{"id":39997,"date":"2023-05-24T20:12:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T19:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=39997"},"modified":"2026-01-14T08:29:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:29:54","slug":"review-helios-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-helios-44\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: KMZ Helios-44 58mm 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/span><\/h2>\n

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The Helios 44 is basically a copy of the Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar<\/strong> 58mm f\/2,<\/span> optically that is. At the beginning it was even called “\u0411\u0422\u041a” – “\u0411\u0438\u043e\u0422\u0430\u0440 \u041a\u0440\u0430\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439” (BioTar<\/strong> Krasnogorski).\u00a0 At the end of Wold War II the Russians took the Zeiss’ designs and materials back to Russia and copied them. The Soviet Union manufactured millions of this lens in different variants and it shipped as standard lens on many Soviet (Zenit) cameras.\u00a0 KMZ (the same factory that made the Zenit cameras) started manufacturing this lens from 1945. The Helios 44 lenses have built a cult around themselves in modern days and have been very popular for portrait photography and videography, it is the number one vintage lens used for making videos on modern cameras. It is very popular for its image character, its clickless aperture, balanced center sharpness and not least its swirly bokeh. Let’s have a look!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sample Images<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58\/2 | f\/2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58\/2 | f\/2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58\/2 | f\/2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58mm f\/2 | f\/2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58mm f\/2 | f\/2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58mm f\/2 | f\/11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58mm f\/2 | f\/5.6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58mm f\/2 | f\/2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Specifications<\/span><\/h2>\n

Focal Length: 58mm<\/span>
\n<\/span>Aperture Range: 2 – 16<\/span>
\n<\/span>Number of Aperture Blades: 13<\/span>
\n<\/span>Min Focus: 0.5m<\/span>
\n<\/span>Filter Size: 49mm<\/span>
\n<\/span>Lens Mount: M39<\/span> (Zenit SLR, not rangefinder)
\n<\/span>Weight: 222g<\/span>
\n<\/span>Length: 48mm<\/span>
\n<\/span>Elements\/Groups: 6\/4<\/span><\/p>\n

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Variations<\/span><\/h2>\n

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As far as I know there are two versions of the early silver metal body; an original very early version with a bayonet mount and 40.5mm filter size and this one, which has an M39 screw mount with 49mm filter size. This second version exists in three variants; the first variant had 13 aperture blades in the range of f\/2-f\/22, second version (the one in this review) has also 13 aperture blades\u00a0 but with the range of f\/2-f\/16 and the last variant has only 8 aperture blades f\/2-f\/16.<\/p>\n

Later versions are all black and have the namings 44-2 (the most spread version), 44-3, 44M, 44M-4, 44M-5, 44M-6 and the final 44M-7. The 44-2 version itself has been produced in different variants and at different factories (KMZ, BeLOMO and Valdai)\u00a0 in the Soviet Union. Only the two early Helios 44s have 13 aperture blades, the later ones have either 8 or 6 blades.<\/p>\n

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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58mm f\/2 | f\/2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Handling<\/span><\/h2>\n

Silver all metal body,<\/span> a completely manual lens with no electrical contact to the camera. The focus ring turns a massive 300 degrees and it runs extremely smooth being very well damped, it\u2019s a pleasure to use. <\/span>The Helios has an aperture preset mechanism at the front with two rings; o<\/span>ne with not equidistant aperture markings on it, which clicks rather stiffly between each f-stop to set “the smallest aperture you want to work with” (it is the ring at the top in the picture above). <\/span>The lower aperture ring is clickless that turns extremely smooth and can set the aperture from wide open to the value you have set on the top ring. (Example: say you set the top ring to f\/5.6, with the lower ring you set\/change the aperture without any clicks from f\/2 down to as far as f\/5.6 but not beyond it). This is a nice feature for video makers as it means they can precisely control the light levels as they shoot and change the aperture without any shaking during the filming and without “jumps” in the scene light level when going from one aperture setting to another.<\/span><\/p>\n

The early Helioses (like the one in this review) have 13 aperture blades (that\u2019s 5 more than the later 44-2) and also have an M39 mount rather than M42. You need an adapter ring (M39 -> M42) to use it with M42 adapters.
\nNote: This is the Zenit M39 SLR mount not to be mistaken with the Leica M39\/LTM mount.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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Helios 44 + “M39->M42” Adapter Ring + “M42-Nikon Z” Aadapter + Nikon Z6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 58mm f\/2 | f\/2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Optical Features<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sharpness (Infinity)<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Helios 44 58\/2 | Nikon Z6 | f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Infinity sharpness is really bad wide open everywhere in the frame<\/span>. The center area becomes just almost OK at f\/4. At f\/5.6 it is good and very good at f\/8 and f\/11. Mid-frame sharpness becomes good at f\/8 and smaller. At f\/16 the image becomes a little softer everywhere due to diffraction. It is not normal that the sharpness is so bad at f\/2 and f\/2.8, not even for a vintage lens from the Soviet Union. By controlling the whole image you can see that the sharpness is much better at wider f\/stops at closer distances (about 20-30m) when the focusing ring is set at infinity.<\/p>\n

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Nikon Z6 | Helios 44 | f\/2.8 | focus at infinity (Left: 50-60m away, Right: About 20-30m away)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It shows that the lens cannot focus at infinity. The lens block does simply not recess enough to be able to set the focus at very long distances. It seems that the focus is at about 25m to 30m. At f\/5.6 or smaller the problem is not noticeable anymore as the depth of field has increased so much that everything is within the depth of field from 13m to almost infinity (or around 500m) if the focus is set to 25m. This is a common problem with Helios 44 lenses on many modern cameras. (the reason is that M39 camera flange distance is 45.2 mm, while an M42 camera flange distance is 45.46mm, when using an M42 lens adapter on modern cameras, there is a difference of 0.26mm, the lens is 0.26mm too far from the sensor when it is set to infinity and therefore not in correct focus position). It is possible to modify the lens by a (relatively simple) surgical procedure to remedy the issue. I may do it, I’ll let you know here if I do it.<\/p>\n

Sharpness (Portrait)<\/span><\/h3>\n

For portrait sharpness let’s look at the frame center, inner periphery and outer periphery of the center. Normally for a standard <\/span>lens it is not that interesting to look at portrait sharpness at apertures smaller than 2.8 or 4 but for a lens with 13 aperture blades f\/5.6 and even f\/8 are also of interest.<\/p>\n