I'd love to see how that reversed element looks on a portrait! Lovely video as always!

The "flaw" as you state, stems from the over-correction of Spherical Aberrations in the optic / element design. Let's all be thankful to Lord God they made this "mistake." :-) I love it as well. Not for every shot of course, but rather as a tool for specific artistic effects.

You can talk to photographers with a tone and words that encapsulates the passion and artistic wonderment we all have. To me it’s what makes me want to shoot on film, with lenses older than my wife. It’s what makes us strive to get that one shot. Very few people can do this, I know fantastic, knowledgable and inspiring photographers and KZfaqrs who don’t demonstrate this gift. It’s what makes your videos compulsory viewing and listening to. I’m with you in regard to the swirls, I think they are something very special. As digital photography gets more and more precise and clinical I’m drawn more and more towards these idiosyncrasies. The Helios 44-2 is also a very accessible lens, I'm not sure if I got a free lens with my Zenit E or a free camera with my Helios 44-2, with way its the best £15 I’ve spent in many a long year. As always a great video, thank you.

I always look forward to your latest videos--calm, informative, and useful.

Another great video from someone who clearly loves photography. It's a joy to watch and listen to them. Love the hack and the beautiful results it provided and I will definitely will be trying it out :-)

I bought Helios only for the swurls :) I didn't know even how to focus manually. I love this effect :) Great video. Thanks 😊

these videos are now my meditation. thank you.

Another interesting video. I'm with you, these old lenses have so much character. I have the same two lenses with various problems, the Summitar has haze that couldn't quite be removed and the early Helios is so scratched that you can barely see through it, but they both take wonderful pictures. Modern lenses are clinical and boring to me.

I bought a second Helios 44 by mistake and was going to return it. Not anymore!. Thanks for this wonderful hack

Muchas Gracias! Tengo ambos lentes pero no sabia que podía usar el Helios de esa forma. Gracias!!!

My Nikon 35mm does the same thing. I have really liked this swirling in my photos. I am glad to see I am not the only one who likes the swirl.

Great video ! Thanks alot for sharing your knowledge & secrets with us all ! Greetings, Roger.

I have the Leica Summitar. I did not know about the swirl when I bought it, but I learned about it using it. It is great for portraits, reasonably sharp at f/2.

I love my Legacy lenses. Some of my favorites are he Helios 44 (I have a 44-4), the 50mm f/1.8 Meyer Optik Gorlitz Oreston and the 135mm Carl Zeiss Triotar. I am also fond of the Meyer Optik Gorlitz Orestor 135mm f/2.8 which I use on my Sony A6500 adapted with a Kipon focal reducer which gives me a 135mm f/2.0 lens with virtually no crop factor involved. The Sears Auto 55mm f/1.4 lens produced by Tomioka is no slouch either... I am planning to use these lenses shooting the 2019 Dia Del Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festivities in the San Diego, California area...

Top stuff in this channel. Thank you Sir! ♤♡◇♧

I recently found ARSAT 81 n 55mm 1:2 which swirls as helios44.

Reverse the rear glass of the Helios and you get a macro lens

Very very nice. I have myself 2 lenses. One reverse and one in the orginal way.

Great review. You have a wonderful voice that draws you in. Have you ever thought of using your voice for audiobook's ?

Absolutely great content man! I enjoy your show very much. Any experience with the old 70's Angenieux parfocal lenses for video?

This hack is original and beautiful! Thanks 4 sharing! i shall partake! (2022)

Very interesting video, thanks. Have you tried the original Biotar, the design that the Helios is based on? By the way, my Canon FD 85mm f1.2 creates nice and swirly look given the right conditions.

