Helios

Helios

The Greek sun god – and a really good name for a lens: or, indeed, a series of lenses, if you look them up on the web.

For most people, though, there’s only one Helios, the 44: 58mm focal length and a maximum aperture of f/2. Later lenses were fitted with an automatic diaphragm, but the ‘classic’ lenses are like the one shown here, with a preset diaphragm.

Preset diaphragm: that means there are two rings for aperture control. One is click-stopped, and allows you to pre-set the working aperture. The other ring then moves freely between maximum aperture and the taking aperture, so that you can adjust it with the camera at eye level. With practice, this can be surprisingly easy and fast. Honest.



It’s really odd how there are two different views of this lens. For me, and probably most photographers of my age, it was the standard lens on the cheapest SLR you could get, the Zenith B. The camera was legendarily as tough as a T-34 tank, and the lens was similarly capable but basic. You’d need to be quite devoted (and physically strong) to go on using a Zenith once you could afford any of the Japanese cameras of the era.

And there are devotees of the Helios, who love what it does. I think there are two parts to this: first, for people used to a standard zoom, a 58mm f/2 lens gives stunning differential focus. This is simply wonderful – and then there’s an extra, because the right background gives an interesting Bokeh. It looks like this:



By comparison, a Pentax 55mm f/1.8 gives a smoother, more understated look:



For many years, Helios lenses were cheap as chips, often literally. Every charity shop, every antiques arcade had them, usually on a camera, and sometimes all in working condition. £15 with a case was often the going rate.

There’s a firm in Russia that seems to specialise in hoovering up, fettling and reselling all types of Helios, mostly around the $50 mark, but they also sell brand new 85mm f/1.5 lenses for $339. The latter may well be worth a punt if you’re into beautiful Bokeh and are used to manual focus, in M42, Nikon and Canon versions. The M42 version is available with adaptors for many mirrorless cameras.

Just to add to the comparison, here's the result from a Zeiss Pancolar 50mm, wide open (like both other lenses:



Now, if you want to get the cheapest possible wide-aperture lens, I’d suggest a Yongnuo, either new or secondhand, at under £50. They’re available in Nikon and Canon mounts, and they are cheap and cheerful: I’ve not had the chance to do a comparison with a Helios, but I wouldn’t’ be surprised if they are sharper and less prone to flare. They are definitely easier to use, with an automatic diaphragm and autofocus.

But if you hanker after the novelty of a proper metal-and-glass lens, scour the shelves of your local charity shops for Zenith and Helios kit. As a bonus, you’ll get characterful, slightly-swirly Bokeh. Adaptors for fitting to just about any camera are cheap and plentiful, and you can even get adaptor rings to achieve infinity focus on your DSLR, though this will involve taking your lens apart and a little light engineering. That’s not necessary with mirrorless cameras.