Helios 44-2

When I bought my Fujifilm X-E2 I wanted to try shooting a wider lens as my standard. On my old Canon I shot a 50mm, which gave about an 85mm field of view after factoring in the 1.6 crop of that sensor. After that I almost exclusively shot a 50mm on my Olympus OM-2n. That 50mm seems to be my strongest, probably because I've shot it for years. So, like I was saying, I wanted to try shooting a wider lens. I ended up with the 18mm f/2, which is a nice lens that I'm getting used to using more and more every day. I'm finding though, that I miss that ~50mm focal length and the BOKEH that comes with a bit longer lens. I'd thought about buying the Fujinon 35/1.4, which would give me ~50mm with the crop factor, but I never saw a good enough sale and I wasn't that desperate since I had an adapter for my Zuiko 50/1.8. After shooting this for a little while though I decided I needed a dedicated lens for my Fuji (didn't want to take the Zuiko away from my Olympus!).

Enter, a classic Helios 44-2. This is sort of an infamous lens I guess, because of it's unique bokeh features; a swirly bokeh effect that I absolutely LOVE. I knew buying the lens that the swirl might not be prominent with the 1.5 crop of the X-E2, but I wanted to give it a shot. After shooting around the night I got it, I decided I needed a "speed booster" to get the fuller frame, closer to 58mm view. For my birthday, I got a Zhongyi Mitakon Turbo II. This little adapter not only adapts the M42 mount lens to my camera, it also reduces the crop factor to be closer to a true 58mm, as if it were on a full frame camera. The results are just awesome.

I bought the lens on eBay and the Ukrainian seller was kind enough to thrown in some authentic Ukrainian chocolate with the lens, which I thought was a nice personal touch! Here are some selections from my first few times out with this lens. Some are using the Mitakon adapter and some aren't. Since getting the adapter though, the lens has been paired with it 100% of the time, though I figure keeping the standard adapter with me will give me the option to turn this lens into more of an 85mm.