Helios 44-2 58mm F2 Russian Lens for Sony E NEX (for E-mount cameras)

Product Information

Next, Meyer Optik Gorlitz (umlaut passed over because my American fingers are too fat and lazy to manipulate all those keys) which you hold up as a beacon of quality just filed for bankruptcy. The one I have currently – a Helios 44-2 – is the one I’ve had the longest, and has a battered, paint worn body, circular cleaning marks on the front and back of the lens and even a bubble within the glass. Using an EF to FX Metabones and adding a lens hood would likely help avoid this lens flare from happening. It’s worth stating at this point that any assessment of Eastern bloc/Soviet equipment (or any vintage kit for that matter) should be seen as being applicable to ‘this specific lens’ rather than ‘this applies to every copy ever made of this lens’ time and tide have no doubt been unkind to some of this gear over the years and frankly some of the build quality out of the former Soviet Union wasn’t brilliant to start with so YMMV (quite a bit) In fact that’s one of the reasons for writing this blog - there are some many flipping (often contradictory) views on which lens is best etc etc that there really is no susbtitute for finding these things out for yourself!

The image was also feature as their “Photo Of The Day” and spent 24 hours as the hero image on the Unsplash landing page.

The minimum focus isn’t great compared to other 50s, but otherwise it performs beautifully, in my experience. There are even some wild stories about serial numbers starting with double zeroes that were reserved for bribing foreign dignitaries and spies. If you're printing in a darkroom then you have plenty of physical means to adjust the look of your photos.

I definitely felt that with the Helios 44-2 / HP5 shots with Danni that the shots were more crisp and sharp where they needed to be - obviously film and development/scanning is a factor here too folks so these are just my thoughts but I do feel like in this completely subjective and unscientific test I have to give this round to the 44-2! The Soviet Union manufactured millions of this lens in different variants and it shipped as standard lens on many Soviet (Zenit) cameras.Reflections: Ok so the first thing that is worth stating is how amazing both Sophia and Danni are, they are two of my fave people to shoot with! I aimed up at a birdhouse about 8 feet away, which conveniently had a cute little toad in the lower peep hole and took the shot. I’m one of the people who doesn’t miss the limitations of film… 30-some shots on a roll and waiting for developed prints really didn’t work for me. If you’d like proof that Soviet era lenses are lacking in quality control I’ll send you this giant box full of them and they can collect superior German dust in your superior German basement.

If you wish to shoot one of these lenses on a digital camera, you will will need to use an adaptor which has an additional ‘ledge’ to depress this pin on the rear of the lens – otherwise the lens will remain fixed at the widest aperture. But you can definitely put it to the test when passing animals that are a little less weary of human presence. checked your piece on the industar 61 l/d, and it’s the same text more or less, with the lens name changed. Any quibbles over the sharpness are clearly coming from people that are more interested in gear talk and technical specs than actually shooting photographs in the real world. The wild sample variation definitely brings the average sharpness down but don't expect razors even from the best copy.

i’m tired of reading the same rehashed drivel in regard to lenses from the soviet union: »rip-offs«, »lackluster« »sub-par« … what is it with you united statesians (because it’s exclusively you people writing in such a manner) that makes you think you’ve got a free pass to drop condescending and thinly-veiled jingoism in your online articles? As is true for most soviet camera gear ( and also non-camera ), there can be a huge sample variation in play. I am sure the Soviet-era stuff is second-rate, and so I must disagree with Herr Müller’s derogatory remarks about your reviews. Anyway, here are some shots from the walk around the fence and the park next door using that set up. Apparently you need a pretty good distance in the background so the little light spots and details can register into that swirl shape.