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Helios 40 lenses: do they all not focus beyond 30 metres?
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 7:48 pm    Post subject: Helios 40 lenses: do they all not focus beyond 30 metres? Reply with quote
Hi there

do all H 40 lens have a problem with focusing beyond 30 metres? or is it only the first silver ones that are converted from m39 to M42 that have this problem?

Thanks


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It might not be the lens but the adapter. What kind of adapter are you using? A fraction of a millimeter difference could translate to not being able to focus to infinity...


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
i have helios 40-2, so that's m42 version and i don't have problem of focusing to infinity, maybe it is problem with your lens, maybe it needs to be adjusted? maybe members that have the silver version (m39) can tell you more


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
rawhead wrote:
It might not be the lens but the adapter. What kind of adapter are you using? A fraction of a millimeter difference could translate to not being able to focus to infinity...

+1 this is most possible reason. ( I did never shoot with any of my 85mm lenses to infinity distance)


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Actually its not my lens, yet!

Its on ebay and its a silver one converted to M42 I believe

is Ebay the only place to get a Helios 40? noone here has one for sale?


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Rare lens I guess one was on sale from Hari , just a few days before. Perhaps not sold yet.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It was, I missed it by 30 minutes Sad


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yup. With the regular adapter youll get a difference of 0,3 mm.
Enough to lose the infinity on my Spotmatic.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
dude163 wrote:
It was, I missed it by 30 minutes Sad

Sad pretty bad... I think this lens is really good for portraits , think about you really need infinity ?


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
dude163 wrote:
It was, I missed it by 30 minutes Sad

Sad pretty bad... I think this lens is really good for portraits , think about you really need infinity ?

This lens is not for infinity use. Trust me.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Probably not, I was going to use it for portraits , but my wife is a little worried bout dropping 300 euros on a lens that doesnt work properly on my K-X


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
dude163 wrote:
Probably not, I was going to use it for portraits , but my wife is a little worried bout dropping 300 euros on a lens that doesnt work properly on my K-X

The lens is awesome.
But not worth a home riot. Razz


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The one thing in my favour is that if I grabbed helios 40 , I can easily resell it here inN America fro what I paid for it, so its not such a high risk proposition

my lenses jump from my helios 44 58mm to my 135mm takumar, I just needed something in the middle for portraits that was a bit faster , plus a Silver Helios on a white K-X would look badass Smile


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
In my oppinion it doesnt really fill that hole...
In my collection the Jupiter 9 fills it better.


The Helios is like a "special" kid in an elementary class.
Everyone else is doing ok, some are struggling in class "wide open", but finally they grow up.
With the Helios, you never want to grow up... Its just so special, Im in love with it !

Just get it. If you dont like it. Sell it.
I will never sell mine, taking it to the grave !


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Its strange you mention that

my wife just said,

" hey , this Jupiter 9 looks to be similar, but its f2 not f1.4 and 200 euros cheaper"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270628903628&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"


Ill see how high my auction goes on the helios 40, if its too high, Ill grab a jupe 9


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
dude163 wrote:
Its strange you mention that

my wife just said,

" hey , this Jupiter 9 looks to be similar, but its f2 not f1.4 and 200 euros cheaper"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270628903628&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"


Ill see how high my auction goes on the helios 40, if its too high, Ill grab a jupe 9



This is a strange lens, looks like heavily tampered I don't think so good idea to take it. 300 EUR is a lot for Helios 40 I guess you can buy around 200 maximum with a little patient.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks Attila

I was just showing the link my wife sent me, Ill keep looking , and you are right, with a bit of patience, I can get a Helios and something else

I found some incredible shots on flickr taken with the Helios, they look like photos taken in a dream , and its not just one photographer either, its on quite a few different pages, so I assume the ethereal quality is the lens not the PP used.

Thank you all for all the help and advice, I am really enjoying my trip into manual lenses and manual usage of my New K-X , I feellike I have learned more about photo the last 4 months than I have in teh last 4 years!


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The J-9 is a good lens. At F4 its SOO sharp.

The H-40 is just SOOO special.

My H-40 topic and J-9 topic.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Both are great lens, look from both earliest as possible , right after war they made from Zeiss glass by Zeiss people in captivity. In my experience early Russian glasses are better than later ones. We had an optical factory here MOM what was closed in middle of 60th because Russians start to deliver crappy optical glasses only.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
Both are great lens, look from both earliest as possible , right after war they made from Zeiss glass by Zeiss people in captivity. In my experience early Russian glasses are better than later ones. We had an optical factory here MOM what was closed in middle of 60th because Russians start to deliver crappy optical glasses only.

Well no and no.
Later russian mass made lenses arent really good, but some are really better then the first ones ones.

The biggest change for the best is with the Tair-11.
Таир-11 -- 28/18
Таир-11-2 -- 28/18
Таир-11А -- 44/24
Wow at these numbers.

And the MC Mir-24 Ive got, is soooo contrasty and good with colors.


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
hey!

one lens at a time! Im not a millionare Smile


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 7:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Welcome to the club.
The club of poor lens addicts.


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:18 am    Post subject: Re: Helios 40 lenses: do they all not focus beyond 30 metres Reply with quote
dude163 wrote:
Hi there

do all H 40 lens have a problem with focusing beyond 30 metres? or is it only the first silver ones that are converted from m39 to M42 that have this problem?

Thanks


The issue here is the difference in registration distance between M39 and M42 mounts. Can you undo the conversion (by unscrewing the M39-M42 ring for example)? If you can, just buy an M39-EOS adapter from eBay, and you're good. If the conversion is permanent - well, try some really cheap, silver Chinese M42 adapters, they sometimes are made badly enough to be way thinner than required for an M42 lens. (I have a Jupiter-9 in M39 mount, added an M39-M42 ring and one of those cheap adapters for perfect infinity).


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Joosep wrote:
The J-9 is a good lens. At F4 its SOO sharp.

The H-40 is just SOOO special.

My H-40 topic and J-9 topic.


Helios 40 is also sharp at slower appertures, but that's now why ppl buy it. You can see the beauty of helios 40 only wide open. Stoped down to 5.6-8, no difference from jupiter 9 and other 85mm lenses. The only disadvantage of the lens is the weight. Sometimes just hard to keep camera still trying to focus from an awkward position Smile


PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
P.s. yep, the lens was converted this way. i guess it's no big deal to get m39 mount back, just need to find a repairsman. I was goinig to unscrew the back of the lens, but looks like a very small hexagonal screwdriver is needed. Have some, but not that small.
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