Conclusion
Yes, it’s fun!
I honestly adore this lens. It’s dumb, and it’s soft, but the bokeh it produces and the character it provides are nearly unmatched. The horrific corner sharpness doesn’t even matter because every photo will just be a mess of crazy swirly bokeh balls anyway.
If you’re looking for a fun (and super cheap) lens to play around with, the Helios 44M-2 is the way to go.
I’ll put purchase links down below if you are interested in checking it out, as it comes with the e-mount adapter pre-attached and included (if buying on Amazon).
Thanks for reading, I hope you have fun with this insane and hilarious lens.
The Weirdest Bokeh You’ll Ever See
Helios 44-2 58mm F2
The Helios 44M-2 is a peculiar and fun lens that offers unique bokeh and a heavy soviet-era build.
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Обзор винтажного объектива Helios 44-2 58 мм F2
Helios 44-2 F2 — один из уникальных винтажных объективов, известных своим отличительным характером. Этот объектив является одним из самых популярных винтажных объективов, и его любят некоторые кинематографисты и фотографы.
Впервые Helios 44-2 был произведен в 1958 году, и существовало несколько моделей одного и того же объектива.
Прежде чем я расскажу об этом объективе, я хотел бы ответить на большинство вопросов, которые люди задают, просматривая Интернет в поисках обзоров объективов.
Стоит ли покупать этот объектив?
Да! Если вы ищете дешевый винтажный объектив без стабилизации, автофокуса и резкости, как у объективов DSLR. Характер Helios может не показаться фантастическим кинематографистам или фотографам, предпочитающим автофокус и резкие цифровые объективы.
Теперь давайте рассмотрим Helios 44-2 F2
- Диафрагма: F2 – F16
- Лепестки: 13 лепестков
- Фокусировка: ручная фокусировка
- Кольцо фокусировки : Два кольца фокусировки
- Фокусное расстояние: 58 мм
- Крепление: M42
Качество изображения
Что касается качества изображения, то Helios 44-2 f2 создает замечательные снимки. Я использую этот объектив для видеопроизводства, и мое первое впечатление было отличным. Объектив передает идеальный цветовой тон и не агрессивный контраст, как у кинообъективов.
Резкость
Объектив выглядит мягким при F2. При диафрагмировании до f4 резкость отснятого материала улучшается. Было бы здорово отметить, что резкость Helios аналогична большинству кинообъективов, которые я использовал. Не такой резкий, как кинообъективы, но характер резкости Helios 44-2 f2 можно сравнить с кинообъективом Samyang 35mm T1.5.
Боке
Объектив Helios 44-2 f2, которого называют королем вихревого боке, заслужил свое звание благодаря производительности. Боке выглядит хорошо и красиво. Одна из особенностей, которую я люблю в Helios больше, чем в Samyang 85mm T1.5.
Блики
Если вы ищете объектив стоимостью 50 фунтов стерлингов с хорошими бликами, уверяю вас, вы найдете хорошую сделку. Блики объектива сладкие. Я не знаю, как объективу удается так хорошо справляться с отражением света, честно говоря, выглядит он великолепно. Такие качества часто встретишь на дорогих кинообъективах.
Вы можете модифицировать объектив для улучшения характеристик.
Производительность при слабом освещении
Как я уже говорил в своем предыдущем видеообзоре, производительность любой камеры при слабом освещении зависит от двух факторов:
- Чувствительность камеры к свету и
- Насколько широко открыт объектив.
Helios широко раскрывается при F2, и это помогает объективу хорошо работать при слабом освещении. Широкоугольный объектив может отлично подойти для работы с видео, но это будет за счет резкости изображения.
Мое мнение о Гелиос 44-2 f2
Характер у объектива отличный. Если вы ищете винтажный объектив с отличными характеристиками, хорошим качеством изображения и уникальным характером, то Helios — отличный вариант для вас
Мне нравится его эффект боке, его мягкий вид, то, как он работает при слабом освещении, и, что наиболее важно, его блики
Это не лучший объектив, но он отлично работает, и он вам понравится.
VINTAGE LENSES ARE FUN
In 2021, we have amazing cameras with lightning fast eye-AF. This is a super handy feature to have as a portrait photographer. You can spend less time thinking about what your camera is doing and more time directing and interacting with your subjects. While I love these features for my professional work, it’s refreshing for your creativity to change things up.
By having to focus manually, I feel more involved with my photography. It changes photography from being a job that I do to something more creative. Digital cameras also have features to help you with manual focusing.
On the Sony A7III, you have the option to zoom in to your photo. I was using the zoom feature while taking a full body portrait of our model Mathilda. I asked her to stand in a position, I framed up my photo then zoomed in to find my focus. Once I locked in on focus, I fired off a few photos.
Focus & Other Notes
Manual Focus
Alrighty, next up, let’s focus on focusing (see what I did there?).
Like many old vintage lenses, manual focus feels fabulous and fun. The focus ring on the Helios 44-2 is well-dampened and, from what I could tell, fairly accurate.
