Reassembling Helios

[Barry Kirsten]

Greetings All,

I need some help regarding the order and positioning of sections when reassembling a Helios 44m 7 (58mm f/2). I bought this lens recently and when it arrived I noticed the aperture was sluggish. Rather than send it back I decided to look at it myself. Unfortunately there were many subtle changes made to these lenses over the years and I can't find one YouTube video that covers the exact one I have, which was made in 1994. The closest I found was an excellent video covering the 77m 4 (50mm f/1., which was great in explaining cleaning and reassembly of the aperture (identical with mine), but had no information regarding the helicoid, which is my main concern.

Unfortunately without instructions for my lens, I stripped down everything. I know now that that was unnecessary. I now have a problem getting the helicoid properly aligned and I wonder if anyone has instructions for this or appropriate links?

The good thing is that the aperture is pristine clean and functions perfectly, but obviously I need to have it all back together so that I can achieve the full focus range. Thanks for any help or ideas.

Barry

[kansalliskala]

I'm not sure if 44M7 is the same mechanics that 44M but I managed to assemble it about two weeks ago. It is not critical how the helicoid is aligned, just that it reaches infinity and that the aperture levers are at the proper side of the lens. One has to leave just enough room for the focusing ring thread. And what I didn't remember that the optical part enters the helicoid from the back.

http://forum.mflenses.com/helios-44m-mechanical-diagram-anywhere-t80238.html

[kiddo]

Would this work for my helios 44k4? I assume it is identical to 44m,it only changes the mount to Pentax?

[Barry Kirsten]

Thanks kansalliskala, that was very helpful. I'd got hung up.on the idea that the position of the helicoid was important, but it wasn't. Then I could look at the relative positions of the other parts and I eventually got there. Only one small.problem remaining, ant that is that the aperture opens up going from f/11 to f/16, and I think.that's to do with fouling of the spring-loaded mechanism connected to the stop-down pin. I'll check it out when I get back home. I've worked on my LF lenses in the past, but never 35mm. It was a new learning experience for me. Many thanks for your help.

Barry.

[kansalliskala]

[jhayashileite]

Search for Retro Foto House in Youtube. The guy's a specialist in Soviet lenses and has some nice tutorials on how to clean lenses.

[kansalliskala]

[kiddo]

Just checked my Helios 44k4 ,and the mount it's pretty different,so I didn't dare to open it up and relube it. As I've got 2 units (on of them it's got fungus affected front group) ,I could try to open but don't have things straight....

[Barry Kirsten]

Mmmm, my problems are not quite over. The diaphragm is moving freely, but I don't have full aperture range. Everything is fine from f/2 - f/11, but when closed down to f/16 the blades actually open up to more like f/4-5.6. This is because the stop-down mechanism fouls on the brass ring that is now rotated hard around to the right at the f/16 position:
#1


The only adjustment in this whole system is the three screws on the front of the lens which allow the optical block to be rotated right or left.
#1



Even a small amount of rotation has a big effect on the operation of the aperture and I can't find any position which allows a full range of apertures from f/2 - f/16. For example, a SMALL rotation of the optics to allow clearance between the brass ring and the mechanism gives me an f/16 stop from 16 around to 5.6 !!! I must be missing something. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Barry Kirsten]