![]() ![]() Unfortunately, the focusing ring is a little bit on the hard side. The depth of field (DOF) markings and the distance scale on the barrel are painted in white and the key points are in red. It’s a nice looking lens, with glossy black paint and chrome accents on the focusing ring. The first candidate is my original Helios 44 58mm f/2 “zebra” In this article, I will compare three close relatives, two first generation Helios 44 and a second generation Helios 44-2, to find the one for me. But maybe there’s an even better Helios out there? ![]() I actually liked the Helios so much that I decided to keep it no matter the outcome of my final verdict. (Read my article about this lens to find out a little more about it.)ĭuring my various comparison runs and also whenever I used this lens, I was positively surprised at how well it performed. When I first got my Helios 44 58mm f/2 “zebra”, I was under the assumption that I had bought a Helios 44-2, and so was the guy who sold me the lens. This image nicely shows the swirly bokeh around the center:Īnother example at a longer distance to the subject: In addition, due to this getting stronger toward the image borders, the bokeh balls look as if they were circling/swirling around the center. This results in the out of focus highlights (bokeh balls) to not be round at all – we usually call this cats-eye effect. Being a blunt copy of the Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f/2 it also comes with the same problem that is the so-called “swirly bokeh” caused by strong vignetting inside the lens barrel. The Helios 44-series is well known and loved for its optical flaws. The Helios 44-series originated in the USSR and the unusual specs (among “standard primes” for cameras using 135 film which usually featured a 50mm focal length with an f/1.4 or f/1.8 aperture.) quickly give away the fact that this lens is a copy of the famous Zeiss Biotar design which also sports 58mm and an f/2 pre-set aperture. (Not very useful as there aren’t any tests yet.) I also experimented with page jumps, so you can go to the top of the page and select the test you want to read about without having to scroll all the time. ![]() I won’t be around for the next three weeks, so I can’t really work up any comparison material. This article will be released and new paragraphs will be added over time. ![]()
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