Helios 44-2

[sukunda87]

Yesterday I bought old Helios lens 44-2 with M42 mount. I got that from a guy for 10 dollars. Mint condition, clean lens, no fungus. It was a bargain.

So, I need M42 adapter. I have found two versions of adapters, with and without glass. Second one suposed to be for infinity focus. But, people are saying that sharpnes and overal image quality with adapter with glass element is really bad when using infinity.

So, let's say that I buy first one, without glass element, it's around 5 dollars here where I live. Can that Helios in any point of using break mirror in body of dslr? I'm using Nikon D5200 (yeah, manual meterning, hoorey), and I'm afraid that I will damage mirror when I start focusing. What if I accidental turn focus ring to infinity, is it going to touch mirror, or even damage it?

Im not familiar with that kind of mount, so any help will be appriciated.

 

[john.margetts]

If the adapter needs glass to achieve infinity focus, that is because the lens is too far away from the sensor. If you use the adapter with no glass, the lens will be away from the mirror and you should have no physical problems. However, you will only be able to photograph close-ups. If you are worried about the IQ using the adapter with glass, buy an expensive one with a quality lens in it.

 

[sukunda87]

Tnx, adapter without glass element should arive in 2-3 days. Yeah, I need that Helios for portraits and because of swirly bokeh. Do You know what type of lens cap should I buy? Is it 49mm on top, and 42mm rear?

 

[SquarePeg]

I've been wanting this lens so I started to research the older version and my understanding is that the M42 mount cannot be adapted for Nikon but it can for Canon. What body do you have?

 

[john.margetts]

There are plenty of M42 to Nikon F adapters around. The only problem is achieving infinity focus - or not. It is certainly much easier to adapt to the Canon EOS mount. I have both M42 and Olympus OM converters which work very well.

 

[SquarePeg]

There are plenty of M42 to Nikon F adapters around. The only problem is achieving infinity focus - or not. It is certainly much easier to adapt to the Canon EOS mount. I have both M42 and Olympus OM converters which work very well.

Yes, the infinity focus issue is what the item I read was referring to. I should have elaborated.

 

[santino]

As far as I know only Leica R lenses can be adapted to Nikon without additional glass elements still maintaining infinity.