[ironlionzion]

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In case you guys didn't see this. I'm pretty pumped...I really love the swirly bokeh that the Helios 40-2 gives, but I'm not about to pay 600 for the silver M39 single coat version or 1000+ for the black, multicoated m42 mount version. Looks like they are gonna start pumping these lens back out again at $250! Only comes in nikon and canon mount, but I believe there is a nikon to pentax adapter?

[Lowell Goudge]

Google Translate

In case you guys didn't see this. I'm pretty pumped...I really love the swirly bokeh that the Helios 40-2 gives, but I'm not about to pay 600 for the silver M39 single coat version or 1000+ for the black, multicoated m42 mount version. Looks like they are gonna start pumping these lens back out again at $250! Only comes in nikon and canon mount, but I believe there is a nikon to pentax adapter?

Nikon to Pentax adaptor is either a 12mm extension tube, or optically corrected with 1.25x magnification useless for the 20

[ironlionzion]

Well that's depressing. At the prices for used M39/M42 Helios lenses, it would be better to buy a new lens in a Canikon mount and then buy a brand new Canikon body just for it. Ridiculous.

[Eulogy]

Send them a request to start production on M42 as well? They *surely* have all the tools to do that still...

That's if they're not already doing such already. Perhaps it's just translate, but it says they've added Canon and Nikon mounts, not that they're exclusively doing just bayonets.

[lytrytyr]

Perhaps it's just translate, but it says they've added Canon and Nikon mounts, not that they're exclusively doing just bayonets.

The marketing chief's quote just says they "have bayonets for digital Canon and Nikon cameras."

No mention of any new M42 production.

[Jonathan Mac]

According to a flickr thread here (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157631612567189/) where someone spoke to a representative, the first lenses being produced are in fact M42.

Prices for the 20mm and the 85mm are around €200 / 250 USD. I'll have to look into how the 20mm preforms, if they produce it in M42.

[lytrytyr]

According to a flickr thread here (Flickr: Discussing ?????? 40-2 is alive, again in I Shoot Film) where someone spoke to a representative, the first lenses being produced are in fact M42.

Prices for the 20mm and the 85mm are around €200 / 250 USD..

OK, here's their online catalog:

http://www.zenit-foto.ru/shops/shop_rozn/catalog.phtml


Here's the translation:

Google Translate


If you click through to the MIR 20M entry, you get the specification, including the quote:
"Type of connection to the camera: thread M42h1 working segment of 45.5 mm."

[Lowell Goudge]

the mir-20 may be of interest because i have a gap from 16-24 in my M42 line up, and a gap from 14-24 in my K mount line up. so a mir 20 could fill one of these gaps.

the 85 is of no interest, because I already have a tak 85/1.9 and a vivitar (samyang) 85/1.4

with the 85 and other russian lenses, part of the attraction is the rendering of the older lenses, and a new milticoated and potentially optically different new version (ie not a preset for example) may not offer the same look that people are after.

it will be interesting to see what happens to the old lens price

[Quicksand]

I really love the swirly bokeh that the Helios 40-2 gives, but I'm not about to pay 600 for the silver M39 single coat version or 1000+ for the black, multicoated m42 mount version.

Are you serious?

I remember looking at these like three or four years ago, and the going eBay rate on the Helios 40 (-2) was more like $200 (silver) and $300 (black). Even then, I had a hard time justifying that kind of scratch for a temperamental manual lens with weird character, questionable Soviet-era quality control, and scratchy controls.

[ironlionzion]

I remember looking at these like three or four years ago, and the going eBay rate on the Helios 40 (-2) was more like $200 (silver) and $300 (black).

sadly, yes. I think a lot of people recently have been flocking to these quirky lenses, especially the ones that are out of production. I mean, the going rate for Cosina/Revuenon 1.2s is 400 dollars. Last year it was 300 tops. A couple years before that it was in the 100s. The market is small due to the limited supply and high prices, but clearly there is a demand. I'd imagine there would be significant money to be made if they were put back into production in a plastic AF lens shell.

[rjm]

I mean, the going rate for Cosina/Revuenon 1.2s is 400 dollars. Last year it was 300 tops. A couple years before that it was in the 100s.

Serious? I bought and sold the Cosina 55/1.2 a 2-3 years back for $200~. It was overvalued then, at today's prices, if you are right, utterly foolish - except that of course if you can sell it for more than you paid for it well then more power to you I suppose.

The Cosina is roundly beaten, taken to the cleaners and back again, by the Takumar 55/1.8. It's only party trick is the "soft glow bokeh balls at f/1.2" thing, and trust me that's amusing for all of a half hour or so before the lack of anything resembling sharpness or contrast become unbearable and you put the lens down in disgust. It also flares out at the drop of a hat. I actually spent a fair bit of time trying to find any kind of reason to keep it around - artistic effect, that kind of line - but could find none of any merit.

Moral of the story: beware the enticements of third-party ultra-fast optics.

[ironlionzion]

I had the Cosina too and ended up not using it much. Whenever I went out to shoot I'd always pick a sharp 50mm over the Cosina. The helios is similar in that it's enticement is in it's unique bokeh, but at the same time It'd be my only portrait lens (besides my 90mm macro). I think I'd be much more inclined to go out and shoot with it. At 250 it definitely would be worth a spin.

[stevebrot]

New production of the KMZ lenses? Ha! Ha! They probably found a warehouse full of NOS. Soviet production was not tied to demand and worker's wages were tied to production. The result was huge overproduction of certain goods.

Regardless of new or old production, my understanding is that the Mir 20mm is supposed to be a decent lens. The Helios 40-2 is sort of cult classic. It was originally designed to photograph oscilloscope displays and then re-purposed for film photography. Klaus at photozone.de did a review a few years back:

Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5 (M42 to Pentax) - Review / Test Report


Steve

[ironlionzion]

Good old communism! We keep reaping the benefits, decades after it's collapse

Photozone does not like the 40-2 lol

[lytrytyr]

New production of the KMZ lenses? Ha! Ha! They probably found a warehouse full of NOS. Soviet production was not tied to demand and worker's wages were tied to production. The result was huge overproduction of certain goods.

I doubt that Soviet production plans called for lenses that "have bayonets for digital Canon and Nikon cameras.".