Helios 44M-4 58mm F2 Russian Lens M42 Mount

A great, fun little lens to use. The condition of my copy is excellent, with almost no perceptible wear. The focus ring turns SO smoothly with a nice long throw; it's really a joy to use. Compared to what I've seen online of the 44-2, the 44-4 seems to have much better build quality and ease of use. I'm using the lens adapted to Fuji x-mount cropped sensor so the swirly bokeh is more subtle but definitely still there. I'm also finding surprising sharpness in the middle of the image, even wide open. When you combine the bokeh with the beautiful color rendering and falloff in the corners, you get a lens that produces images you just can't get out of modern glass. The price for the lens these days is higher than it was a few years ago (when people were saying you could snag one for $30 or less), which I suspect is due in part to the war in Ukraine. Even so, I'm happy to pay about $80 for one of my favorite lenses. Highly recommend.

Order it like a 1-2 weeks ago. Came in the mail when I left To go out of town. But I was Worried the tracking had stop but the seller gave me good info on updates until it came in the US and atl. It’s a nice lens to use. My first vintage and I’m liking how the images looks on my camera. Of course you gotta get used to it so you can master the focus ring etc. it’s a good buy. Slick kinda easy to use once’s you figure out stuff. Came packaged well and new thank god!

The lens arrived in excellent condition — clean, like new, with no scratches, light leaks, or fungus. The image quality is impressively sharp. I haven’t had the chance to test it outdoors yet, but the photos I took of my cats look great. Overall, I’m very happy with this purchase and would definitely recommend it!

It’s a wonderful lens! Great solid build quality and takes great photos. However! Do some research before purchasing this lens. The aperture ring doesn’t open or close the aperture blades at first. Research on YouTube and Google on how to modify the pin so that you can manual adjust your f stops. Otherwise wherever it was left open last when it was received will stay fixed unless you mod the pin. Mine also came with a lens cap which was a surprise. All in all a great buy!

First and foremost, the lens I received was in wonderful condition and seems like a brand new lens. It was perfectly clean, no marks anywhere and arrived with both lens caps. I bought this to use for its creative possibilities for use on an Olympus micro four thirds format camera using an adapter. It works very well and using the aperture preferred setting on my camera, it is easy to get the correct exposure. It is manual focus and the focus ring is a little stiff but I have read that this is a property with most of these lenses. I have not owned it that long and have not had that many chances to use it away from the house due to COVID, but the images I have done with it so far I really like. I bought a K&F Concept M42 Lens to Micro 4/3 Lens Adapter,M42 Screw Mount to Micro Four Thirds adapter for it that also works great. I will be buying another adapter for the lens so that I can use it and other M42 vintage lenses I get in the future with my Nikon as well. All in all, I am very happy with my purchase and the vendor. Be aware that this lens does come all the way from Russia so it does take a little while o arrive.

I’m very happy with this lens and seller did a good job describing the item and making sure it was exactly what he said it was going to be. Sometimes when you’re buying the item you get it and it’s disappointing that it doesn’t match up to the description. I ended up paying for expedited delivery because I wanted it sooner which would have been a good month or more to arrive from Russia otherwise. Amazon doesn’t do the math on the price for expediting anything from this distance they only offer the option to do it so when I looked to see what I was charged for it after it shipped I was a bit surprised with the $75 shipping charge which was $10 more than what I paid for the lens. Lol Oh well it’s still a great bargain and a beautiful lens that I will enjoy for years to come. You have to do a little rigging on the aperture to make it function if using adaptor on modern camera. Youtube has videos on how to fix the problem.

The lens was not working. Its aperture blades were stuck. Also, the glass was not pristine.

El lente llegó en excelente condiciones, está muy limpio y cuidado. El empaque muy correcto. Importante avisar que la versión del helios que llega es del fabricante VALDAI, no del fabricante KMZ así que la imagen de referencia está incorrecta. A parte de eso el lente es muy bueno.

Fantastic lens, excellent condition. It arrived unexpectedly quickly, got it before Xmas, thank you for that!

Brilliant lens, produces beautiful out of focus backgrounds, making the main subject stand out...Haven't managed to get ''swirling' bokeh yet for which this lens is famous for... Need the correct lighting conditions....Is relatively cheap to buy, compared to modern auto focus, but still a very capable lens, and will with the right lighting produce the Swirling bokeh.. Great lens, well worth a look if you are thinking about trying a Vintage lens...

On ne choisit pas cet objectif par hasard, il prend tout son sens sur un plein format ou son bokeh tournoyant prendra plus d'espace. Après ce n'est pas le 85mm équivalent, mais ça reste utilisable en portrait même si ce ne sera pas sa spécialité ; et c'est surtout nettement moins cher qu'une Helios 40 !

El lente es lo que es, no es un diseño moderno y es económico. Si estás consiente de eso y de las limitaciones que eso puede representar y aún así estás dispuesto a comprarlo creo que es por qué sabes lo que buscas con este lente. Tomando en cuenta el costo económico, se siente bastante bien la construcción, he tomado algunas fotos como es de esperar requieres un poco de práctica para enfocar correctamente ya que es completamente manual. El tiempo de envío tomando en cuenta que vine de Ucrania y la situación geopolítica actual en esa región, fue muy bueno. Creo que sin duda podria recomendarlo como un lente "retro", completamente manual y sin comunicación alguna con la cámara. Cumple con lo que buscaba.

Works perfect, recommend it to everybody