| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Langstrum |
Posted - Sep 15 2014 : 01:09:06 AM
Hello everyone,
This is my first post here, I'm glad to join our great forum because I'm an addict with Russian lenses.
The first manual focus lens I ever had was the Helios 44-2, about a year ago, and then I tried to collect as many lenses as I can, and most of them are vintage Russian lenses.
My ambition is to have the whole Helios 44 series, and up to now I have Helios 44 early chrome version (#000xxxx), early 44-2 version (#000xxxx), 44-3, 44M-4, 44M-7, so the 44M, 44-3M, 44M-5, 44M-6 are left, but it's just the matter of time and budget.
What I'm really into finishing this collection is to find out the Helios 44M1.
I'm a quite active member in mflenses.com forum recently. I saw this lens appeared in the forum once and I can't find any other information.
This lens has only 2 blades and it forms the cateye bokeh. The mechanism may be similar to Zenitar ME1 50/1.7. The owner described it as a cheap Helios lens, but somehow he is the only one to show this lens to the world.
Here is the photo of the lens:
I came to many places to find this lens but there is no clue about it. I started to suspect that this lens is actually just a custom made one, but still, I need something to verify that. It looks exactly like the 44M version, with the number 1 and new diaphragm.
If somebody here ever heard of this lens or actually own it, please tell me, I really appreciate that. |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Langstrum |
Posted - Sep 15 2014 : 11:20:52 PM
Thank you very much Vlad and Guido, these information is very useful to me
I searched the KMZ list before, that's one of the reasons I suspected that this lens may be just a custom made one.
So at least I can confirm that this lens is an authentic one. Based on the serial number, it was produced up to thousand copies, which means I still have a chance to find it out. That's great!
Cheers,
Minh |
| Guido |
Posted - Sep 15 2014 : 12:16:32 PM
Hello
According to J.L. Princelle [1] the Helios 44-1 was used on some Zenit 7 prototyps/preseries. The one pictured there has the number 001424 and used roman letters, the color is black and grey. Later in 1968 the Helios 44-1 was replaced by the Helios 44-7.
Best wishes - Guido
[1] http://ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=39&ParentID=4&ContentID=205&Item=Authentic+Guide+to+Russian+and+Soviet+Cameras+by+J.+L.+Princelle (page 154) |
| Vlad |
Posted - Sep 15 2014 : 09:25:02 AM
Hello,
I don't know if it's of any help but KMZ official site does not mention this lens:
http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/lenses/helios-44.html
Сheers,
Vlad. |
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