Helios 44 Thread - Russia's Best Kept Secret?

THIRTYFIVEMILL

THIRTYFIVEMILL

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We've been discussing this brilliant little lens in the X-T1/X-T10 thread and for the money (about £30) it's an absolute cracker. I thought I'd post a thread about it to let other system users hear about it. It's generally found in M42 mount so a simple adapter allows it to work with any system, albeit in MF mode only, of course. Below is my example, a 44m-4 f/2 58mm. So what's so special about it? Well, it's tack sharp but Google it and you'll find it has a rather special bokeh and as such has a cult following and IME, rightfully so.



Helios 44m-4 f/2 58mm
 
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I have a 44-2 not a nice looking lens but useful and nice to use in certain circumstances.

I also have a 135/2.8 MC which I haven't used much but can't complain about it really.
 
They've had plenty of time to develop it. The first one I saw was on a Zenit 3M, the SLR with the odd Leica 39mm screw fitting. In those days, there were silver versions around which looked suspiciously like the later CZJ Biotar in auto diaghram mount, from which several writers claim the Helios is descended. They've always been good performers, especially for their price, provided you had one that didn't feature the special Vodka Assembly Method, which it was claimed affected as many as 1 in 2 lenses.
 
44-2 :) (as the pic title says) Not bad for about £12 a couple of years ago.

EDIT ! Sorry, put up wrong image. This is the correct one:
Loch Voil by Ken, on Flickr

First was Nikon D200 with standard lens :(

They make using a Nex most enjoyable.
 
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I have one of these that I found maybe 8-10 years ago and used it when I had Canon gear. When I shifted to Nikon I didn't bother with it. One the adapted Fuji X's is it strictly full manual or can you pop it in AV and then just worry about focus, like with the Canon gear?
 
condyk said:
I have one of these that I found maybe 8-10 years ago and used it when I had Canon gear. When I shifted to Nikon I didn't bother with it. One the adapted Fuji X's is it strictly full manual or can you pop it in AV and then just worry about focus, like with the Canon gear?
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Adapted manual lenses work in aperture priority and manual modes or at least they do on my Panasonic and Sony cameras, I expect Fuji are the same.
 
woof woof said:
Adapted manual lenses work in aperture priority and manual modes or at least they do on my Panasonic and Sony cameras, I expect Fuji are the same.
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I'm going to have a look for it and my mega Pentax Z 50mm 1.4 which is a real beauty!
 
condyk said:
I have one of these that I found maybe 8-10 years ago and used it when I had Canon gear. When I shifted to Nikon I didn't bother with it. One the adapted Fuji X's is it strictly full manual or can you pop it in AV and then just worry about focus, like with the Canon gear?
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Yes, all manual. That said, I'm used to it. I only have one lens that will AF. :D
 
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woof woof said:
Adapted manual lenses work in aperture priority and manual modes or at least they do on my Panasonic and Sony cameras, I expect Fuji are the same.
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Yep, I use mine in aperture priority mode. Only focusing to worry about, which as it turns out I'm pretty crap at!
 
WingTsun said:
Yes, all manual. That said, I used to it. I only have one lens that will AF. :D
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When I shot Canon I got so sick of inconsistent focus (even on L's) and over-compensating by taking multiple shots I started on Zeiss. What a difference!
 
WingTsun said:
LOLOL! It does focus very smoothly and quite accurately, though, which surprised me, Ian.
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It does and to be honest it's only a bit of a challenge when wide open or shooting a moving object such as my son!
 
I actually have this lens lying upstairs, haven't got an adapter as yet. Is that photo of the lens on the first thread a brand new or a product shot......?

Looks cool.
 
macvisual said:
I actually have this lens lying upstairs, haven't got an adapter as yet. Is that photo of the lens on the first thread a brand new or a product shot......?

Looks cool.
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You think it was new, but that'll be @WingTsun's recent purchase.
 
macvisual said:
I actually have this lens lying upstairs, haven't got an adapter as yet. Is that photo of the lens on the first thread a brand new or a product shot......?

Looks cool.
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Peter, I'll take that as a compliment! :D That's my lens that I photographed today.
 
WingTsun said:
Peter, I'll take that as a compliment! :D That's my lens that I photographed today.
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It looks like CG. Mine looks used, well used.

It looks like junk actually.
 
manualfocus-g said:
The Helios is great fun, just don't look in the corners at wider apertures :D
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Yep, or choose your subject carefully. The bokeh is always fun with them.
 
No bokeh here, but I bloody love this lens.





Out of around 150 shots, I managed to catch him being still for a few seconds :)
 
I did go looking a while back, but they all seemed more like £50ish - maybe it's a seasonal variation in price. Not expensive, but more than I wanted to throw at an experiment.

I did pick up an old 135 2.8 a while back that also does the swirly bokeh thing a bit, but isn't really sharp enough to make me happy.
 
I had a Helios 44 on my first SLR (Zenith E) 45 years ago. Camera & lens were about £30 new.
 
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