Of course, the lens does suffer from decentering, so sometimes half the frame will be in focus and the other half won’t, but hey, it’s all part of the fun. Think of it as a discount tilt-shift lens, perhaps?
In any case, I found this old clunker to be really fun to focus with. There’s an unmatchable charm that comes from using one of these old, metal beasts.
Oh, by the way, if you’re new to manual focus and are looking to learn more, check out my guides for manual focus on full-frame and manual focus on APS-C bodies.
Manual focus is pretty easy to get the hang of.
Aperture Ring (weird)
The last weird thing we have to touch on is the aperture ring. Or rather, the two aperture rings. Yep, two.
One of them, as you might expect, changes the aperture. It does the job well. The other ring, for whatever odd reason, sets a limit to the aperture.
What this means is you’ll have to turn one ring to change your aperture “limit” and then spin the other one to actually set the aperture itself.
While this is a bit of a goofy design that can get annoying, it’s another weird quirk of this lens that just adds to the charm.
Not sharp, but amazing bokeh!
BUDGET LENSES
The last, and perhaps most important, reason is that it is possible to find some really good quality vintage lenses for a very low price. In Australia, I found this Helios 44-2 for $80 AUD. Considering the cost of AF lenses, using vintage lenses is a very budget-friendly solution for photographers.
The Helios 44-2 was fun lens to use for portrait photography and I am happy the results. I personally still prefer the photos I achieved with the 55mm f2 Super Takumar from my last video. I also own a Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 which I haven’t filmed a video with yet. The bokeh from those 2 lenses are just to die for! However, the Helios 44-2 is a lens you can pick up for a super cheap price, cheaper than the Super Takumars and it renders really beautiful results. I especially love it for closeup portraits and the mid-length images where you can see that bokeh swirl!
The rest of the photos in this blog post were taken on the Helios 44-2 + Fujifilm X-T4.
Build Quality
Size & Weight
So first off, let’s talk about size and weight. As you might expect, this lens is pretty damn chunky.
Size-wise, it measures a length of around 4 inches (10.6cm) with the required Sony e-mount adapter. While not absolutely gigantic, it’s still fairly large considering this is a prime lens.
In terms of heft, it weighs in at a chunky 14oz (397g) with the included adapter. This thing feels HEAVY-duty on Sony’s modern compact cameras (even on my fairly big a7iii).
Although not huge, it certainly feels chunky and heavy!
Is the lens well-built?
But hey, all that heft goes somewhere. Like many products from the former Soviet Union, the Helios 44M-2 is big, chunky, and has a lot of quirky character.
Materials & Longevity
Material-wise, the entire lens is made out of metal. It’s cold to the touch, and you can really feel the ex-Soviet quality. In this case, I say quality to mean big and heavy.
Speaking of quality, the entire concept of “quality control” was not even a thing in many of these old Soviet factories, so you never knew how your copy of the lens would hold up. Luckily, being so old, most of the copies you’ll find online have stood the test of time and should last many years to come.
Yes, it’s heavy. Have I mentioned that enough?
No Weather Sealing (unsurprisingly)
If you’re the type to seek out weather-sealed lenses, I think it should be pretty obvious that this old beast lacks anything of the sort.
This thing wasn’t meant to be expensive or high-end, just a mass-manufactured cheap piece of glass to feed the USSR’s trade-restricted photographers.
Built to last?
So, you might ask, is this lens actually built to last?
If you had asked me that question when this lens came out, I’d say no. Well, I’d probably say yes assuming I was being interviewed by the Soviet Union’s State Media, but secretly I’d say no. At the time, as stated, quality control was a completely unfamiliar concept in the USSR’s factories.
However, many years later, I think it’s safe to say that the copies of the Helios that you buy now should last a while. After all, these survived decades already.
Although quality control was non-existent from the factory, most of the surviving lenses today should be in pretty good shape as they’ve more or less stood the test of time.
Ergonomics
Ergonomically, the lens actually feels pretty comfortable to use. It’s incredibly heavy for its size, sure, but I find it actually balances pretty well on my a7iii.
A bit front-heavy perhaps, but I actually didn’t feel much fatigue when running around with it all day. The gigantic, cold metal focusing ring makes a nice gripping point.
Also, thanks to the small-ish size, I can easily toss it into my camera sling if needed.
Aesthetics
Now that we’ve covered all the useful attributes of the build, let’s talk about the pure aesthetics of this lens. I understand beauty is subjective, but I absolutely love how equally ugly-yet-beautiful this lens is.
It’s pure black, without much flair, but the barrel has these really nice-looking engravings. One of the aperture rings (yes, there are two, which we will cover later) is red and green which, while a rather odd combination these days, was fairly common on a lot of vintage lenses back in the day. Even knockoffs, apparently.
Instead of another picture of the lens, enjoy this swirly bokeh instead.
Image Quality
Alrighty, now that we’ve talked about the physical attributes of the lens, let’s cover sharpness, optical quirks, and, of course, talk about the iconic swirly bokeh.
