Helios-40

[Dez]

I have recently seen for sale a lens previously unknown to me, the Helios 40 85 mm f1.5, looking like a copy of the Sonnar. While it is a 39mm mount, it might be only for the Zenit SLR. Does this lens couple properly with the RF cam in a Leica or FSU RF camera??

Cheers,

Dez

 

[ruby.monkey]

No, it's an SLR lens.

 

[Ed S.]

If you get an M39-to-M42 adapter ring, the Helios works in any M42-mount SLR.

It (or they; there are 3 variants) has become a bit of a cult lens; the technical performance is poor overall (acceptable/good by f/5.6) compared to other 85/1.4-1.5 lenses, but the 10 blades and the design make it a desirable portrait lens.

 

[rxmd]

ruby.monkey has it right, it's an SLR-only lens. It has no rangefinder cam, and the registration distance is that of the M42 series of SLRs.

I have one that I use on a Nikon F2. It has been the only lens longer than 50 that I've been using over the last year or so. It's the "second" variety, silver barrel, with a rotating tripod collar (extremely useful for mounting the lens!) and what appears to be multicoating. It was one of those lucky moments on the flea market in Tashkent - the lens in its leather case with filters and an apparently original M39-M42 step-up ring for $70. It works fine at close distances (I don't use it at infinity) and with subjects near the image center:



Not a "universal" lens by any standards, and big and heavy, but as a portrait lens I like it a lot.

 

[MXP]

ruby.monkey has it right, it's an SLR-only lens. It has no rangefinder cam, and the registration distance is that of the M42 series of SLRs.

I have one that I use on a Nikon F2. It has been the only lens longer than 50 that I've been using over the last year or so. It's the "second" variety, silver barrel, with a rotating tripod collar (extremely useful for mounting the lens!) and what appears to be multicoating. It was one of those lucky moments on the flea market in Tashkent - the lens in its leather case with filters and an apparently original M39-M42 step-up ring for $70. It works fine at close distances (I don't use it at infinity) and with subjects near the image center:



Not a "universal" lens by any standards, and big and heavy, but as a portrait lens I like it a lot.

I have have chrome version with fixed tripod collar.....and right now it sits on a Pentax Spotmatic with 42mm step up. But on you Nikon F you just use the lens as it is? ......so set at infinity.......it is useful for portraits I see. The background is very soft and nice. With a dedicated adapter it may be used on a rangefinder?

 

[Dez]

85 f1.5

85 f1.5

OK, thanks. It sounded like it was too good to be true as a rangefinder lens.

Cheers,
Dez

 

[rxmd]

I have have chrome version with fixed tripod collar.....and right now it sits on a Pentax Spotmatic with 42mm step up. But on you Nikon F you just use the lens as it is? ......so set at infinity.......it is useful for portraits I see. The background is very soft and nice. With a dedicated adapter it may be used on a rangefinder?

I didn't modify the lens in any way, so on the Nikon F it doesn't go to infinity. It goes out to about 3.5m. For my uses that doesn't pose a problem; on the contrary it's useful because I can also focus closer than I could on an M42 camera.

You could probably use it on a rangefinder camera, if you get someone to machine a M39-M39 adapter that is 16.7mm thick and has the entry and exit threads aligned. Scale focus only, though, and focusing a 85/f1.5 lens is hard already with an SLR - with a rangefinder I wouldn't enjoy it, and with scale focus it becomes more hassle than it's worth IMHO.

That said, on any SLR this is a fantastic, if somewhat special-purpose lens.

 

[raid]

I have had a Canon 85 1.5 for RF photography since one year,and I added a 75 1.4 Summilux recently. Still, my favorite tele is the Canon 85/1.2L.

The Helios 40 seems to be a good portrait lens.

 

[MXP]

I didn't modify the lens in any way, so on the Nikon F it doesn't go to infinity. It goes out to about 3.5m. For my uses that doesn't pose a problem; on the contrary it's useful because I can also focus closer than I could on an M42 camera.

You could probably use it on a rangefinder camera, if you get someone to machine a M39-M39 adapter that is 16.7mm thick and has the entry and exit threads aligned. Scale focus only, though, and focusing a 85/f1.5 lens is hard already with an SLR - with a rangefinder I wouldn't enjoy it, and with scale focus it becomes more hassle than it's worth IMHO.

That said, on any SLR this is a fantastic, if somewhat special-purpose lens.

Yes, it will be too difficult to focus the lens on a rangefinder and make the adapter so it will couple to the rangefinder is probably complicated.
It seems an adapter is made for EOS so infinity focus is possible and lens performance is not to bad on an APS sensor?

http://galactinus.net/vilva/retro/eos350d_helios.html

The lens is very nice for portraits.....the background just fades away and gives a 3D look. Don't know if this effect is better on the Helios than on other fast 85mm lenses?

 

[Andrew Howes]

I use a 40-2 on my nikon d1x and d2x.
Nice portrait lens, very nice OOF areas , damn hard to focus.
Would love to try it on a d700 to try out the funky edge performance.
Infinity focus would be a mixed blessing as I beleive its performance is optimised for close up and is pretty bad at longer distances.

 

[photovdz]

I have one... and I like it... difficult to focus but a real portrait lens... and a not that soft in fact

 

[ferider]

I have the newer 40-2 (same lens, but M42 and multi-coated) that I use on a Nikon F (also working at infinity). It's a Biotar (not Sonnar) clone, very nice signature with lots of center punch.

There is a flickr group for that lens: http://www.flickr.com/groups/helios_40-2.