Okay, so I finally got my hands on a Helios 44-2 lens. I’d heard so much about this vintage Russian lens, all the swirly bokeh hype, and I was itching to try it out myself.
First thing, I ordered one off of, like, an online auction site. It took a bit to arrive, felt like forever! When it showed up, I ripped open the package. It was pretty well-wrapped, came in this old-school box. The lens itself felt heavy, like, really solid. All metal and glass, you know? None of that plastic-y feel you get with some modern lenses.
Getting it Mounted
Next up, mounting it. This is where it got a little tricky. The Helios 44-2 has an M42 screw mount. I shoot with a Sony, so I needed an adapter. Luckily, I already had one from another vintage lens experiment. I screwed the adapter onto the lens, and then clicked the whole thing onto my camera body. Easy peasy… almost.
- Find the correct adapter.
- Screw adapter onto lens.
- Attach lens+adapter to camera.
The Focusing Struggle
Now, this lens is fully manual. No autofocus here, buddy. This was a bit of a learning curve for me. I’m so used to letting the camera do the work! I fiddled with the focus ring, trying to get a sharp image. It’s a pretty long throw, meaning you have to turn the ring quite a bit to go from close focus to infinity. Took some getting used to, and I definitely missed focus on a few shots at first.
The aperture ring is also manual, of course. It’s clickless, which is kinda cool. You can smoothly adjust the aperture without those little clicks you get on most lenses. This is great for video, where you might want to change the aperture during a shot.
Shooting Time!
I took the lens out for a spin in my backyard. I wanted to see that famous swirly bokeh everyone talks about. I found some flowers with the sun behind them, opened up the aperture wide (to f/2, I think), and focused on the petals.
And… wow. The rumors were true! The background was this beautiful, dreamy blur, with these circular highlights that really did swirl around the subject. It was unlike anything I’d seen from my modern lenses. I spent a good hour just shooting different flowers and plants, experimenting with different angles and distances.
My First Impressions
Honestly, I’m pretty blown away by this old lens. It’s not perfect. It’s a bit soft wide open, and the manual focus takes practice. But the character… that swirly bokeh… it’s just so unique and cool. It definitely adds something special to the images. I can see why these lenses are so popular. I feel like I have only scratched the surface. I already ordered another M42 adapter for my other camera body. Next, I am going to try taking this lens on some portrait sessions. I will give you an update then.
