Showcase Helios 44M - 58mm f/2

[saladin]

Mine arrived. 44-K adapted to the Gx8. First photos, wide open. The great EVF of the Gx8 really helps, even so it's tough to focus and its a bit soft wide open as well which doesnt help! lol.

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[saladin]

On the G9. Wide open, iso500

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[saladin]

It's actually fairly sharp when stopped down (2.8 on this one iirc) but still decent subject separation.

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[BDR-529]

OK, it was a mistake to buy 44M-4 manufactured with Zenit diaphragm switch by Valdai. This version just doesn't create the famous swirly bokeh. It's some sort of improved version with actual multicoating and all. In other words it's no longer so bad that it's actually good but it's nowhere near good enough to be good per se.

It does, however, produce some of the weirdest cinematic Sovcolor tones.

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[Mountain_Man_79]

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Super bonus points (and possibly bff status) if you know what TV show this memorabilia is from.

 

[cjoliprsf]

I found 2 weeks ago a very nice Zenit equipped with this Helios-44M, and when I got the M42 - M4/3 adaptor, I was able to try this lens for the first time.

First shot, full open, already a feeling for this "swirly bouquet"

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Same view, stopped down to F8, completely different...

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Another one full open, really separating the subject in front

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But, stopped down to F8, we lose it completely...

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Here I didn't pay attention to the glare - and it is quite bad...

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However, hiding the sun with my hand corrected things

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Shooting directly into the sun isn't really a great thing to do with this lens...

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[Mountain_Man_79]

Another lens I don’t play with as much as I should. Taken at various apertures, SOOC. Tis the season! -

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You don’t decorate your Buddha for Christmas?

 

[Shadetree]

Another lens I don’t play with as much as I should. Taken at various apertures, SOOC. Tis the season! -
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You don’t decorate your Buddha for Christmas?

Nice shots, what speaker is that in picture #5? Thanks.

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

Nice shots, what speaker is that in picture #5? Thanks.

Thanks! As for the speaker, like most of mine, I built that one. If memory serves me correctly, it’s a peerless woofer, vifa tweeter, and I finished it in ribbon mahogany. The pair is currently doing duty as my rear speakers in my home theater surround sound system.

edit- I lied about the tweeter. This set is using a pair of Dayton tweeters

 

[Shadetree]

Thanks! As for the speaker, like most of mine, I built that one. If memory serves me correctly, it’s a peerless woofer, vifa tweeter, and I finished it in ribbon mahogany. The pair is currently doing duty as my rear speakers in my home theater surround sound system.

Cool, you did a great job on them!

 

[Panolyman]

Thanks for these latest photos Chris.
They brought back some great memories for me.
That shot of the blurred lights is almost identical to one of my efforts with my first SLR camera way back in the early 70's and I thought it was so cool being able to get something so good out of focus.
And I also built a pair of speakers with Peerless units and finished them off in mahogany too.
As they say: great minds....