Great review! My son had an extended holiday to Turkey to visit an old school friend. While touring the bazaars in Istambul he found a great camera store with good deals on used equipment. He knew that I had been looking for a Helios 44 and he surprised me by bringing back a KMZ-made 44M-4 in pristine condition and he says it was a very good deal. I love what it does on my Fuji X-T20 camera, especially if I can ever get any of my family to sit for portraits.
Excellent review! I have the Helios 44-2, unfortunately a rather old & tatty example 😢. Your channel is a fantastic resource. Thank you for all the hard work you do producing these videos 📸.
Excellent review. I am looking for a Helios 44, I didn't decide which version yet, but via eBay there is a 44M-4 converted to F-mount available (from Ukraine) that I'm considering. The seller claims he did the F-mount conversion while retaining the original optical formula, i.e. not moving the rear lens element to prevent breaking the mirror. I am interested in a Helios 44 lens for my film cameras (FM3A and F100) because of its imperfections ("character" or "vintage" if you like ;-), that's why I shoot film) but also because on my digital APS-C camera (Z Fc) it will attain a 135 format equivalent focal length of 87mm, which I find a very useful focal length for portraits and detail photos. The 50 cm nearest focal distance helps with that. Of course there are other 56mm to 58mm options out there, but I must say the affordability is unmatched and the option of creating the swirly bokeh effect is a cool thing to try out. On my film cameras it will take more time to master the swirly bokeh trick (there no immediate feedback) and I don't know if this effect is so prominent on APS-C (sadly I don't have a full frame digital camera, yet...). Anyhow, many thanks for this overview, all the technical details and history, and the advice to check for the grease when buying second hand is invaluable.
Thanks! I have used a Helios on my old D700 and D3400 before that, on the crop body the bokeh swirl certainly isn't as prominent, but is still visible. Good luck finding a nice copy!
I'm not a soviet lenses fan, but now and then I stumble upon really interesting pieces. For example, my 44M-4 came incorrectly assembled in factory (Valdai) :D then, couple of rare editions which are referred as prototypes in some sources (44M and 44-2). Most interesting ones are old, silver 13 blade versions which seems to be closest to it's German father, the Carl Zeiss Biotar (but not the same, it sees that the Soviet mother gave something as well, especially the different coating)
The old school single coatings are a double edged sword. I think they add boatloads of character on the silver Mir-1 37mm. On the other hand, I think the biotar optical design is particularly vulnerable to veiling flare and so that coating is not so fun on the helios 44. Likewise on the Helios 40, which has the worst contrast and flare resistance of any lens I've ever used and would really benefit from multicoating (the new production ones have it... for $600)
Wonderful stuff Alex! As usual thanks for giving some deeper information and facts on this lens. Most Helios 44 reviews are just top level google results but you clearly know your stuff. I also love the look of the Era 6m you're shooting on. Cheers!
Guys, I've got some Helioses, but the helicoid grease is old and doesn't work nicely. Can you please suggest a LIGHT grease which will not corrode brass which adds "sand" feeling (as many lithium ones do) and is relatively widely accessible? Sadly, Japan hobby and other similar special products aren't on all the markets
Heh. I have M42 KMZ Helios 44M 58mm F2 (8 aperture blades) and M42 Valdai Helios 44M-4 58mm F2 (6 aperture blades). Both like new. Central part at F2 has better detail resolution and less CA than relatively modern Pentax FA50/1.4 stopped down to F2. Contrast of Helios is weaker of course thanks to much weaker coating. Around F2.8-3.5 they are about equal in resolution and then FA wins. Pentax has much smoother bokeh of course too. My 44M-4 has auto aperture and requires small pin to be depressed by camera to close aperture, so I had to put a bit of plastic tube on that pin to keep the aperture in preset mode. The older 44M simply has set button for finger operation and does not require any modification. I bought 44M-4 in 2008 for about $8 equivallent including transport and 44M a bit later around 2017 with KMZ Zenit TTL camera for about $20 equivallent :D :D :D
I just got a Fujifilm X-T5 after years of shooting Nikon, and I love it. I've been checking out the TTArtisan stuff and it looks interesting, especially for the price.
Apparently if it doesn't have the 'auto' button on the side it isn't a proper 44m. Mine doesn't have that button but the ring says it is a 44m. I'm not sure if they are fakes or something else?
No, that's not the case. The Soviets made many different barrels for each type of Helios-44, some were just produced in much lower numbers (ie. when a factory randomly decided to update barrel design for a short time).
@@SovietLensReviews Thank you. Thn i think it is a tempered copy. the strange thing is I have compared its image quality with earlier version i.e. 44-2 and I found it is absolutely similar.
No they aren't. They're just annoying. Sticky focus rings, stuck aperture blades, broken aperture rings. Got a 44M with all three of those problems. One of my 44M-4s has a stiff focus. But the other is perfect. Doesn't fight you at all, and make for a better experience all for it. All three of them give out the same image.