Innovative and lovely delivery to inspire any photography or photographer, to look at experimenting and developing, sorry! Their own individual style. I am so pleased to return to a lovely guy who I was a frequent and avid follower of, after the vlog on pin hole DIY. I slated this and was subject to a followers distain or doing so. I don’t apologise for my comments on that vlog. I think that this shows it was not out of malice, but more constructive feedback. Excellent vlog this is and long may you continue to inspire,. Q your Son in the picture or a much younger selfie? Cheers David New Forest Hampshire

Amazing Video! May i recommend another m39 lens which is the Tanaka Tanar H.C. 5cm f/2 which also gives nice swirly bokeh and has great character for a "cheap" lens.

Hi! Awesome videos!! Need your opinion on this: I might have a couple of helios lenses coming my way- a Helios 44-M and a Helios 44-2. Which of these would you suggest i mod, and which should be kept as is? Btw i am using a crop camera but i plan on using a focal reducer to get full effects of the swirly effect

I wonder if you can help, or point me in the right direction... I bought a vgc used Helios 44 M 4 on Ebay after being tempted from watching and being inspired by so many of the videos on your channel. I wanted to look inside the lens with a view to declick the aperture control rimg, so I can use it for video on my Fuji bodies, however, I've hit a brick wall Upon taking the 4 screws out of the rear M42 mounting flange the aperture control pin which passes through the flange dislodged into the rear of the lens body - nowhere near the rear element, so no big deal. I simply passed it back through its locating hole in the flange. Simple enough... However, upon reassembling the rear flange - I did not remove the tiny bearing or spring which controls the aperture ring "clicks'" - the sprung aperture lever which rotates radially to open and close the iris blades, appears to not now work in conjunction with the pin that passes through the rear flange. There's obviously a correct method for reassembly and it's baffling me now! When I depress the pin it functions fine, but whilst pressing the pin, plus simultaneously rotating the aperture ring, the iris blades are not opening and closing, whereas they were functioning perfectly before I took off the rear flange. Do you have a video showing how to correctly position and set the aperture control levers before assembling the rear M42 flange back to the lens body with the 4 screws which hold this in place? If not, can you either make a video - I'm sure there will be lots of your followers interested to see how these work too - or please ease my frustrations and point me in the right direction.... Love the Zenography channel - keep up the good work! Thanks so much in advance for any assistance you are able to offer. Regards. Darren.

I discovered this channel just a few days ago, and now I'm anxiously waiting for my first vintage, Russian lens to arrive! I'm still fairly new to cinematography, so I have a question: Will adding a speed booster, like a Metabones 0.61 for EF to micro 4/3 or a Commlite 0.71 for micro 4/3, between my forthcoming Helios 44-2 or Jupiter 8 lenses and my camera's micro 4/3 sensor help reduce the crop factor? I'm shooting video with a GH5 and a BMPCC4k. My concern is that the extra adapter between the lens and sensor might hurt the image quality. Should I be concerned? I would love any advice on the matter, and thank you for this wonderful channel!

Woah!

Great video, so helpful to see effects from lenses I a may want to try! I have a Helios 44-2 and love the effect of the hacked lens! I could see getting a second copy to leave converted permanently. It would be worth getting the proper tool to play around with. Do you know if the hack will also work with other inexpensive lenses I already have?

also you can reverse back lens element . 44m works like a charm

The hack is a new one on me, I think I will have to buy a second Helios to try it out! Trouble is your flipping videos make the prices go up..! 😁

amazing effect with the reversed lens. Is that something that has been tried before or you just happened to try it?

Helios-44 doesn't help you when shooting with a rangefinder camera....at least if you don't want to rely to estimate the focus only. would be good if the std mount of each shown lens is mentioned since this is important.

I watched the reversed video and couldn't notice any change... :)

This is a great little channel but: Its 'Boke-uhr' not 'bouquet', it means fuzzy or fuzzy mindedness. One other thing - flashing coloured lights at the start, gotta go; Photo-sensitive epileptics could be set off by it, its just the right frequency range. I know, you'll agrue 'But they are fairy lights I got from a shop!' but none stares at fairy lights or sits in bed watching a fondle slab with just them in view. Put it through After Effects and add the 'Time' filter, that'll cure it.

careless mistakes after cleaning a lens - made to a hack! lol