My favorite Soviet lens.

Ron Evers · Mar 25, 2011

I currently have 4 Soviet lenses & while they are all very sharp my favorite is the Helios 44-2 a 58/2. I favour the 44-2 because it will focus down to 0.3M while the others only to 1M. Here is a shot taken with it today.

tirediron · Mar 25, 2011

Your favorite Soviet lens Ron? Isn't that like saying, "Your favorite grandchild"?

photocist · Mar 25, 2011

That red flower is awkwardly placed. Pretty sure the white flower is the subject, but the red is very powerful.

raphaelaaron · Mar 25, 2011

Ron,

I just want to add to this soviet lens thread. I have a similar lens, and I agree that it is wonderful. I recently attained mint condition Helios 40-2. The focus and bokeh on this lens is incredible, so much that I bought my own pentax LX body to mount it. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who likes these russian gems. They are underrated.

here are some images taken with it:

some test shots with depth:

dylanstraub · Mar 25, 2011

All very nice pictures. how much does one pay for those little gems? What kind of body do you mount them to and is it by way of some kind of adapter?

raphaelaaron · Mar 25, 2011

dylanstraub said:
All very nice pictures. how much does one pay for those little gems? What kind of body do you mount them to and is it by way of some kind of adapter?

the mint condition one was just around 470.00, i guess because they're rare. I just took a peek on ebay, and they're going for about 600 dollars average.
they are the standard M42 screw mount, and I used an M42 to K mount pentax adapter. it's a film camera lens, but you can put it on a dslr. some people have made videos using their dslrs fitted with this lens:

ulrichsd · Mar 25, 2011

The Soviets made some sweet 16mm movie cameras as well! Krasnogorsk-3
The Krasnogorsk-3 (K-3) 16MM Film Camera - Filmmaking

Drake · Mar 25, 2011

Ron Evers said:
I favour the 44-2 because it will focus down to 0.3M while the others only to 1M.

My 44-4 has a minimum focusing distance of 0,5m. I just love it. Incredibly sharp and so much fun to shoot with. The bokeh wide open is plain ugly though, I am usually shooting it at f/2.8.

Ron Evers · Mar 25, 2011

dylanstraub said:
All very nice pictures. how much does one pay for those little gems? What kind of body do you mount them to and is it by way of some kind of adapter?

The Helios 44-2 is a common lens in the former Soviet Union & can be had on eBay for around $50. I use it on Micro Four Thirds cameras G1 & GF1 with a M42 to M4/3 adapter that can be had for about $20. M42 adapters are available for other camera formats as well.

Drake · Mar 26, 2011

Ron Evers said:
The Helios 44-2 is a common lens in the former Soviet Union & can be had on eBay for around $50.

I live in Poland, and here the old USRR are almost free. All the versions of Helios 44 can be bought for $15. I use mine on a Canon 1000D with a $10 adapter, works like a charm.