Overview (+ video review) Helios-44 2/58 (KMZ, 8 petals)

Review Helios-44 2/58 (8 petals)

Review Helios-44 2/58 (8 petals)

Exist the largest number of lenses of the 'Helios-44' family. This review presents a Helios-44 2/58 lens with a white metal frame, 8 diaphragm blades and a M39 mounting thread. Manufactured at the Krasnogorsk plant, serial No. 0252188. This lens is almost the same Helios-44 2/58, the difference is only in the number of aperture blades.

Video review can be viewed at my youtube channel:

Everything described in the review about Helios-44 2/58 can be attributed to Helios-44 2/58 from this review. I did not describe anything in detail because of the similarity of the lenses.

Helios-44 on a modern camera

Helios-44 on a modern camera

It is the 'Helios-44 2/58' lenses (without other letters in the name) that are found in white and black body frames, except for the frame color the lenses are no different. Lenses Helios-44 2/58 were produced in Krasnogorsk (KMZ) and in Minsk (MMZ), the manufacturer can be recognized by the logo. There are export versions of the lens with the name 'Helios-44 2/58' made in USSR, and there are also lenses with the letter 'P' in the name, and the name itself can be written as 'Helios-44 1: 2 F = 5,8cm P'.

Helios-44, one of the first

Helios-44, one of the first

Reviews for the Helios-44 2/58 lenses:

  1. Helios-44 2/58 [KMZ, 13 petals, M39, silver, No. 0220423]
  2. Helios-44 2/58 [KMZ, 8 petals, M39, silver]
  3. Helios-44 1: 2 F = 5,8 cm П [KMZ with replaced lenses, No. 0007220, review of the lens from the reader Radozhiva]
  4. HELIOS-44M 2/58 [KMZ, 8 petals, serial number 7843528]
  5. HELIOS-44M 2/58 [Jupiter plant, Valdai, 8 petals, serial number 8027170]
  6. HELIOS-44-2 2/58 [plant 'Jupiter', Valdai, 8 petals, serial number 83052779] + autofocus review
  7. MS Helios 44-3 2/58 [MMZ, 8 petals, 8619437, 9167912]
  8. MC Helios-44M-4 2/58
  9. Helios-44K-4 58mm 1:2 [KMZ, 6 petals, Pentax K]
  10. MC Helios-44M-4 58mm 1: 2 [plant 'Jupiter', Valdai, 6 petals] + autofocus review
  11. MC Helios-44M-5 58mm 1: 2 [Jupiter plant, Valdai, 6 petals]
  12. MC Helios-44M-6 58mm 1: 2 [plant 'Jupiter', Valdai, 6 petals]
  13. MC Helios-44M-7 58mm 1: 2 [plant 'Jupiter', Valdai, 6 petals]
  14. An article about most of the major modifications of the Helios-44 series
  15. Gallery of pictures on MC Helios-44M-4
  16. Look at modern the lenses 'Helios' can at this link
  17. A lot of Helios of all varieties can be found on ebay this link

Original 'Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 ':

  1. Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 1: 2 f = 5,8cm T [17 diaphragm blades, M42]
  2. Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2 / 58 T [12 diaphragm blades, M42]
  3. A lot of Biotars of all varieties can be found on ebay this link

Look at modern the lenses 'Zenitar' и 'Helios' can at this link.

Enlightenment of the front and rear lens Helios-44

Enlightenment of the front and rear lens Helios-44

Sample Photos

Photos without processing. Everything is filmed on Canon 350D using two adapters: M39-M42 + M42-Canon EOS.

Examples of photos on a full-format camera Nikon D700 (shot using two adapters: M39-M42 + M42-Nikon).

Examples of photos on a Sony a7R full-format camera (shot using as many as three adapters: M39-M42 + M42-Canon + Canon EF - Sony E ).

Here link to the archive with the originals - 738 MB, 21 photos in .ARW format (RAW)

How to use with modern cameras?

Lenses with an M39 mounting thread (for SLR cameras, M39 X 1 / 45.2), such as the lens from this review, are very easy to use on almost any modern digital camera (both SLR and mirrorless), for this you just need to choose correct adapter. The cheapest adapters can be found aliexpress.com

For use on modern digital SLR cameras Canon EOS need M39-Canon EOS adapter, you can buy such an adapter (adapter) here. Also, an adapter M39-Canon EOS can be easily replaced with two adapters: M42-Canon EOS + M39-M42. Detailed information on the use of such lenses with any Canon EOS cameras will find here.

An adapter is required for use on Nikon SLR cameras M39-Nikon F, you can buy such an adapter (adapter) without a lens and a chip here. Also, one adapter M39-Nikon F can be easily replaced with two adapters: M42-Nikon F + M39-M42. Detailed information on the use of such lenses with any modern Nikon cameras will find here.

