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Helios 44 (KMZ) M42, 8 blades 58mm F2 Review RSS Feed

Helios 44 (KMZ) M42, 8 blades 58mm F2

Sharpness 
 8.8
Aberrations 
 7.8
Bokeh 
 9.5
Handling 
 8.8
Value 
 9.0
Reviews Views Date of last review
4 48,660 Mon June 28, 2021
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $31.67 9.00
Helios 44 (KMZ) M42, 8 blades 58mm F2

Helios 44 (KMZ) M42, 8 blades 58mm F2
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Helios 44 (KMZ) M42, 8 blades 58mm F2
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Helios 44 (KMZ) M42, 8 blades 58mm F2
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Description:
The Helios 44 range is well known to be Russian made clones of the Zeiss Biotar. This is an early model Helios 44, with 8 blade iris manufactured at KMZ Kraznogorsk Mechanical Plant (light ray going through a prism logo). It is very similar to the common 44-2.

According to Camerapedia, the Helios nomenclature is: Helios-44X-N, where X -is the index of lens mount (M for m42 thread, K for Pentax K bayonet) and N is a optical resolution index 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (the higher number the higher is an optical resolution of lens).


Earlier 13 blade helios 44 listed here.
44-2 listed here.
44M-4 listed here.
44M-6 listed here.
44M-7 listed here.
44-M listed here.
Mount Type: M42 Screwmount
Price History:



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New Member

Registered: February, 2019
Posts: 15
Review Date: June 28, 2021 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Lovely to play with
Cons: Overly hyped up by the "Russian Lens" fanclub
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 8    Handling: 8    Value: 7    Camera Used: Sony mirrorless and film cameras   

A lovely fun lens that can take some beautiful pictures.

It was one of the cheapest and most cheerful back in the day, but sadly it has become ridiculously expensive in secondhand online markets that have so many bits of old gear to shift. Indeed, there is a huge online artisan film photography industry involved in selling these at jumped up prices that some folks will pay for. But it is still a cheap and cheerful lens, and many have become quite worn out and damaged over the years. Just be wise about what you pay, and this lens can bring some interesting and some pretty pictures.

Is the 44 that different to the Helios 58mm "44-2"? Nope, the difference is all hype and online blurb that hinges on which online secondhand lens trader has a surplus to sell. Does it generate more sharpness? Not really. Does it generate more swirl or bokeh? Not really.

In all the factories this was made in, quality varied through the years. That means, this lens can come to you as good as the over-excited and seller-reviews state for things like "bokeh" and background distortion, or it could come to you in a very poor version of that expectation. They just vary a lot. On top of that, these are easy to take apart and clean, so many pre-owners who have given-it-a-go have and have ruined some aspects of performance. The glass also scratches very easily and many cleaning scratches come with some lenses. And you know that "oil on the blades" that some people think is wrong? It's actually a requirement that was there from the factory, for this is a manual pre-set lens that you open and close by hand. the oil helps to hold aperture and ensure smooth function and to trap dust.

Sharpness is the only major let down of this lens. F8 is often good. F11 can be on some lenses, and so can f5.6. Outside of that, you might get lucky. Again, it's all lucky/unlucky with age, factory quality of build, care by previous owners; you'll never get many versions of this lens utterly sharp in image (in comparison with a Takumar 55mm screw-in for the same price, or less) without onboard camera enhancement, or software editing. But some well-made versions get you really lovely and crisp images. It's very much a hit-and-miss. I've had four over the years and only one was good, two interesting, one absolutely awful.
   
New Member

Registered: May, 2017
Posts: 5

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: May 8, 2017 Recommended | Price: $44.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Bokeh, sharpness, build-quality, easy to open and maintain, nice aperture
Cons: expained in the text
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 6    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K-S2   

The lens is sharp enough at f/2.0 for portrait shots, but not sharp enough when shooting objects further away. At f/4.0 the lens is really sharp. I also have a sigma 18-35, and this lens at f/4.0 is as sharp as the sigma (maybe even sharper). In strong sunlight chromatic aberration is clearly visible when you zoom in to the picture. But if you don't zoom in much, you can not notice any chromatic aberration. The pictures have different color tones between shots, sometimes the picture are warm and sometimes they are not. It seems that the lens is sensitive to direct sunlight, and I often wrap my hand around the lens to shield it from strong sunlight. The pictures also have a blue tone, especially in dark areas of the picture. The bokeh is beautiful on this lens. The build quality is excellent on this lens. The aperture is beautiful. The blades close symmetrically, to form a nice symmetrical round hole in the center of the lens. The aperture can be closed down to f/16, but the blades are not broad enough and the aperture opens up a little bit on the edges. The aperture should only be closed down to f/11, not further. Maintenance is easy on this lens. The optical elements and the focusing mechanism are separated. However very small screws are used in this lens, which are easily lost or broken. The lens-body has high quality, and is made of aluminum. When this lens is used correctly, the pictures are really good. This lens becomes a 87 mm on a APS-C, perfect for portraits, especially with the beautiful swirly bokeh.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: July, 2014
Location: Paris
Posts: 1,939

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: October 10, 2014 Recommended | Price: $31.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: beautiful color, sharp, cheap, bokeh, easy to find
Cons: MF
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 10   

The IQ is phenomenal for me even wide open, the color is somewhat "different" than what modern lens produce, I like this type of color tone.
Finally get the swirly bokeh, not that hard, just push the background a little far away and voilą !







Update : after a few months, this lens still suprise me of the shaprness and the magic it delivers ! I have to change it to 10/10

   
Pentaxian

Registered: April, 2011
Location: Lost in translation ...
Posts: 18,076
Review Date: June 2, 2014 Recommended | Price: $20.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Bokeh, bokeh, bokeh ... tank like build
Cons: Can become "focus ring stiff" ... can "wobble" on M42 adaptor
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 9   

Bonjour,

I won this lens out of the UK ... had been searching for a while and found one attached to an old Zenith SLR. No hesitations in buying it for the bid winning price ... got lucky again.

Please note that this is not a "44-2" ... same looks, M42 and blade count ...

I am still searching for a silver 39mm 13 blade version of a "44" ... but have not found one, yet.

Here's some pretty much "wide open" test samples (SOOC on the K-5) of my 8 blade M42 version of this "44" lens.





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