Box Compatibility
    • Shimmable Stainless Steel PL / EF mounts
    • Increased 300-degree focus ring rotation
    • Improved Close Focus Distance
    • T-stop Markings
    • Round 15 Blade Aperture
    • Reverse Direction Focus Scales

    The MKII price is $2900 per lens + the cost of the donor optics, but all existing customers who already own the ‘MKI” rehoused lenses now have the option to trade them in and only pay $1900 for the MKII version!

    Terms and Conditions: Your MKI lenses can have cosmetical or mechanical signs of use. The optics from your MKI lenses will go to your MKII lenses, so please ensure they are still in good condition before sending them. This upgrade also allows you to change the spec of your existing rehousing to anything you like on MKII, such as mount, optical modifications, markings, etc. You will need to ship the lenses to us at your own expense, but we will pay for the MKII shipping back to you.

    Please note, if you plan to use these lenses with 35mm film cameras, such as Aanton 235/535, Arri 235/435/535, etc., you will need a replacement iris ring to get enough clearance above the mirror chamber. We can provide these replacement rings free of charge or install them when assembling your order, so please let us know if you need them once your order has been made.

    Important: The estimated delivery for MKII lenses is 16-18 months, but this constantly changes based on the order queue. You can secure your queue spot with a 50% deposit at the checkout. The second 50% only needs to be paid before lenses are due to be shipped.

    We value and appreciate your continuous support!
    IronGlass Team.

  • Soviet Rehoused MKII Set Iron GlassSoviet Rehoused MKII Set Iron Glass 2
    $0

    With MKII, we started from scratch! Every element of mechanics and MKI body was changed to achieve the next level of performance, precision, and reliability! The new design now has the universal position of gears across the set, an easily shimmable PL / EF mount system (with more mount options to come), T-stop markings, Reverse Direction Focus Scale, a 15 aperture blade iris for every lens and much more!

    At the heart of it all, we now have what we call a “hybrid focus system”, which is a combination of a new & refined helicoid combined with technology generally found in CAM-driven focus systems. The result is a very reliable, rugged focus system that feels like a CAM-driven focus ring, even on lenses with weighty optical blocks such as Helios 40-2 and Tair-11A. Combined with an internal focus design that no longer limits the clip-on Matt Box weight, these lenses are now an absolute joy to use, which is what MKII rehousing is all about. Our goal was to make these beautiful optics capable of handling even the most demanding filming environments, and with MKII, we finally achieved this goal!

    Main Features:

    • Completely New & Improved Design
    • Internal Focusing System
    • Full Clip-on Matte Box Compatibility
    • Shimmable Stainless Steel PL / EF mounts
    • Increased 300-degree focus ring rotation
    • Improved Close Focus Distance
    • T-stop Markings
    • Round 15 Blade Aperture
    • Reverse Direction Focus Scales

    Please note, if you plan to use these lenses with 35mm film cameras, such as Aanton 235/535, Arri 235/435/535, etc., you will need a replacement iris ring to get enough clearance above the mirror chamber. We can provide these replacement rings free of charge or install them when assembling your order, so please let us know if you need them once your order has been made.

    Donor Optics: We always aim to source the best donor optics possible, but these are 50+-year-old vintage lenses, so they will often have minor imperfections, such as light coating marks or scratches on the glass surface. We test these lenses to ensure such imperfections do not affect the performance in any way. Any lenses that do not meet our strict testing criteria also do not qualify for rehousing, so you can rest assured that we take the best care when choosing the optics for you.

    Important: The estimated delivery for lens rehousing is 16-18 months, but this constantly changes based on the order queue. We require a 50% deposit on all our orders, but if your order total exceeds $15,000, we can now offer you a payment plan to spread your payments over multiple months. If you’d like to use the payment plan option, please contact us.

Soviet Lenses are in our company’s roots. We started by modifying them and now we are the only company in the world that rehouses them.

These lenses offer something unique in a world of sterile modern lenses. Their characteristics like lower contrast, dreamy flares and swirly bokeh can only be produced incamera and can’t be replicated in post-production. They are based on Zeiss optical formulas, which gives them a strong optical performance without being too sharp, making them perfect for taking the edge off the digital sensors, which is particularly helpful with skin textures. They also Full Frame ( FF / LF / VV ) sensors and beyond (most even cover Alexa 65). Overall they provide a great flexibility and an opportunity to stand out by adding amazing, painterly character to your images.

As with Helios 44-2, our main goal with was to bring out the best in these lenses by addressing the mechanical quirks and limitations of the original bodies that make them unsuitable for professional, high pressure work environments where everything must perform at 100%.

By creating new housings for these much loved lenses, we’ve considerably improved their usability for video production. You’ll no longer have to deal with the confusing “preset” aperture control, unreliable M42 screw mount and wobbly construction. Instead we now have rugged, well designed and carefully assembled bodies that provide plenty of useful features, like integrated follow focus gears, permanent PL or EF mounts, expanded focus distance markings, which can now be made imperial as well as metric. The unified size body design allows all the accessories to stay in the same place when swapping lenses. Learn about many other features below.

IronGlass Lens Rehousing Company

Every person with a camera needs lenses. Cine lenses can provide high-quality images and functionality but they are expensive and not everyone can afford them. As a result, most people use still camera lenses. However, it is possible to get close to modern quality cine lens without overpaying for a modern cine lens. Lens rehousing provides all filmmakers with such possibility. There two options for doing that:

  • Modifying old cine lenses. You can find an old cine lens that definitely will be cheaper than modern and use rehousing to improve its qualities to the modern standards.
  • Adapting still lenses to cinema use. Still (photo) lens can become a cine friendly after the modification and rehousing processes. It will not lose any of its qualities. Instead, it can be improved in almost every aspect.

Lens Rehousing Service At IronGlass

The most valuable mechanical part of each lens is focusing structure. It is the most complicated part of the lens design. Our masters are well educated about peculiarities of different lenses. They always take good care of them. Additionally, our team pays attention to quality of the lens optics, looking at possibilities for improvements. Before shipping your lens, a qualified master performs cleaning and testing in order to ensure that everything is done at the highest level.

IronGlass Services

IronGlass Company offers various services connected with rehousing of lenses. We can service and modify lenses to your exact requirements. You offer repairing, cleaning, de-clicking, repainting, polishing, and modification. You can provide us with all the information about what should be done in lens rehousing and we will discuss with you all the details in order to provide the best service to you. After completing your order, you will receive completely transformed and improved lens.

What Are the Reasons for Lens Rehousing?

  • It is cheaper than buying a new lens
  • To add cine functionality to a photo lens
  • If original lens housing is damaged
  • To remove dust inside the optics
  • To remove iris clicks
  • To add modifications

Can IronGlass Rehouse My Vintage Lens?

It is one of the most common questions among our customer and we can say, we most likely can. We really like to work with vintage lenses and give them a second life. Each old lens has its own peculiarities in design. Before providing you our finial answer just send us all information that you have about the lens you are interested in rehousing, and we will find out what can be done.