[yasik]

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Helios 40

[kent]

Hello all,

so here is my new-old friend Jupiter-9. I recently purchased it on eBay, paid quite a few bucks, 160$ + shipping. The lens came with both caps, original case and also a rare genuine hood which you can see in the last picture. I used to have DA70mm which i traded because of f/2.4 (I sold it too damn cheap ) and planned to get a Samyang 85mm 1.4. I ordered it however the seller was really annoying and could not get it on promised time so i cancelled my order and began to look at Jupiter-9 which I never liked actually. However little by little, after few hours spent on reading reviews and opinions I convinced myself to buy it. There (on ebay) were quite a large choice however I decided to pay a little more (there were cheaper options). The guy who sold is from Latvia and he has a lot of old lenses (rare and popular) and also few more jupiters. He described it as ''very good conditions lens, with no scratches, fungus, clean optics and smooth ring''. What he said was true, it looks like the lens was used very little, the black paint is almost perfectly fine, and aperture blades have very little oil traces. The focusing ring is stiff, however it feels a bit smoother now (I used the lens for few hours). Also, the lens is made in 1983 and although it has typical Jupiter's softness at f/2 somehow it looks better than most samples I've seen (there were some really bad and soft pictures), so I believe than I am lucky and got quite a good copy. The colors are on the cool side and the lens lacks contrast, but I started to like it, just more practice and I believe I will get good pictures with it.

[ann.tique]

Helios 40

Beautiful, beautiful
Three pictures from me:
Helios 44-2:
1.


2.


3.



Jupiter 37A:
4.


5.


6.

[kent]

Few shots with jupiter I started to like it, it is really sharp copy, sharper than most others I saw.

[TheOsOProject]

Taken with my K-01 and a Helios 44-2 I picked up on eBay for 20 bucks.

[dcBear78]

Got my first Russian lens on its way to me. Picked up a M44-6 supposedly in great condition.

Just wondering what adapter everyone uses? My quick trawl of eBay shows 2 different types. Wondering which is better?

[Jean Poitiers]

Got my first Russian lens on its way to me. Picked up a M44-6 supposedly in great condition.

Just wondering what adapter everyone uses? My quick trawl of eBay shows 2 different types. Wondering which is better?

I use a Pentax made adapter ... and it works fine. I have never tried the cheaper ones ... didn't want to cut corners here - J

[vladimiroltean]

There is also this type, which supposedly presses the pin so the aperture is always closed for you, so Helios surgery is no longer necessary (hooray).

[dcBear78]

Just checked the eBay listing and the one I got is pretty much the same. But I realise now it is for M42. Will this still fit the M44 I have purchased?

Was only A$6 delivered so if it doesn't fit it is no big deal (other than having to wait for another to arrive).

[Jean Poitiers]

.... Will this still fit the M44 I have purchased?

Yes it should ... J

[dcBear78]

Cheers... Can't wait to have it in my hands to try for myself. When I saw the type of pictures this lens took, and the price I had to have one.

[fiveseven]

Soviet projector lens. PO108-2 (1959)
Custom/Experimental black project paper aperture.



Not the nicest aperture but can be easily be redone.
Even though it's 90mm and rear element sits fairly close to the mount, it does not focus to infinity but good enough for short range portrait I guess.


Few test pics.
Kx


Slightly over-exposed.

K100D S

[jido]

I just got a Helios 44M-4.

The colours are OK but not special:



I really like the low-light performance. This photo was untouched, taken under dim lighting:



The bokeh looks quite good to me:



Lens flare:



Finally I have a question.
Why does there seem to be a big difference in contrast between the following two pictures:

f/2


f/4.8

[jido]

And one more, to show how sharp it can be in the centre. Hand-held, one-to-one crop.

Small amount of sharpening added (OFF in camera).

[ivanvernon]

I love my Helios/Zenit 44K-4, 58 mm. It doesn't get too fuzzy at full aperture, and acts almost like a micro lens for small objects like this jewel-encrusted figurine give to me by one of my Saudi Arabian students. The photo is taken on tabletop black background with Pentax K-10, built-in flash, f 2.0 and 1/60 second.