Is the Helios 44-2 worth it?

Although the Helios 44-2 is a great little lens with some decent sharpness with great bokeh, it will flare like crazy compared to many modern lenses, it has some issues with spherical aberrations. For this shot I was at about the minimum focus distance from my daughter in her car seat, focusing on her eyelids.

What mount is the Helios 44-2?

M42 mount
The Helios 44-2 58mm was manufactured mostly in an M42 mount to be used with the Zenit camera but it was also made in a Pentax K and M39 mount as well.

Where were Helios lenses made?

the USSR
Helios (Russian: Ге́лиос) was a brand of camera lenses, made in the USSR. They were usually supplied with Zenit cameras and thus usable with other M42 lens mount cameras such as the Pentax Spotmatic.

What is swirly bokeh?

“In modern photography, it directly refers to the way the out-of-focus areas of an image are rendered by a lens. The ‘swirl’ bokeh effect is usually the result of a defect and poor focusing on a specific lens.

What causes swirly bokeh?

As you extend from the middle of the frame, the introduction of the ellipse-shaped bokeh can cause a “swirling effect” in the image. Some lenses are specifically designed to produce this swirly bokeh effect, such as the Lomography Petzval 85mm f/2.2 lens (unfortunately, no longer available new).

What are Helios in photography?

Meet the Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 Lens This was a Russian-made lens that essentially tried to emulate a famous Zeiss one. Several companies made these lenses over several decades, in the millions of units, so they aren’t exactly rare. This means they are really inexpensive because they are so common.

How old is Helios 44 2?

And there you go, the history Behind the Helios 44-2, produced from 1958 through the early 90s. And there are several iterative versions, but they are all essentially the same and everyone has their own opinions on which one is the best.

When was the Helios 44m made?

Helios-44 is a series of standard lenses for SLR cameras, produced in Soviet Union by KMZ, MMZ, Jupiter from 1958 until 1999; it is considered to be one of most mass produced lenses in the world.

When were Helios lenses made?

History and features of Helios Lens The first lens with this name (Helios-1 2/50) was developed at GOI (State Optical Institute) in 1937, then the lenses of the Helios family were produced by the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant and other optical enterprises of the USSR, including the Jupiter factories, Arsenal, BeloMO.

Is swirly bokeh good?

As you may have noticed, some lenses will blur a background very smoothly, perhaps even producing a swirly effect, while others tend to render out of focus details in a busier way, with harder edges. Generally speaking, smooth and swirly bokeh is considered more desirable than a busy and complicated bokeh.

What is bad bokeh?

Bad Bokeh is the exact opposite of the ones stated above. The background shown has sharp lines, double lines and circles with sharp edges. These lines have bright spots that can easily distract any viewer. There’ll also be double lines. In other words, bad Bokeh takes the spotlight away from the subject.