The Limbo Connection's photos with the keyword: Helios 58mm f/2

I bought a Zenit-E to get the Helios-44 lens which was with it. This is the original lens that the Soviets copied from the Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f/2. It's a pre-set lens and takes a bit of getting used to. Received wisdom is to shoot it wide open at f/2 for the distinctive bokeh, but the contrast suffers when you do this. At f/5.6 it becomes a nicer lens to use. The Prayer Book is Victorian, although the year of printing is not given by Cambridge University Press. Nor is the typeface. I should have liked to know both, but for £2 secondhand I can't really complain.

I bought a Zenit-E to get the Helios-44 lens which was with it. This is the original lens that the Soviets copied from the Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f/2. It's a pre-set lens and takes a bit of getting used to. Received wisdom is to shoot it wide open at f/2 for the distinctive bokeh, but the contrast suffers when you do this. At f/5.6 it becomes a nicer lens to use. The Helios-44 was on a Fujifilm X-E1 camera set at 3200 ISO and 1/160th shutter. The lens was set at f/5.6.

Outer space. Camera: Fujifilm X-E1. Lens: Helios 58mm f/2.

Photographed using one of the relatively early Helios-44 lenses, a preset with unusual positioning of the aperture ring at the front and a scalloped focussing ring close to the camera end. The filter ring is 49mm and there are 13 aperture blades. When I bought it on eBay it was screwed into a Zenit-E. The logo engraved at the front reveals it was manufactured by the KMZ company. It is quite good, if a bit counter intuitive in use. It was a more up-to-date auto version of this lens that was on my first SLR, a Zenit-EM. I don't think I realised at that time just what a special optic I had. I have been reading a blog about the Helios-44 used in combination with a Fuji-X camera - www.sharkandpalm.com/photography-tips/walking-through-washington-heights-on-a-rainy-afternoon The writer enthuses about ‘the gorgeous lo-fi bokeh the Helios 44-4 offers wide open’ and remarks ‘Something I understand more every time I shoot with this lens is the limits of it's sharpness. Even when focus is spot-on, a subject on the edge of the frame hazes and blurs out of focus.’ He is surprised ‘that this cheap vintage glass can perform so well for architectural and landscape shots!’ In a blog reviewing the Helios-44 at www.sharkandpalm.com/camera-reviews/helios-44-4-lens-review-swirly-bokeh-for-portraits he opines that ‘for $30’ it is ‘one of the best portrait lenses for a mirrorless body you can find.’ Regarding the ‘Helios 44-4's Swirly Bokeh’ he finds that, ‘Funnily enough, this optical quality was also considered an engineering defect: newer versions of the Helios lens phased it out. The Helios 44-4, being one of the earliest models, exhibits some of the most dramatic swirly bokeh.’ Camera: Fujifilm X-E1.

This is the Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 lens which came with my Fujica ST605 bought in practically new condition from an eBay seller for £5. Photographed with a Helios-44 lens also bought for a song on eBay. Camera: Camera: Fujifilm X-E1.

Photographed with a Canon EOS 30D camera fitted with a Helios-44 lens originally on a Zenit-E film camera. The Helios is a Soviet copy of the Carl Zeiss Biotar 58mm ƒ/2 lens.

Photographed with a Canon EOS 30D camera fitted with a Helios-44 lens originally on a Zenit-E film camera. The Helios is a Soviet copy of the Carl Zeiss Biotar 58mm ƒ/2 lens.

Photographed with a Canon EOS 30D camera fitted with a Helios-44 lens originally on a Zenit-E film camera. The Helios is a Soviet copy of the Carl Zeiss Biotar 58mm ƒ/2 lens.

Photographed with a Canon EOS 30D camera fitted with a Helios-44 lens originally on a Zenit-E film camera. The Helios is a Soviet copy of the Carl Zeiss Biotar 58mm ƒ/2 lens.

Photographed with a Helios 58mm f/2 lens on a Canon EOS 30D digital camera.

Canon EOS 30D and Helios-44 lens.

I've got a hot chilly feeling I don't understand. Canon EOS 40D, Helios-44, and an extension tube.

Zenit-E with a bit torn out of an election leaflet showing acolytes gazing attentively at their Leader (Leader is out of picture) and photographed with a Canon EOS 30D and a Helios-44 58mm f/2 lens on an extension tube.

Back of an open Zenit-E photographed with a Canon EOS 30D and a Helios-44 58mm f/2 lens on an extension tube.

Photographed with a Canon EOS 30D and a Helios-44 58mm f/2 lens.

Taken on film with a Zenit EM and a Helios 58mm f/2 lens.