Hi everybody, since last year I have a very early Helios 44 with the serial number 0000xxx f/2-f/22.
But a couple of weeks ago I spotted one with the serial 000xxxx (also stopping down to f/22) at a very good price so decided to buy it.
Since theyīve been made at the same factory (and probably very close in time) I didnīt expect many differences, but I could find some.
First of all, the coatings. The 0000 has a deep blue tone but the 000 is more on the purple side. This is very evident, viewed from any angle.
Also note that the red sign is centered only in the 000 version, and that the size of the letters is a bit smaller in the 0000.
0000 000
More differences on the filter and the aperture ring.
On the filter ring there is (only in the 000) an useful dot that shows the aperture at any time.
On the aperture ring, in the 0000 a dot marks the minimum aperture selected. In the 000 there is a line instead.
And one last difference, below the f/16 number the mark is like an
L in the 000 and a
l in the 0000.
0000 000 0000 000