Helios 44-2 MKII 58mm f/2
At the Cine Gear 2022 Imaging Equipment Exhibition, IronGlass, which is famous for its magically modified lenses, brought a modified and upgraded version of Helios 44-2 MKII. This is a lens that was magically modified from an old lens from the Soviet era. The whole body is made of metal and adopts an internal focusing design. The damping of the zoom ring and focus ring is pretty good. However, it natively supports the M4/2 mount and can also be used with cameras of different specifications through adapters. Currently, including Canon EF and ARRI PL mounts, all can be replaced. Overall it is also relatively compact and lightweight.
Helios 44-2 MKII 58mm f/2
It is worth noting that although this is a 58mm f/2 full-frame large aperture lens. But it also adds an infinite aperture ring and an infinite focus ring, which is very friendly for video shooting. The purple edge dispersion is still very obvious at full aperture. It improves after closing the aperture by 2 stops, and the picture details are much richer. It will show the picture texture of old film. Bokeh is a swirling atmosphere, which is very special. The best image quality is within the aperture range of F/5.6~F/9. The edge and center image quality are closer, but the overall image quality is not overly sharp. Although distortion and vignetting suppression cannot be completely avoided, they have little impact on the image quality. When shooting against the light, you can use glare and slight vignetting to create a unique layering. Although the overall image quality is soft, the soft film atmosphere is also unique.
Helios 44-2 MKII 58mm f/2
Moreover, this lens also supports deeply customized appearance, with matte and five-sided white options, including lenses, etc. of course. Just to modify one lens, the price of 1900 US dollars is indeed cheap. If you assemble the lens yourself, it will cost around US$950. It is worth a try for photographers who like retro-style images and have strong hands-on skills.
