Ha! So true. And a bit concerning for me, as I deliberately decided to keep the word vintage out of this video, with this 1990s lens. And when I word check my text, the word "vintage" still doesn't come up. Doesn't mean it didn't slip in somewhere. I do, however, tag videos with "vintage lens" because (a bit like "vintage cars") it seems to be an oft-used description for film-era lenses.

It does indeed. Where did all the years go? 90s to me is just a few years ago. However, I must say, buying Zenits to get back to my youth & using 'vintage' lenses' has taught me cameras have moved on a very long way during my 30+ years break. How did we manage without being able to review each frame immediately, or change ISO on each frame rather than whole roll of film? And auto-focus WoW, no more twiddling back & forth to find focus. Without a split focusing screen on a modern camera, using manual focus lenses are a pain. Either having focus peaking on the rear screen or watching the little focus indicator in the viewfinder. Fun to play with the old stuff (even bought a developing tank & changing bag to develop my films) but I wish I had 21st century kit when I was a boy playing with photography in the 80s. Shame this rumoured Nikon retro camera is (again rumoured) to have a crop sensor else I might of considered one, the EVF would help with manual focus lenses. But alas it looks like one more nail in Nikon's coffin, trying to compete with the Fuji retro cameras, rather than giving us a full frame model, which I think many peeps would prefer.

That's a video I'm planning to do!

Thank you - glad you enjoyed this and happy hunting!

Glad I’m not the only one who just started buying a bunch of them.

Thank you so much. Praise indeed!

A few days a russian photographer told me ( on the lomography website ) Helios 44M-5 is very rare even in russia.

Many thanks for your kind feedback and ideas. Your ideas are very helpful and I'll try to implement some of them. I wasn't 100% convinced with this video - simply posting a whole series of transitions at the end without commentary. But it seemed better than leaving them out. Greetings from London!

It's a great video. The transitions are really the only way to demonstrate the wider capability of lens' in/out of focus idiosyncrasies. Can't wait to see what comes next! Greetings from Edmonton (Canada, not Edmonton London)!

That's very funny! "Very disappointed with the first results" could be the understatement of the year. A reversed front element really messes up the image! Even the crazy bokeh can look dreadful in dull conditions. It's easy to reverse. And the 44M is a fine lens too, maybe not quite as sharp and colourful as the later 44M-4 lenses onwards, but still good. Good luck!

Thank you. I've bought a different version roughly once a year - just one more year for the 44M-5 for me!

Here it is: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Y6iof9GnyrCWqYk.html

I was in a similar position until I found a Helios 44-2 for $15 and thought "why not?" It's been downhill (or maybe uphill) all the way since then.

@@Simonsutak Meanwhile I've been going back and forth with offers on a Takumar 58mm f2 on ebay. Lol. My obsession with bokeh overrides how poor I am at times. Haha.

Hi I don't know for certain if they are fake or not. I've personally never seen genuine 44M-6 lenses with rubber focus rings, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. On this page you can see a Helios 44M-5 with rubber focus rings: camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Helios-44M-5. So maybe they produced 44M-6 with this design too. If you have the time/patience then this site will probably have the answer: forum.mflenses.com/complete-list-of-helios-lenses-getting-closer-t26100.html Please let me know if you find the answer!

@@Simonsutak Thank you so much for your kind response , I will definitely take a look at the links you’ve shared with me, I consider you the Gürü of vintage lens reviews and I consider myself part of the Helios "cult" per say, so thanks again.

Great find! And I'm with you on the Helios 44-2, I even like how it wobbles a bit on the adapter!

@@Simonsutak I feel the same! I think it adds to the magic of this lens - you would never expect to get such beautiful images from what looks like an old and somewhat wobbly and rickety lens. That's the reason I like the Industar 50-2 as well.

So the Helios lenses project large enough to fit the gfx sensor? That’s crazy

Yes, for most of the transitions, it's only two photos, and a fade between the images using software. I do sometimes include transitions with three or more photos using a tripod, and that works especially well for large bokeh/light balls transitioning to stopped down hexagons (for example). But as the vast majority of my examples are taken hand-held, it's easier to line up just two shots.

I've posted a comparison of their swirls, but not full lens reviews. I don't have plans to do this at the moment.

Thank you. I insist to anyone at home who listens that I'm not a collector, I'm a user (!) but I get caught up in comparing different lenses, and that is addictive. At least my old lenses are much, much cheaper than new lenses, and I do try to use a different one nearly every day on my walk to work. I do have a few new lenses, and I use them when auto-focus is important, or edge to edge sharpness is important. I've taken too many slightly or very out of focus snaps of my family with my old lenses and that irritates everyone.... My most used new prime lens is probably a Sigma 30mm f1.4, which I used on holiday, sightseeing etc, plus a fisheye and a zoom lens. Alongside this...my mobile phone camera (a hand-me down from one of my daughters) is pretty impressive and convenient.

Thank you. I share a similar liking for the 44-3. I've never completed a comparison of the 44-3 with the other lenses, but I will do it sometime this year and report back!