Sharpness
As you might expect, sharpness isn’t all that great. When wide open, center sharpness is iffy and the corners are a soft buttery mess.
When stopped down, centers start to look decent but the corners are still very… weak. There’s also some field curvature, probably some of the worst I’ve ever seen.
However, you’re not buying the Helios 44M-2 for the sharpness, but rather the unique bokeh and character that no other lens can match.
Bokehlicious goodness.
Bokehlicious Goodness
However, you’re not buying the Helios 44M-2 for the sharpness, but rather the unique bokeh that no other lens can match. And yes, the bokeh is fabulous. It takes some skill to perfect, as you need to find the perfect aperture/subject distance ratio, but it just really is so gorgeous and unique.
Speaking of which, let’s talk about the bokehlicious goodness that this lens produces. Chances are, if you’re reading this review, you’re probably already aware of the peculiar, swirly bokeh that this old beast puts out.
Now, it does have some weird character when it comes to actually rendering this insane bokeh in the first place. You have to really be a certain distance away from your subject, and you have to play around with focus until you get it right. Explaining it over text is hard, but getting the iconic bokeh takes a bit of work.
Also, it should be noted that you’ll see much better bokeh on full frame. You can still use this lens on a crop-sensor camera, of course, but it really comes alive with a full-frame camera’s larger sensor size.
Swiiiiiirly bokeh.
Optical Quirks & Flaws
Alright, so the bokeh is godly, but what about other quirks and flaws that make a lens… unique?
Distortion
First off, believe it or not, the lens actually doesn’t suffer from any sort of major distortion.
Even when shooting straight lines (architecture, for example), you’ll find you rarely need to make any corrections in post.
Chromatic Aberration
Shockingly, the lens also handles chromatic aberrations better than you’d expect.
You’ll run into some issues with extreme lighting situations, but nothing that I found to be absolutely egregious.
Surprisingly, the lens is relatively free of any major CA.
Vignette
Vignette is also relatively well-controlled, at least when stopped down. When shooting wide open, it’s fairly noticeable but easily fixable in post-processing.
Plus, with the insane swirly bokeh, a bit of vignette actually goes a long way in adding even more subject isolation and emphasis.
Flare Resistance (non-existent)
Alright, folks, this is where stuff gets crazy. Like many old lenses, the Helios 44-2 flares more than a JJ Abrams movie.
![[m42] helios 44-2 58mm f2 review – swirly bokeh lens popular on instagram | overland25](https://realshop5.ru/wp-content/uploads/7/3/f/73fa79fbaad56ce8fd6a92d8a19d6bb0.jpeg)
Every single light source will cause insane, movie-level flaring, even a simple table lamp. And you know what? I love it.
The flaring is nuts, but it really adds so much character to this lens. If used right, it can add quite a bit of artistic character to your photos. I don’t mind it at all.
“Мы большие поклонники Джей Джей Абрамса.” – Helios designers circa 1977 when discussing lens flare.
Overall Optical Performance
So yeah, overall optical performance is probably about what you’d expect. Sharpness isn’t great and field curvature is pretty wild.
However, the flaring and iconic swirly bokeh come together to create just such a lovely and unique look. Modern lenses simply don’t have this kind of character.
Might not be the sharpest lens out there, but you’re getting a heck of a lot more character than your average modern clinical glass.
VINTAGE LENS IMAGE QUALITY
Vintage lenses can produce results that are not possible to achieve with digital lenses. One of the characteristics of the Helios 44-2 is it’s swirly bokeh, which is technically a design defect. However, it’s a flaw that is very welcome creatively. You can see it the most when there is a good amount of space between the background, my subject and the camera — the background swirls around Mathilda.
This copy of the Helios 44-2 is not the sharpest lens. Especially compared to the Super Takumars I used in my last vintage lens video. The goal when taking pictures with vintage lenses is not necessarily achieving tack-sharp images. I find that the vintage look of lenses like this really adds to the charm of the final photos.
The only downside I experienced with this lens was due to the adaptors I was using. The lighting in this location was causing an overpowering lens flare depending on what angle I was shooting from. I’m using the M42 to Canon EF adaptor as this allows me to then adapt to Sony with a Metabones and to Fuji with an EF to FX adaptor. The Metabones adaptor is designed to reduce and control internal reflections much more so I didn’t run into any major lens flare troubles on the Sony A7III.
On the other hand, the EF to FX adaptor I was using for Fujifilm is a budget, manual only adaptor that doesn’t have a design that reduces internal reflections as much. Because of that and the lack of a lens hood, in the XT-4 photos you can see a very strong, solid white lens flare which covers half the image. So I felt very restricted with the angles I could shoot from trying to avoid that.
Using an EF to FX Metabones and adding a lens hood would likely help avoid this lens flare from happening. I will in the future use the Helios with a speed booster to be able to shoot with EF converted glass on Fuji X mount with a reduced crop factor.