Helios 44M-4 58/2 - Still Life Panoramas in a Church

tobbsman · Joined: 25 Jul 2008 Posts: 2578 Location: Austria

I found a Helios 44 M 4 58mm/2 lens (in superb condition) yesterday on a Dutch fleemarket. It came with a Zenit Camera, together for 20EURO. I couldn't resist.
My first Russian lens in collection and really imressive first results.

One question: There is no auto/manual apperture blade switch on the lens. I got the apperture blades stock on f 5.6 with pulling a piece of paper between a spring like part. This is not a really satisfying option, so does anybody know how to get work the aperture blades ? Thanks in advance!

- this is all done on f5.6
- all 3 photographes stiched panoramas
- no tripod but leaning on a chair

Cheers
Tobbs

sichko · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 2475 Location: South West UK

Remove the back (sorry I haven't got one at the moment - I think its 4 screws) and the pin. Place a short (1-2mm) plastic sleeve over the pin. It should be a tight fit. I have used PVC insulation from electric cable or the plastic tube which forms part of a "Q-tip". Replace the pin and the back. The pin is now effectively in its depressed state and the lens is stopped down to working aperture - which is controlled directly by the aperture ring.

This a link (maybe more than one) on this site somewhere - with pictures.

tobbsman · Joined: 25 Jul 2008 Posts: 2578 Location: Austria

sichko · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 2475 Location: South West UK

Here's the thread I was thinking about.

http://forum.mflenses.com/helios-44m-manual-no-automatic-t11750.html

It contains a link with a nice set of pictures.

http://chris.stingray.free.fr/Tuto/Modif_H44M4/Pinoche_H44M-4.html

Arkku · Joined: 28 Feb 2007 Posts: 1416 Location: Helsinki, Finland

Here's a picture of how I did it on a Fujinon 50mm f/1.4. The Helios-44M-4 can be modified in the same manner (actually a bit easier, if I recall correctly):

The cut-out hollow plastic tube (from a cotton swab, aka Q-tip) is the white thing inserted on the aperture pin, which is bottom centre in the picture. The procedure is simply to open up the rear of the lens, remove the pin, insert the tube over it (so it won't fit back through the hole, i.e. it'll be locked down), put the pin back, and reassemble.

Edit: Beaten to it while posting this, the above links are much better since they show the whole procedure for this exact lens. =)

scsambrook · Expire: 2011-11-18

Tobias -

I got a very nice "push-pin" M42 to Pentax K adapter from Alex (HK300) on this forum. It does the trick beautifully on a Pentax DSLR. I'm not allowed to use screwdrivers, you see !

tobbsman · Joined: 25 Jul 2008 Posts: 2578 Location: Austria

Ok, I got it ! Laughing

Great links, thanks for your help.

Cheers
Tobias

Uzay · Joined: 16 May 2009 Posts: 92 Location: Turkey

Tobbs, i like them very much.