Samples from Helios 81N 50/2

[Lena]

I got this lens with a beautiful Kiev 19 for 15 Euro. The camera is now part of my friend's cafe decoration and I kept the lens.

I'm not overwhelmed with the quality of the pictures, so I'm posting them here rather than in the gallery.
All shots at 2.8, handheld, ISO 400 if I remember correctly. Some P7P was needed for contrast and some sharpening.

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[FotoPete]

Thanks for sharing! I've had a friend wonder about the lesser known nikon mount russian lenses. He had linked me the Arsat 50/14 and 20/2.8 some years back on ebay....really tempted back then but student debts...didn't allow for realizing such curiosities.

I wonder how this lens fares in daylight. I'm wondering about those halos around the streetlamps/bright lights in your photos. Is that from coating (or therelackof) or just haze/fog on the glass?

15 euros you can't go wrong haha.

[Lena]

There shouldn't have been any fog, at least none that I noticed.

It says on the from of the lens that it's multicoated. In daylight I got something like this:


I don't know about Arsat lenses, but I would say this one suffers from low contrast and slighly yellow color cast.

[FotoPete]

I've had russian lenses I swore had elements made from recycled beer bottles haha. Some had a noticeable green cast but nothing digital white balance can't handle.

Seems like you got yourself a nice prime to use now!