Helios 44m 2/58, Auto Optomax 35mm, Sigma XQ 39-80mm

[beat2beat]

I'm a newbie here, found out about manual lenses recently. So i bag off 3 lenses on ebay. Got them today, here they are:

Helios 44m 2/58 f2


Auto Optomax 35mm


Sigma XQ 39-80mm


Pictures took on Nikon D70 with Nikkor 18-105mm lens.


I know that Helios 44m is a good lenses, but there are so many Helios lenses? which one is the best?

anyone has any comment about the lenses? info? or maybe tips? I'm really new here so please help!!

Oh, i am using these lenses on a Nikon D70 with M42 adapter.

[ManualFocus-G]

[Attila]

Welcome ! Nice to see you here!

Which one is best I think no too important all are good enough to use them and all are very cheap so you can start to collect them and judge by your self. I think I never heard any negative critics about their optical quality.

[fatdeeman]

I have the 44m, nice lens, good sharpness and colour, contrast can be a bit lacking wide open and I recommend using a hood but you can always bump it up in software.

I have no idea about that particular Optomax, I have a 135mm that was made by Tokina so there is a good chance it was made by a decent company, it just depends which one they used for that lens because they didn't build their own.

Older sigma lenses are a lucky dip, some are great and some are relatively poor but they are all distinctive and I have heard faint praise for this one in the past although I forget where, I think it might have been a kit lens for the relatively rare sigma slr's.

Go out and try them!

[Xpres]

I have the sigma, a great looking piece of glass but not that easy to use.

See here http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?id=8038

I hang on to it - I like portrait lenses - but very rarely use it.

[my_photography]

Welcome to the forum.

My recommendation: take those lenses out and start taking some photos with them. I am sure you will have a lot of fun with them

[martinsmith99]

The Helios is a favourite here, any of the 44s are cheap and very good. Some of the Helios range weren't Russian but made in Japan and these are not as good. The Optomax can be found cheaply, but samples that we've seen here always look good. I'm not so sure about the Sigma zoom; it's likely to be an average lens. Looking at the line Xpres has posted it may also be fiddly. However, it does sound interesting.

And welcome to the forum!!

[beat2beat]

yup definitely will bring them out on a date. will post some pictures later on. Cheers guys!

[beat2beat]

this image here is taken by Helios 44m 2/58, not mine though,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/itssg/3525023759/in/set-72157617985166333/

The picture has a colour tone of slight yellow or brown, makes it look like aged picture. Is that the effect of the lens or it had been altered in Photoshop? can anyone gv me an answer please? thank you.

[nurfen]

No, that tone is made in post, and is not an effect of the lens itself.

Here are some images I shot with a Optomax 35mm f/2.8 on a 5D Mk2:



The lens is really, really awesome! Got it for $40 on eBay and couldn't be happier.

Edit: Seems like the images aren't working due to some weird coding here at the forum (worked great when I previewed the post, but not when I submitted it). Anyway, here's a link to the album: https://www.imglib.org/album/ZxLb/jRy4Yex/

Edit 2: I might add that _nothing_ has been done in post. Not even contrast changes or WB adjustments.

[walter g]

[martyn_bannister]

Welcome both. Before you succumb to Lens Buying Addiction, make sure to go out and shoot these lenses!

BTW - first post won't show images -it's an anti spam measure.

[ChromaticAberration]

To be honest I wasn't expecting such quality from the optomax. At least after resizing they look usably sharp and bokeh is not bad at all.

You will also be please with the Helios I am sure but what I am more curious about is the XQ zoom, ain't that the "high-end" line from Sigma?

[Minolfan]

If you are using a Nikon DSLR you need an adapter with glass to get infinity focus AFAIK. Such adapter can have a negative influence on the image quality.
So I think you had better searched for lenses (Nikon or third paty) with Nikon bajonet.
No reason not to test what you have found now ofcourse!

[ManualFocus-G]

The Optomax looks decent! I have an Optomax zoom which is really good too, made by Tokina.

The Sigma lens mentioned by the original poster...well I didn't find it good at all. In fact, it was horrible!

[spiralcity]

I shot the moon a while back with an Optomax 400mm and 2x tele converter. The pics where decent, much better than I expected.

I tried using the lens for birding, but focusing was much too slow for quick moving birds.

[Minolfan]