Helios 103 on a Contax II

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NormanV

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Hi,
I have bought a Helios lens for my Contax. The bayonet is a little tight when fitting it but it does lock fully in place. However, I normally focus using the wheel and not by twisting the lens,but with this lens the focus becomes tight on reaching 10feet when using the wheel. If I try twisting the lens it turns freely but I can feel a little resistance as I pass the 10 feet mark.
Could it be the tightness of the bayonet that is shifting something causing the tight focus? If so where do I start in trying to adjust, i.e. file, the lens bayonet to make it fit more easily?
Thanks for any suggestions.
Norman
 
See how the Helios 103 fits on a Kiev 4 M or AM body if you can.
It might be incompatible with your 1930s Contax II.
I have a J 9 from the early sixties and it will not fit on a Kiev 4M from the early 1980s.
The latest Kiev camera the J 9 lens fits is from 1972.
This is the joy or pain of FSU gear.
 
I don't have access to a Kiev or any other cameras. I want to try to make it fit but can't see where it is binding. It didn't cost much so if I spoil it it will be a pity to waste it but of no real consequence. On the other hand my Contax..........
 
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NormanV said:
I don't have access to a Kiev or any other cameras. I want to try to make it fit but can't see where it is binding. It didn't cost much so if I spoil it it will be a pity to waste it but of no real consequence. On the other hand my Contax..........
Click to expand...

I would not force it on the Contax II, it might cause more trouble than its worth. The Helios 103 is a spectacular performer as FSU lenses go and it might be worth while to get an inexpensive Kiev 4AM or M body just to use it.
Leave the Contax II for the Zeiss lenses of the period or a J 8 from the 1950s. Just my two cents.
 
Definitely work on the lens rather than the body if you make any adjustments (I think you know this, just want to be clear). You only have, what, 30 bucks in that lens, after all.

However I'm guessing it's the weight of the Helios you're feeling, not the fit. It is one big honker of a lens to be hanging just from the internal bayonet.

For what it's worth, my own H-103 (from 1984) has a pretty loose fit in the Contax IIa so there clearly are variations. You wouldn't happen to be around this area (Mass/NH/Maine)? We could meet up and maybe swap...
 
What year is the lens?

The lenses after 1982 changed the mechanical design of the fixture, redid the light baffle. I have filed some of them down with good luck. I have also filed/ or bent the mounting flanges of the bayonet.

Helios-103's are great optically, not so much mechanically. The 1981 and 1982 lenses seem best for non-FSU bodies.
 
Fedka had some new ones for sale a while back and I bought one (hard to resist they were so cheap)..........it was so far off I had to return it. Brian is right about the later versions.
 
I've been away for a couple of days and only just seen the last 2 replies. Am I correct in assuming that the first two digits of the serial number denote the year? If so it is 1984 so after the date that Brian mentions. (It seems that 1982 was a big year in history, the Falklands war and the year that they changed the design of the Helios 103!) I am not going to send it back, so any tips Brian before I attack it?
thanks, Norman
 
Well- I have Two 1984 Helios-103's.

One fits the Contax II with ease, the other will not mount on the Contax II, and is difficult to get on the Kiev.

Rainy Sunday Afternoons are typically my Project time. Supposed to rain this Sunday. I will get out the Digital Calipers and determine what is out of spec for the misbehaving Helios. I suspect it is the mounting flanges are out to far. But, I want to take measurements of the two.

Of course the Helios-103 that easily fits the Contax is shimmed for a Nikon.
 
I have made some measurements to compar it with my Sonnar lens that fits perfectly and found that the diameters are the same, in fact the helios is slightly smaller on one diameter. I suspect that the problem is with the length of the bayonets but that is harder to measure.
 
It's not the length- one goes in easily, the other does not even get half-way in. It has to be the mounting flanges sticking out too far.
 
The problem is the mount itself: the solid metal band of the mount just past the mounting flange is too thick. Both lenses are from 1984. The lens that fits easily measures 36.32mm at the thickest point. The lens that will not mount on the Contax measures 36.52mm. It will mount on a Kiev 4.
 

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I've just checked the diameter of mine, it is 36.33. My f2.8 Tessar measures 36.31. My f2 Sonnar measures 36.36 and that fits perfectly. I wondered if it could be the diameter over the flanges but as there are only 3 I can't measure it. I have just checked the thickness of the flanges, Sonnar and Tessar both 1.1, Helios 1.4. This could be the problem. Is it possible to remove the complete optical unit before I take my Dremel to it?
 
The optical unit comes out easily- take out the two set screws on each side of the mount, then it just unscrews. The problem with the Helios-103: the machining of the mount is way-all-over the place.
 
Success! I thinned the three flanges down which allowed it to fit more freely but it still had the tightness when focusing. I noticed that the locking tab did not fit very well into the locking slot so I reduced the width slightly but still had the tightness when focusing with the wheel but not when I turned the lens manually. I then reduced the thickness of the tab and that totally cured the problem. Mind you the tab is rather thin now, I'll just be carefull with it. Now the testing.
Thanks for the support.
 
If it is any comfort: the Leica Thread Mount version of this lens took me two hours to dremel into a working lens.

There is one Helios-103 in LTM that I am aware of. I used a close-focus helical for the Elmar/Hektor/Summar to make it.
 
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