How to use this lens with cameras of other systems (Pentax, Sony, Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung, Sigma etc.) - ask in the comments and you will be prompted. If you have any questions on compatibility and adapters, ask in the comments (comments do not require any registration at all, any user can add a comment).


Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.

Helios-44 side view and aperture view

Helios-44 side view and aperture view

Interesting historical facts and thoughts about the history of Helios-44:

All G-44s, starting from the very first from KMZ and ending with the latest modifications, are made of the same grades of Lytkara optical glass without the use of STK (super heavy crowns). Another thing is that, probably, under Stalin and for some time under Khrushchev, glass was brewed more carefully than under Lelik (optical glass belongs to the defense industry!). At the beginning of perestroika, state acceptance was involved and the build quality of the optics became somewhat better.

The predecessor of the G-44 was the BTK-2/58 ("Biotar Krasnogorsk"), which was actually made in Krasnogorsk according to the German drawings of the Biotar from Shott glass. But G-44 was never made of it. The blanks of Schott's glasses were removed from Jena after the surrender of Germany together with German engineers and optical workers who taught ours in Krasnogorsk and Kiev at the Arsenal.

Valentin Kalenichenko.

If there is useful information about Helios, share it in the comments. You can also leave impressions about the lens there.

Familiarity with the Soviet Helios brand lenses I recommend starting with an inexpensive and common lens Helios-44-2 2/58 (aka HELIOS-44-2 2/58). The following links can look at modern lenses Zenitar и HELIOS.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

Add a comment: Dmitriy

 

 

Comments: 143, on the topic: Overview (+ video review) Helios-44 2/58 (KMZ, 8 petals)

  • Edvin

    Nikonists! Lens adapters that “don't degrade image quality” are divorce. Well, it is impossible to put another lens in a balanced optical scheme and not spoil the picture. At the very least, it should be achromatic gluing.
    On the Web there are a dozen options for re-adjusting Geliks to the Nikon working segment, for all types of frames. The simplest, for Helios-44-2 (except for the Valdai release after 1983) does not even require a screwdriver.
    So if you like twisted bokeh, cut.
    Here, for example, is my Helios-77M4: the M42 tail is replaced with a reversible adapter that fits the diameter, the lens block is pushed towards the camera.
    Threat Helios-81N with a ready Nikon mount, alas, does not twist as pronounced as its predecessors.

  • Sergei

    There was such a special difference with the other 44- * no.

  • Evgenij

    m42-nikon adapter (or canon) can be bought here http://olx.ua/list/user/Bewr/

  • Shreib

    I also always liked him. Especially on film. No flash.

    • Bella

      What kind of camera were you shooting? nice pictures

  • Shreib

    No flash at all. )

  • Yar

    Good time.
    Tell me, did all Helios 44-2 KMZ have a twisting back lens block?

  • Helga

    Good evening! Can someone tell me. there is a Helios 44-2 lens there is no extreme external lens, I already got one. can this be fixed if I find a lens of a suitable size? Tell me the characteristics of the lens thickness, magnification and diameter who knows. I can not find on the Internet

    • Lynx

      take out all the lenses, in front, leave all the rear ones. wind a couple of Soviet macro rings (it seems big and small, or just big) and get a good soft-painting 80 mm portrait for airy female portraits. Just have to learn to focus on it.
      Read about "monocles"

  • Nastya

    Please tell me how to determine from which production my Helios 44 2/58 No. 5007663. They told me that on my canon eos 700d I need the M42 3 generations so that my camera can detect it? how can this be seen on the camera, tell me please?

  • Sergei

    I found such a lens today, we have a Nikon d3200 fotik, how to connect them together ??? Which adapter is needed, I still do not understand

    • zengarden

      At least read this article and comments ...

  • anonym

    Good time of day! Please tell me with which camera system it is better to use Soviet lenses to fit the working distance?

    • Vitaly N

      With M42 - Canon. But there are lenses for Nikon, with a working aperture.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Sony FE / E

      • anonym

        Thank you very much for your help Arkady !!!

  • Novak

    Your review is a little misleading from the very first paragraph. Helios 44 differs from all subsequent models (such as 44-2) in the standard thread for fastening. Old man 44 has a M39 thread, while for all the other members of the family it is M42. This is important if a person wants to install old optics on a new Canon, for example. I relied so much on your information and ordered the wrong adapter on Aliexpress, waited 2 months for it and then only realized that I bought something wrong. It's not about the price (up to 2 bucks), but on the wait.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Very strange, for the text mentions
      "And M39 mounting thread"
      and also gave recommendations on adapters, where black and white indicates that we need adapters with M39

    • mAlex

      You bought “almost that”, because M42 for a DSLR and M39 FOR FAR DISTANCES differ not only in the thread diameter, but also in the flange distance, it is the flange segment that is critical for the adapter. then the thread on the DSLRs was made with M42 - until some time they also had the M39 thread - your lens was made with it. You just need to go to the turner and order a M42x1 / M39x1 / 8,0 bushing from any non-ferrous metal - the pleasure will cost two hundred rubles, it will be sharpened for an hour at most. Screw this sleeve onto your "Helios", screw the assembly into the adapter - voila! At one time, a whole crowd of DSLR lenses were used with such bushings, but with an “old thread”.

