Helios 85mm f1.5 in Canon EOS mount

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 25, 2014

I just received one of these bad boys today from a dealer in Hong Kong. Has anyone else here shot with one? I'm noticing some odd quirks to it right off the bat - for starters, the aperture markings on the barrel are ass-backwards - when the lens is wide open, it shows as f22. Can this be easily remedied, or does it mean a trip to SK Grimes and $$$? Second, it's a heavy little mo-fo. I'm assuming the entire barrel is solid brass. Also, it is stop-down metering, no auto-aperture which is annoying but can be dealt with. Does anyone know if those third-party lens chips like the ones they make for Contax lenses to adapt them to Canon EOS will work on this lens, and if so, can they be easily added or is that another SKGrimes/$$$ operation?

thundertwin72 · Jan 25, 2014

I have to tell you that I do not own this lens. The closest thing I have is the Helios 44-2.

Its lens has a diaphragm type "pre-set". Using the front ring to select the aperture and use the intermediate ring to stop down to the selected aperture. The fact that when you select the maximum aperture (or any other), the diaphragm is open, I think it's normal.

Add a focus confirmation chip to lens adapter has no special difficulty. The only thing I would recommend is that you used a epoxy glue.

This eBay seller offers a chip accompanied with a template for assist with the installation.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EMF-AF-Conf...ens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item1c1540c54c

Regards & sorry for the transation: I don't speak english.

erikg · Jan 25, 2014

I had one. Very heavy. I found it too awkward to use and I found other fast lenses that interested me more. Yes, it is a pre-set lens. As long as the aperture is really closing when you turn the ring on the lens you should be fine, no repair needed.

j-dogg · Jan 25, 2014

depending on which EOS camera you are using, split-image focus screens from other cameras may fit

I'm using a Nikon FE screen in my 5D Mark I d*****l, accurate @ 1.4 tested with a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 pre-AI

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 25, 2014

erikg said:
I had one. Very heavy. I found it too awkward to use and I found other fast lenses that interested me more. Yes, it is a pre-set lens. As long as the aperture is really closing when you turn the ring on the lens you should be fine, no repair needed.

It's not a question of if the aperture is closing or not (it is) but the fact that what is the physically set f1.5 is marked as f22 on the barrel, and vice versa. Not too terrible when you want either minimum or maximum aperture, but what about when you want to set f8? That's why I'm thinking it would need to go off to SKGrimes to have a new aperture scale engraved. Either that or reverse the aperture mechanism so turning it to f1.5 on the barrel actually opens the lens to f1.5.

erikg · Jan 25, 2014

I see. That is strange, you could have it repaired, or just make your own scale. Which version of the lens is it? Does it have click stops? You can just count, the sequence is known. Your lens must have been worked on. If you're shooting aperture priority it doesn't make much practical difference, you could just use it as is.

brucemuir · Jan 25, 2014

Must of been a double ration Vodka day at Arsenal :w00t:

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 25, 2014

NEVERMIND!!! I figured it out… I was just turning the preset ring not the actual aperture ring. I've never used a lens with a preset aperture before - I'm used to large format lens weirdness, not 35mm lens weirdness, so the quirky way of doing things didn't make mechanical sense to me. And it didn't help any that the aperture ring is stiff as bloody blue blazes.

erikg · Jan 26, 2014

Excellent. Enjoy the lens, you'll get forearms like Popeye with this beast.

Fixcinater · Jan 26, 2014

TheFlyingCamera said:
Does anyone know if those third-party lens chips like the ones they make for Contax lenses to adapt them to Canon EOS will work on this lens, and if so, can they be easily added or is that another SKGrimes/$$$ operation?

Do you have one of the new production versions of the lens or a vintage example? If yours is an old one in assumably M42 mount, you can just glue on one of the focus confirmation chips to the EOS mount. I would not recommend it after experimenting with the cheap ones a bit myself and all of the horror stories of frying AF modules. Get a precision matte focus screen and you'll be better off than relying on the AF light for accuracy.

erikg · Jan 26, 2014

My experience with the AF assist chips is that they don't help very much. I agree, get the right screen, far more useful.

StoneNYC · Jan 26, 2014

May we see a picture of it?

resummerfield · Jan 26, 2014

TheFlyingCamera said:
NEVERMIND!!! I figured it out I was just turning the preset ring not the actual aperture ring. I've never used a lens with a preset aperture before - I'm used to large format lens weirdness, not 35mm lens weirdness, so the quirky way of doing things didn't make mechanical sense to me. And it didn't help any that the aperture ring is stiff as bloody blue blazes.

I have one of the latest batches in the Nikon F mount, and I understand your confusion. Ive used preset lenses before, but the way the aperture rings on the Helios are set, it seems backwards to me, toothe aperture closing ring turns toward the widest aperture when the blades close to the smallest aperture.

