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testing my lenses - part 48 - Helios-40-2 85mm/1.5 m42
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 9:35 pm
Post subject: testing my lenses - part 48 - Helios-40-2 85mm/1.5 m42
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 9:35 pm
Post subject: testing my lenses - part 48 - Helios-40-2 85mm/1.5 m42
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lens is made in KMZ factory (Krasnogorskiy Mechanicheskiy Zavod)
samples with Oly E-520




crop of the previous photo





crop of the previous photo



Last edited by WolverineX on Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:43 pm; edited 1 time in total


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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:31 pm
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:31 pm
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fantastic shots! I'm impressed by the IQ from this lens. Do you know if all of them are this good? or is it only a few copies?


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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:34 pm
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:34 pm
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gearsNcogs wrote:
fantastic shots! I'm impressed by the IQ from this lens. Do you know if all of them are this good? or is it only a few copies?

i think the consensus on this forum is that this is a great lens...


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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:53 pm
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:53 pm
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Cool shots Bro.

Its one of my favorite lens too. The rendering is so unique.
I like this lens little bit more than Biotar 75. Maybe because its longer focal length and better contrast/color.

But it has one problem ... its heavy Smile So I use Biotar more often than this magnificent lens, especially if I am travelling.

The older silver Helios 40 is lighter but I assume the 40-2 has more enhanched design & coating?


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Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 9:55 pm
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Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 9:55 pm
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I confirm.
It's a great lens.

If the black version is heavier than the alu version, wow...
I have the alu version and it is heavy.
Fortunately, rings are very smooth and a pleasure to turn.


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Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 11:03 pm
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Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 11:03 pm
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Really excellent results! Makes me want to dig my "heavy black monster" out and shoot!!


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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 12:08 am
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 12:08 am
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very nice samples! sadly I also not use mine too often Sad


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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 6:21 am
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 6:21 am
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***It's a great lens.***

erm for the prices on the bay i.e. £275 to £450, I would expect nothing less.


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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 12:47 pm
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 12:47 pm
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Last February the average price on eBay was about $400.
This month the price has increased to $600 !! ... I wonder what caused it Question


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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:09 pm
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:09 pm
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nixland wrote:
Last February the average price on eBay was about $400.
This month the price has increased to $600 !! ... I wonder what caused it Question


The cause? This forum, of course Laughing


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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:19 pm
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:19 pm
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Spotmatic wrote:
nixland wrote:
Last February the average price on eBay was about $400.
This month the price has increased to $600 !! ... I wonder what caused it Question


The cause? This forum, of course Laughing


oooopsss,maybe i shouldn't have tested this lens Laughing Laughing Laughing now the price will go through the roof

btw, i got mine for about 100$-120$ at local photo fair a year ago


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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:56 pm
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:56 pm
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Are any of those pictures taken fully open? I think probably not. I've played with add on diaphragms on the Cyclop, but your results are not possible. I was hoping to install a slot for inserting verios apertures, but there does not appear to be a place to do that safely.


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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 2:14 pm
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 2:14 pm
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woodrim wrote:
Are any of those pictures taken fully open? I think probably not. I've played with add on diaphragms on the Cyclop, but your results are not possible. I was hoping to install a slot for inserting verios apertures, but there does not appear to be a place to do that safely.


in all shots i took with this lens, i started wide open and then closed it down when needed... i believe, if i remember correctly, green beetle and red beetle photos were taken wide open(maybe i'm wrong, i have to check when i get home because i shot several photos in a row of both, starting from wide open then stopping down, and i don't know right now which photo in the series i chose to upload as a sample), other two a bit stopped down but not by much, as this is a preset lens and there are no clicks when changing aperture i don't exactly how much i stopped the lens

as for cyclop, although it might be same design as helios 40-2, it being the lens for nightvision apparatus, i'm certain it has completely different lens coating than helios 40-2 giving you different results

EDIT: i've checked the photos, and red beetle was taken wide open, but green was stopped down

Last edited by WolverineX on Fri May 20, 2011 6:53 pm; edited 1 time in total


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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 2:38 pm
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 2:38 pm
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Spotmatic wrote:
nixland wrote:
Last February the average price on eBay was about $400.
This month the price has increased to $600 !! ... I wonder what caused it Question


The cause? This forum, of course Laughing


Hahaha Very Happy ...

WolverineX wrote:

oooopsss,maybe i shouldn't have tested this lens Laughing Laughing Laughing now the price will go through the roof

btw, i got mine for about 100$-120$ at local photo fair a year ago


Very Happy ...

$120?? ... wow, and now its $600 ... its insane .. Smile

Or maybe the sellers need additional money for summer vacation ? Very Happy


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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:49 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:49 pm
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new samples with Olympus E-M5, taken at Zagreb dog show















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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:03 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:03 pm
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WOW, super dog shots!!


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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:10 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:10 pm
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kds315* wrote:
WOW, super dog shots!!


thank you . all handheld using available light , no flash. in fact since i got E-M5 i haven't used flash once.


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 5:16 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 5:16 am
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WolverineX wrote:
new samples with Olympus E-M5, taken at Zagreb dog show

These dog portraits look wonderful. Excellent sharpness and nice bokeh. This lens rivals my expensive
SMC Pentax-K 85mm F1.8 lens and thats saying a lot. Is it multicoated?


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 6:56 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 6:56 am
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Lovely! Especially the first one and the Alaskan Smile


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:25 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:25 am
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hifisapi wrote:
Is it multicoated?


well it's black version in m42 mount, it's doesn't have MC marking on it, but looking at it's front glass it has some kind of coating


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:26 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:26 am
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Lena wrote:
Lovely! Especially the first one and the Alaskan Smile


i also like the first one and alaskan is one of my favorite dog breed Smile

Last edited by WolverineX on Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:52 am; edited 1 time in total


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:33 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:33 am
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I like the Husky too.

This huge lens on the OM-D, I'd like to see that. Smile
Is thid combo well balanced ?
The IQ is very good.

Last edited by Olivier on Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:41 am; edited 2 times in total


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:38 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:38 am
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Olivier wrote:
This huge lend on the OM-D, I'd like to see that. Smile
Is thid combo well balanced ?


surprisingly, it's pretty well balanced. i was shooting that dog show for about 2 hours and it never felt heavy


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:41 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:41 am
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About multicoating, my 1963 alu version has coating (blue violet color).


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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 10:55 am
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 10:55 am
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WolverineX wrote:
Olivier wrote:
This huge lend on the OM-D, I'd like to see that. Smile
Is thid combo well balanced ?


surprisingly, it's pretty well balanced. i was shooting that dog show for about 2 hours and it never felt heavy



are you using the hld 6 battery grip? just wondering as i get my Helios 40 very soon for my e-m5.
do you use a noname m42 adapter or an expensive one?
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