  • Igony

    Hello! tell me to buy an adapter in Ukraine “white for sony nex E bayonet can you find?

    • Igor

      Warming: there is a white Helios 44, I would like to find an adapter m42-sony nex of the same color under it, but Ali didn’t find .. can anyone know the answer to this question?

  • Igor

    Hello, is it possible to find an adapter for white Helios in Ukraine) a white adapter for sony nex E.

  • Dmitriy

    I ordered a ring at these links! Bottom line: 4 months have passed, the ring seems to be sent, but the sender chose the method in which the package is not tracked.
    So be careful!

  • Konstantin

    Photo from Gelika 44-2.

    • Sergos

      the colors are ugly, the greens are poisonous. Does it produce such helix? or a camera.

      • Pokemon

        Helios 44 warm the picture and accentuate shades of yellow.
        And yes, for some reason this is noticeable on Nikon CMOS.
        Compared with Fuji S5Pro. S5Pro has a green of a pleasant shade; on the D750, as usual, it turned yellow. The same thing happened with the D4 with this lens.
        I have 44M-7.

        • Rodion

          On older versions, this is usually even more pronounced due to the choice of enlightenment that reflects short-wave light.

      • Andrei

        :) This is the wrong light

  • Konstantin

    Helios 44-2

  • Maria

    It was interesting to try on the D800. Nice colors come out.

  • Andrei

    http://rasfokus.ru/photos/tp/%D0%93%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BE%D1%81+44 Photos on this glass

  • Vadim

    Good afternoon. I really need help. The guys gave Helios 44 2/58 N 0279135 KMZ 8 petals. I need to put it on the Sony 6300 e-mount. What kind of adapter do I need with or without a chip? Thanks to everyone who responded.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      It is for such a Helios as in the review that a transition ring is needed M39-M42 and adapter M42-Sony E (NEX)

      • Ruslan

        Hello! I have Helios 44 2/58. diaphragm 8 blades, thread М39 from the plant MMZ BelOMO! With a pronounced Yellow enlightenment ... is it worth chasing a 13 bladed diaphragm? And they also say that violet blue enlightenment is better than yellow ... will there be a big difference between yellow and violet blue enlightenment of 8 and 13 petals? sorry for this question, only two months ago I began to take an interest in Soviet optics)))

        • Rodion

          Yellow enlightenment is usually better, 13 petals or 8 is not very important.

          • Ruslan

            thank you))

        • Arkady Shapoval

          It's not worth chasing, there won't be much difference

          • Ruslan

            thank you))

    • B. R. P.

      No chip needed.

  • Egor

    No, well, all the same, Gelik is still an artistic perversion (on my

  • Ruslan

    Hello! I have Helios 44 2/58. diaphragm 8 blades, thread М39 from the plant MMZ BelOMO! With a pronounced Yellow enlightenment ... I'm honestly confused)) to which of the above modifications does my copy belong? and is it worth chasing a 13-blade diaphragm? will there be a big difference between 8 and 13 petals?

  • Volodimir

    Working distance Helios-44 with M39 thread has a working distance of 45,2 mm, and with M42 thread - 45,5 mm, so they are not fully interchangeable when focusing at infinity

    • Konstantin

      I also could not understand why after twenty meters there was no focus on the canon. I unscrewed the rear lens by 200-210 degrees and everything is normal. M39-EOS adapter with Ali

    • Tiger Bee

      Thank you very much, now I understand, I unscrewed it, infinity returned, I have two for 13 petals, I had to unscrew it in different ways, two turns, and one. On one lens rattles. Apparently they were unscrewed under Nikon, but I took it apart, cleaned the dust and apparently twisted it tightly, infinity disappeared, for a long time, I didn’t immediately notice, they are such portrait painters, gentle, loving people, especially infinity is not needed.

  • Dmitry Kostin

    In addition to the old 44M-7, I bought myself the same one with No. 5001469.
    Enlightenment is not blue as in the review, but an amber hue.
    While 44M-7 still seems sharper on the open.

  • Tiger Bee

    What I like the most is that the picture is the same as before, like on film, without the monstrous brutal sharpness. I am an amateur, I am old and in general I try not to use Photoshop, I often do not use focus.

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