@@Simonsutak Fantastic! I'll stay tuned for sure. Your content is very well presented and helpful. I've learned quite a bit, so "Thanks"! Since you are clearly a very knowledgeable Takumar person, I'm wondering if you have any insight concerning the Auto-Takumar 55mm f/2? I purchased one in excellent condition not long ago and was under the impression it was quite a good lens to find - but it has proved fairly underwhelming in my testing. It's certainly a "pretty" lens, especially with the sliding aperture knob [which works perfectly], but my photos weren't particularly sharp or anything "special" compared to other M42s like my Helios 44-3, or Zenitar-M 50mm f/1.7 [which isn't as amazing as i anticipated either].

@@Simonsutak Please do 😊👍😊

I'll have a think about this, thanks!

Yes, there are modified/fakes. Fortunately some are really easy to spot (e.g. with the 44M's A/M switch).

Nice review Simon! Is it possible to put in info about the stops during the transition rendering? It would give me a good input in what stop I actually prefers in different scenarios.

Thank you for this. My Helios 44M-6 was made later than my 44M-7, so it makes sense. Before I posted the video, I recalled reading about this quality control approach to naming the lenses, but couldn't find the written reference to confirm, and wasn't sure it applied to the 5, 6 and 7 in total. And my copies also have different weights, which further confused the issue. So I didn't include a discussion of approach.

What a co-incidence! (There I was thinking that maybe nobody will be interested in a Helios 44M-6 review!) If you do get it, I'd very much like to hear what you think about it.

Probably oil on the blades causing them to stick. I have cleaned quite a few of them. Access from the rear, by removing the camera mount flange (carefully as there are interconnect linkages and a spring that must not be stretched) the back of the optical block can then be removed, giving access to the aperture housing. Take out each blade & carefully clean with IPA. I handle each blade with tweezers and slosh it around in a little puddle of IPA, taking them out in order and putting each blade back in the same location. Optics are easy enough to take out, using a sucker is best, to lift each element, as tipping them out can damage them and if they come out together, it can be confusing which way they go back in. Don't drop the elements back into the lens from above, rather put them in from the bottom, lifting the element up into the lens body.

@@wibbley1 Thanks, appreciate that! I actually suspect that it was my earlier maintenance (trying to clean out streaks on the lenses) that caused the blade issue - I noticed that the blades were quite greasy, but probably cleaned them up too much, so I'll re-oil them. I've been a bit reluctant to open it up again as my hand-eye coordination is awful and I was surprised how much dust managed to get in despite my efforts to do it in a clean environment! But I'm sure I'll get over it and try again eventually :)

@@Simonsutak Just wanted to follow up, now that I got my copy! Very happy with the lens. It's absolutely worth the price and is in most ways a better lens then nearly every one of its immediate siblings. I've compared it to my BELOMO-made 44 (which is really a 44-2 in a classic, all-metal Zebra body) and 44-2 (the Belorussian plastic body), as well as the 44M-7. Optically it performs as expected - far sharper in most conditions than the 44-2s, and slightly less sharp than the 44M-7. I was especially impressed with how much shaper and overall well-behaved it is wide open compared to the older variants - it is far less susceptible to glare, for example, than both of those, though surprisingly somewhat more than the 44M-7. I suspect that the 44M-7 has better coatings, as the 44M-6 seems to have a bit more of a blue cast or mist to it as well (compared to a yellowish cast on the older 44-2s with their basic coatings, and a generally neutral, maybe slightly blue tint on the 44M-7). On the question of bokeh swirls - I do feel like it's definitely a little less "swirly" than its older siblings, but it's not a great difference. The swirls are still there, both wide open and closed down, and I have to say that the 6-blade aperture manages no worse than the older 8-blades (and on some settings, may even give a better look because of the blade curvature). As far as I can tell, the aperture is identical to the 44M-7. I think I will still take the older lenses for the more extreme swirls, but the better colour rendition, sharpness, and far less susceptibility to glare might still make the 44M-6 an attractive option, especially in brighter light. I should also say that I only tested it on a crop sensor, and so the swirls may show up better when on full frame, but I haven't had a chance to make sure. So, all in all, I'm very happy with this lens! Is it better than the 44M-7? No, and that lens does outperform it optically in more than one way. But the 44M-6 is still excellent and, with the price difference, it is easily the best tradeoff in terms of price for performance out of this whole family of lenses. The improvements on the 44M-7 are nice, but I don't think they justify what usually amounts to nearly twice the cost of a 44M-6, except for a collector or for specialist uses like astrophotography where sharpness is completely essential. I still have a soft spot for my older variants, and truthfully I still think that the plastic-body BELOMO lenses with the clickless aperture are the best from a usability standpoint (I just really like the feel of using that lens) - so I'll probably be looking for their 44-3 variant next (just to see if the coatings added to it make any positive difference). But I'm definitely keeping this 44M-6 and would probably recommend it to anybody who just wanted to buy one Helios 44 lens for a budget price, and stop there. I absolutely agree that it's under-appreciated, and might actually get more expensive in the future! (-George from Canada)

@@otohikoamv Do not add any oil. All oil should be removed from the blades and both sides of the mounting flange. Even the slightest trace will gum them up. Use tweezers to carefully remove & replace each blade. I swish them about in IPA, then use IPA to remove all traces of oil from the mounting flange. There are two springs which actuate & open the iris, it is a very delicate balancing act between the two. Annoyingly, I bet there were thousands of spare/unused parts for these lenses left at the factories when they closed.

