I absolutely love this lens and you will get unique and beautiful images out of the Helios 44-2 58mm. This is how Stanley Kubrick chose his lenses.

If you are serious about adding one of these babies to your collection I would buy 5-10 of them (yes, they are that cheap), test them all, then you can pick the winner and sell the rest. Flare Prone (this could go in the pros column as well)īecause of the lack of “quality control” in the Helios factory you really have no idea what you are getting.Heavy for its size but great for cinema use.Minimum Focus Distance is about 20 inches. I use an inexpensive step-up ring to get it to my filter size of 77mm. The Helios 44-2 has a 52mm filter thread. The Helios 44-2 58mm was manufactured mostly in an M42 mount to be used with the Zenit camera but it was also made in a Pentax K and M39 mount as well. The extra stop does magic on this vintage baby. It also creates stunning flares. I also use a Metabones Speedbooster on my BMPCC and it really helps to bring this lens to life. It takes the “digital bite” out of the harshest video image. The sharper the camera sensor the better this lens performs. It gives your footage an instant vintage look. I use it on my BMPCC and URSA Mini 4.6k and it looks amazing. The lenses’ bokeh is unmatched and has remarkable color retention. Helios 44-2 58mm is really sought after by the more experimental photographers and cinematographers. Stopping down to f4 or lower sharpens up the lens nicely. Shooting wide open get you a very dreamy image. You really need to stop this lens down a bit. This is why it’s called the “ Bokeh Monster“. The Biotar formula creates a swirling bokeh that is just stunning. It’s far from being a perfect lens but wow what bokeh. The Helios 44-2 58mm is one of the most mass produced lenses ever made and can be acquired rather cheaply. A few crafty guys went into the Zeiss factory and stole the Biotar formula. Back in the end of World War II, the Russians occupied East Germany. Why infamous you ask? Well, the Helios is a copy of the Carl Zeiss Biotar 58mm. Much has been written about the infamous Russian bokeh monster, the Helios 44-2 58mm F2.

M39 helios lens