Helios 58mm f2 problems

Hi,

I have just received the above via ebay. It was sold as 'blades sticking' but on closer examination, the blades do not stick, however they adjust themselves as there is some slack in the barrel so that when you turn the focus ring either way, the aperture changes by about one stop.

I took the back plate off and discovered that there is a brass link that connects the inside and outside rotating parts [excuse my lack of proper ternminology here]. It locates on the inside with a tab, and on the outside two holes locate over two pegs. Here is the slackness. I didn't go any deeper before asking here...has anyone had this problem? is it repairable? any advise?




Suspect part is circled [badly] in red!

I can use it wide open, and quite successfully at various apertures, but you never know quite where you are.

Thanks

Andy

Hi Andy

Most problems with the 58mm Helios are down to the wax (used as a lubricant rather than grease) getting hard. The focus ring bears on the lens body "behind" the helix, and getting that clean requires an almost total strip down. You can get at the helix easily enough, but then it needs a lot of care and patience.
You say that the focus ring alters the aperture - does it happen the other way round? Does the manual/auto setting make a difference?

But the big question is how do you like the results?
If they are good (and a good Helios is really good) do you want to take it right apart, clean and re-lube, if it means getting something wrong in reassembly? If they are nothing special, what have you got to lose?
And you reminded me - where have I put mine?
Geoff

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for the reply!

The focus ring does alter the aperture, as does twisting the front of the lens! The aperture ring does not alter the focus, no. This has no manual/auto switch, and is a 44/4 with the focus and aperture rings in the conventional place, which I think makes it a later one?

As I bought it for it's wide open effects, and it cost me £6 posted, I will leave it for now and see how I get on.

I took these earlier...the second one is a 100% crop, both wide open..







as they came out of the camera

Andy

Yes, a later one for sure.
What you have is probably an Helios 44M-4, rather than a 44-2, but you really need an expert to tell you.
I just love the squirrel!
Geoff

Thanks Geoff!

They have more peanuts than the birds.

Andy

I think (not 100% sure) that the brass tab you've found is to stop the moving part of the lens from rotating when you turn the focus ring (assuming this lens design keeps the front element the same way up rather than rotating it?)

If that was worn or loose then I can see that the moving part could rotate slightly and therefore alter the aperture setting unexpectedly. Can you hold it steady with a fine screwdriver while turning the focus control (may need to enlist a helper for the extra hand) and see if the problem is still there? You may need to do some very careful gluing of the loose part to the pegs in order to sort it out.

If you get a good Helios 58mm it does have superb bokeh. Unfortunately they do vary and sometimes the build quality looks like they were made in a 1st year metalwork class

I think you would be better to buy another identical lens and build one good one out of the two. Focusing can be very stiff due to the wax.

Some Sample Shots