If you can find a "good value" 44-2, then yes, definitely go for it! It's a fun lens to use. Great to have that serial number. I've been trying for a serial number or even a year of production that matches my date of birth. I may have to get an Industar 50-2!!

I actually bought a refurb Helios-2 from Helios-lens and it arrived like it just came out of the factory. Twice the price of what you see on eBay but you know you are going to get a good one. I just took apart and cleaned an Industar 50, Simon. Don't happen to have been born 66/9/9 did you?? I'll give you a good price :) :)

@@morrisbagnall2690 is that the new design with 16 blades? www.sharegrid.com/losangeles/l/138998-helios-58mm-f-2-sc-ef-16-blades-close-focus-1-6-0-45m

@@alexblaze8878 No, just a regular one.

Thank you for this information. I often wondered when they replaced the 2-holes name ring.

​@@SimonsutakI'm still wondering why they continued producing the 6 along with the 7. Perhaps they still had stock of the 6's optical elements which they needed to get rid of. The mechanical parts of both models seems to come from the same production line.

@@Ni5ei Sorry to necro an old comment, but as far as I understand, towards the end of the production run, they just sorted them by sharpness and labelled them accordingly (44M-4 through 7).

That's interesting! It would indeed explain why the different models were available at the same time. ​@@alibarancelik8903

I am vaguely Scottish, that's a good way of putting it (my surname is a Scottish name and we have a tartan)...but I was born in London, as were my parents... And yes, Faststone...I have other software, but I'm very comfortable using it.

Thank you. I know there are issues with some lenses and some camera mounts. If I can produce a helpful video on this, from experiences across the internet...I'll do one. But funds don't permit me buying Canon and Nikon cameras to try my own lenses!

Good point. I know the M-6 is supposed to be slightly inferior quality to a M-7, but its not noticeable with my copies.

@@Simonsutak Still searching for a good 44-7. And I’m in Ukraine) I used to grow as photographer thinking that only German or Japan lens can give decent quality, and communist block lenses are trash, for those who cannot spend some cash on glass. Damn I was wrong.

@@serhiy1237 нашли в итоге гелиос 44-7? Или вы искали гелиос 44м7? Часто молодые люди считают всё советское "говном", видимо, прозападная пропаганда так работает

@@0x00000101 Собрал практически их все. Что в общем то лишнее. Снимаю только оригинальным и 44(М!)-7. Первый - наиболее характерный, но иногда оптически слабоват. Последний - самый резкий, но более сдержанный(что не всегда плохо). Ещё немного на 44-3 (тот, что Минский) - я модифицировал его диафрагму под анаморфот. Ни на один другой рука бы не поднялась. 44-7 не снимаю - жалко. О господи, да нет никакой западной пропаганды. Есть открытый мир, свободный от цензуры (в основном, не без греха тоже) и есть мир авторитарных правителей где высшей точкой оболванивания стада является не только отбирание прав и свобод но и убеждение этого же стада в том что они им не нужны. Мне 35, я не молод. Молодежь и вправду отбрасывает все советское. Просто потому что оно старое. Она так вела себя во все времена. Я тоже не всегда понимаю музыку тех кому 20, так же как меня не понимали «старые пердуны». Но я не брюзжу а стараюсь говоря современно «выкупать». Если вернёмся к гелиосам - ничего святого в них нет. Растиражированная поистине в китайских масштабах краденная реплика немецкого объектива, что сделала его «dirt cheap» . В стране «загнивающих западных» ценностей делать такой объектив после 70-х стало бы невозможным - потому что люди должны получать адекватные зарплаты, а налоги в основном идут на их же инфраструктуру а не постройку ракет, чтобы потом освобождать народы путём террора и насилия. Я держал оригинальный biotar - моё мнение, он круче Гелиоса но тех денег не стоит. У меня дед работал на Киевском арсенале, я также для памяти о нём собираю все произведённые на нем модели. Без благоволения перед «великими советскими оптиками» Если посмотреть что делали в конце 80-х японцы оптически и например, Leica - совок по сравнению с этим «дверные глазки». Но только хорошие фото и видео делают люди и идеальное качество не всегда во благо. Слава Україні. И чтобы никогда в Вашей жизни не было людей которые вчера желали здоровья а сегодня радуются тому как бомбят твой город.

​@@serhiy1237 ладно, не будем о политике. Наши взгляды тут расходятся. За свои деньги объективы очень даже хороши

I've not seen that before - but I took a look and it is interesting!