As far as stiffness in the actual aperture selection ring, check to be sure you dont have the aperture closing ring just a slight bit engaged. My aperture selection ring is firm, but not tight.

I dont mind the pre-set business, because I shoot mine wide open or maybe closed to f2.0, so I leave the aperture closing ring alone.

Overall, a heavy lens, but nice for certain portraits I find keeping the subject about 1 to 2 meters away, with the background about 2 meters or so behind the subject gives the most pleasing appearance. At least, thats why I bought this specialty lens. Good luck!

Dr Croubie · Jan 26, 2014

I haven't got the Helios, but I've got the Cyclop 85/1.5, same glass in a smaller barrel. No aperture, stuck wide open, and the focus spins too freely from infinity to MFD if you breathe on it.
Still, when you get it right, it's sweet:

Shot this of one of my best mates getting married, PanF50 on EOS 3, just a stock EC-Civ screen (the matte screen that's standard on the later 1D-series, brighter than the EOS 3 stock screen).
This is only a neg scan which doesn't do it justice (scan is a bit soft), but I did a wet enlargement 8x10 for a present for them, it looked great.
You're going to love the Helios, just leave it wide open and shoot people with the slowest film you can find.

With regards to AF confirm chips, they're great on digital because it embeds the data in EXIF so you can tell what you shot with later (not that you could mistake the look of the Helios/Cyclop).
I've found the actual 'AF Confirm' part isn't the best, especially for wide-apertures like this one. Still, you can't do better than the chips I use, from ml-gvalt on fleabay.

AgX · Jan 27, 2014

TheFlyingCamera said:
I'm noticing some odd quirks to it right off the bat - for starters, the aperture markings on the barrel are ass-backwards - when the lens is wide open, it shows as f22. Can this be easily remedied, or does it mean a trip to SK Grimes and $$$?

TheFlyingCamera said:
It's not a question of if the aperture is closing or not (it is) but the fact that what is the physically set f1.5 is marked as f22 on the barrel, and vice versa. Not too terrible when you want either minimum or maximum aperture, but what about when you want to set f8? That's why I'm thinking it would need to go off to SKGrimes to have a new aperture scale engraved. Either that or reverse the aperture mechanism so turning it to f1.5 on the barrel actually opens the lens to f1.5.

You are misunderstanding the use of this lens.

-) The aperture ring that opens and closes the aperture is NOT intended to be adjusted alongside that aperture scale.

-) It is only intended to be set either at full (left hand side) or maximum stopped down (right hand side)

-) With the aperture ring set at full open (left hand side) you adjust the preset scale (figure-marked scale) to the dot marking at the aperture ring. Or even better, to the static focus mark. Then turning the aperture ring right hand side to the stop will give you your preset aperture.

Do you really think KMZ errouneously delivered lenses that work diametrical to what the markings say??

What seems clumsy when adjusting the aperture for immediate exposure (moving two rings), pays off though when using the finder between exposures: by turning the aperture ring between max. and preset stand.

The issue I got with the Helios-44-2 that works this way, is that when turning the preset ring one easily accidentially turns the aperture ring, and thus the important dot, too.
So, after adjusting one better checks if the aperture ring still is at maximum!
Alternatively one could adjust using the static focus mark, or apply a mark on the static filter ring.

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 27, 2014

AgX said:
You are misunderstanding the use of this lens.

-) The aperture ring that opens and closes the aperture is NOT intended to be adjusted alongside that aperture scale.

-) It is only intended to be set either at full (left hand side) or maximum stopped down (right hand side)

-) With the aperture ring set at full open (left hand side) you adjust the preset scale (figure-marked scale) to the dot marking at the aperture ring. Or even better, to the static focus mark. Then turning the aperture ring right hand side to the stop will give you your preset aperture.

Do you really think KMZ errouneously delivered lenses that work diametrical to what the markings say??

What seems clumsy when adjusting the aperture for immediate exposure (moving two rings), pays off though when using the finder between exposures: by turning the aperture ring between max. and preset stand.

The issue I got with the Helios-44-2 that works this way, is that when turning the preset ring one easily accidentially turns the aperture ring, and thus the important dot, too.
So, after adjusting one better checks if the aperture ring still is at maximum!
Alternatively one could adjust using the static focus mark, or apply a mark on the static filter ring.

You didn't read my later post where I said I figured out what was going on with the lens, and that I didn't initially understand how the pre-set aperture mechanism worked, in part because the aperture setting dot was so small and so dark it blended in with the black of the barrel and I didn't know it was there, combined with the aperture ring being stiff to set.

Helios 85mm f1.5 in Canon EOS mount

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Helios 85mm f1.5 in Canon EOS mount

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