In search of Swirls

[caledonia84]

I like swirly bokeh, I know that bokeh is not supposed to swirl and that some people find it distracting. Anyway through some research I discovered I allready had 3 lenses that were known to swirl, the Helios 44m, Helios 44m-4 and the Fujian 35mm CCTV lens. I thought I'd try them out and see how I got on, from my findings with the Helios's there's definitely a sweet spot its around 6-8 foot from your subject and you need to have a good distance between the subject and your background. The Fujian optically has no end of problems, its very crude but oddly houses 12 aperture blades?!? so bokeh is remarkably good even stopped down. It does swirl also but is a bit more erratic than the Helios's.

While testing the lenses I bumped into a fellow forum member! It was great talking to someone with a similar passion for old lenses (especially fast 50's) He pointed out that the lenses will swirl more on a full frame sensor as my A6000 will crop out the edges where most of the swirlyness occurs.

Would be good to hear form you on other swirly lenses, I know of the Helios 40 but its a bit out of my price range

Fujian 35mm CCTV f1.7

Kelvin Walkway Fujian 35mm CCTV by Scott Hills, on Flickr

Fujian CCTV F1.7 by Scott Hills, on Flickr

Botanic Bench Fujian 35mm CCTV by Scott Hills, on Flickr

Helios 44m-4

Portrait practice by Scott Hills, on Flickr

Portrait practice by Scott Hills, on Flickr

[newst]

Another 'fast 50' that will produce swirling bokeh is the Leitz Summitar 2.0/50. Not a cheap lens but one of the more reasonable Leica lenses.

[Marek]

Biotar 75 pretty much has it. A bit unaffordable and not that common, but as long as Earth turns around the sun, I've never liked compromises.

[caledonia84]

Many thanks Steve! still a wee bit out of my price range unfortunately but good to know

[caledonia84]

[Marek]

Thank you but no FF. However, this B75 coppy was just sick wideopen

[themoleman342]

This may not be an option but if you're willing to dabble in film, there are some inexpensive TLRs that'll give you a good swirl. Something like the Yashica 635 with its 3 element Yashikor would be a nice choice. Check out flickr samples. People do wondrous things with it.

[mo]

The CZJ pancolar 2/50,can be found cheap but usually has stiff focusing and little fungus. If you don't mind those two things, its a good lens in either Exakta or M42 mount.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Remove the back group from a Helios 44 then put the lens on a 20mm extension tube, then you have a 116mm lens that swirls like a Biotar 75.

[bernhardas]

Edited

[Lightshow]

Yup, +1 for the Meopta Meostigmat 70 1.4, it's a fun portrait lens, and much cheaper than the CZJ 70/1.5 or the Helios 40.

[RTI]

[miran]

As far as I can tell the older Helios normals (44-2) swirl a lot more than the newer ones (44M, 44M-4, etc.)

[iangreenhalgh1]

Yes, my 44M-7 hardly ever exhibits any swirl.

[caledonia84]

Excellent info guys, really like the look of yhe meopta and like the sound of taking the rear lens out of one of my 44ms. My older 44m has stiff focus so could try it on that and not be too annoyed about messing it up. Vaseline sounds does sound like a cheap solution, however I'm looking for a more permanent solution.

[caledonia84]

[y]

Yashica ML 50/1.9 C/Y - swirly and super cheap but plenty sharp.

[littleearth]

The Pancolar 50mm f2 and the Yashica ML 50mm f2 both swirl a lot and are cheap.
In MF I would suggest a cheap Super Ricohflex, because it swirls more than the Yashikor or the Triotar.

[Nordentro]

Cyclop (aka Helios -40)


Cooke Kinic 1 inch


Soligor 2 inch

[DConvert]

As well as the Fujian 35mm CCTV f1.7 you mentioned most other c mount lenses give similar Bokeh.

[bernhardas]

EDited

[caledonia84]

[caledonia84]

[caledonia84]

[y]

A random picture of mine taken with Yashica ML 50/1.9 C/Y. No PP applied, IIRC.