Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 Lens (Oily aperture blades)

[DV51260]

This is a true soviet quality lens.

[fehlszene]

Better luck next time in the vintage lens lottery :)

Fortunatly, mine doesn't show any signs of oily blades yet..

[kaouthiavideo]

@fehlszene It's turned out to not be all that much of a problem really. The aperture's set manually by me, not automatically by the camera as with modern lenses, so sticky/laggy blades isn't an issue.

It's still incredibly sharp, and as long as the oil stays on the blades and doesn't drip onto the glass, it should be ok. :)

[fehlszene]

@kaouthiavideo

Ah, nice to hear :)

Unfortunatly for me, i can't set an aperture of f.2.0 after a couple of weeks using it...it always snaps back to F16...it sucks but oh well ;)

[kaouthiavideo]

@fehlszene That's a bummer. On the bright side, these are dirt cheap on eBay.

I've got two more 44's now - unfortunately they're versions that don't allow a manual aperture, so I have to do a little surgery on them to disable the automatic aperture (which only works mounted on an appropriate body, not via DSLR with an adapter).

[fehlszene]

@kaouthiavideo

True, but i need to save my money for a takumar 50mm f1.4 :)

[kaouthiavideo]

@fehlszene Indeed, been waiting for one of those to come up at the right price too. :)

[fehlszene]

@kaou

I think the age of the "right price" is long gone now, the price will only climb. I rencently ran into one auction were a potential buyer asked the seller if he'd be willing to accept "buy it now" and he told him no, because he had already 40 people watching the auction

I think there are a lot of pros in these auctions, trying to get hold of these lenses to sell them at a profit later on. I think you can easily pay over 100$ for one of them, just try to outbid the pros. good luck ;)

[alextheromanian]

@kaouthiavideo can you tell me which version is the best to get???

i like the look and sound of the very first version that is all brushed metal...yeah they all look dirty but i think i can restore the exterior if the interior is ok.

which one should i avoid? aka the one which needs modification.

im also finding these im m39 and m42 mount(not the brushed one since that was pre m42 i believe)

the reason im asking is because i want to pick the sharpest best one

[kaouthiavideo]

@alextheromanian The difference between the M39 one and the M42 one is simply the size of the screw thread that mounts it to the body. As far as I'm aware they both still project the same size image (35mm film frame), so as long as you get the right adapter you should be golden.

The only one I've ran across so far that I've had to modify was the Helios 44M-4. The 44-2 works as-is, but the modifications to the 44M-4 were simple (I'll put a video up on how to do that at some point).

tbc...

[kaouthiavideo]

As far as the sharpest, it varies from lens to lens really. You could get a dozen seemingly identical 44-2 lenses, and some will be razor sharp even close to wide open, and some you'll have to stop down to f/5.6 or more to get rid of all the flaring and really see the sharpness.

The quality control wasn't as great back in those days as it is today. But, for what they cost, you can afford to buy half a dozen of them, compare, and then resell the ones that don't work for your style of shooting.

[v4trogaSci]

Do you know how to clean it?

[kaouthiavideo]

@v4trogaSci You basically have to completely dismantle it, clean it, then put it back together.

[UltraMusicSite]

@v4trogaSci art.photo-element.ru/ts/apertu­re_44-2/aperture_44-2.html

[realtimemedia]

Is that not good then? I know nothing about photography :(

[kaouthiavideo]

@realtimemedia Well, not really. As I said, if you're shooting on hot sunny days, the oil can evaporate and fog up the lens, causing flare, softness and other weird distortions, and as it's oil and inside the lens, it's kinda hard to shift once it's got on there without a complete cleaning & service, which costs more than the lens is worth.

[kaouthiavideo]

But, I got it for a great price, so if I get a few months use out of it, I'll be happy enough. :)

I took a break from wow, but I'm back getting the rest of my alts up to 80 ready for Cataclysm. I should put some of my other older videos together and free up some hard drive space though. So, I might have some more wow vids online soon. :)

[kaouthiavideo]

On a lens with a manual aperture like this it's not as much as a problem as it is on more recent auto-aperture lenses.

They don't need lubricating to be snappy, and on modern bodies & lenses, it can actually slow down the response of the aperture, so that it's not accurate when you fire the shutter.

On an older lens like this, the only real concern is shooting in warmer weather. As the oil heats up, it can evaporate and fog up the lens.

[demon39063]

Oily is bad? Shouldn't they be well lubricated for the awesome shutter action?

Also, why no druid videos? :)