Help me get my Helios 44M back together!

Ultron · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 60 Location: Amsterdam

Well my Helios 44M was stiff focusing, so I took it apart, removed the old grease with lighter fluid and put some lithium grease on the moving parts.
So far so good.
Now how to put Humpty Dumpty together again?

I'm stuck with the focusing mechanism.
I have these four parts:

I know where they must go an what they must do. Put I can't put them in place. Have been trying for a day now.
Is there a secret trick?
Anyone knows it?

elliott · Joined: 16 May 2011 Posts: 170

Getting a helicoid like that to mesh is one of the hardest parts of lens repair. Not much of a secret, just have them perfectly aligned and they go together easily.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Next time mark with water resistant pen and no headache.

Ultron · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 60 Location: Amsterdam

I have broken the code!

So we have these four pieces, from left to right I will call them 1, 2, 3 4

Now I had another helios 44m lying around so I partially disassembled that one to see how it fits together. I set it to infinity focus and took off part 1 to see how far part 2 goes into part 3

I also had a look at the back

Note that part four has two plastic ridges, a long one and a short one. The aperture handle on part two is located at the longer plastic ridge

Now I took the black tabs off part 2. This is the big secret. You can take the lens apart with the tabs on but you can't put it back together without taking them off, at least I could not.

Screw part 4 all the way on part 3

Screw in part 2 so it is approximately at infinity focus

now turn part 3 back until the holes in part 2 are aligned with the guides for the tabs

but remember the aperture handle must sit at the long ridge of part 3

Screw the black tabs back on part 2.
Now put part 1 back on

after that you can put the back of the lens back on and mount it on a camera with a split screen that you know has correct infinity focus. Check if infinity focus is correct, if not you can take part 1 off, finetune infinity focus by turning part 3, then screwing part 1 back on.

After that you can put the front of the lens with the namering back on.

Don't know if this is how the Russians did it but it works for me. Now I am going to do the other 44M too.

The focusing is smoother now but still slightly heavy for my taste.

Ultron · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 60 Location: Amsterdam

On my 44M number two I could not unscrew the black tabs because one screw had been screwn in very tightly.
So now I found another method leaving the tabs on part 2.
Just screw part two all the way up to the nearest focus in part 3.
Then screw part 4 all the way up into part 3.
Then screw part 4 back until the black tabs on part 2 are properly aligned with the slots in part 4. Remember the correct position of the aperture handle.
Screw part two back, play with part 2 and 4 a bit until the tabs slide into the slots.
Now you can focus the lens to infinity focus by turning part 3, then put part 1 back on.
I'ts easy once you know how.

marcusBMG · Joined: 07 Dec 2012 Posts: 1318 Location: Conwy N Wales

Hi Ultron
great job on the helios. Working on mine...

does this you tube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1plF-nWROL4
reflect how you proceeded to disassemble?
( I have sufficient experience with lenses if you did things in a different order just outline what you did for me if you could..)
Did you get infinity focus back good?

Lightshow · Joined: 04 Nov 2011 Posts: 3666 Location: Calgary

The main thing to do when taking a helicoid apart is to mark its infinity point in a few ways to be sure it is put back together correctly, I usually mark it's maximum depth and rotation at infinity, also a quick mark on all 4(in this case) parts so I again know I put it together correctly.
Remove the guide tabs and unscrew the helicoid to near the end, now find an easily identifying feature on one of the 2 helicoid parts, and as you finish unscrewing the helicoid mark the other part in line with the identifying feature, some lenses have a threaded ring that is part of the focus mechanism, mark it and the other part, then count the turns it takes to remove it.
Putting it together should be easy if you have the marks right.

cyrano · Expire: 2016-12-30

It is an absolute b*****d to do without good lighting and magnification. Also magnetic screwdrivers are a must.
Phew ! Confused

This page might be of use....: http://web.archive.org/web/20110102164838/http://psychoticstudios.net/blog/archives/140

and this....: http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/67775-sibling-rivalry-helios-44m-vs-helios-44m-4-a-2.html.

Good luck and bring an industrial quantity of patience with you.