There are a number of different versions, much discussed on this forum in older posts.
A beaten up POS of an optically good lens will go places that one you're afraid of getting wet/dirty/stolen will. They're also less intimidating to have pointed at you. Arguably, lenses with good cosmetics will take fewer good photos than ones without :-D
Ha haDamn your logic!
Beat me to that point
I'm trying to think where they could have sourced a 16-blade aperture from - not that many lenses have that number although older Zeiss Jena Biotars (on which the Helios 44 is based) had 17 blades.
Ha haDamn your logic!
The nice thing about having a tatty lens that makes good pictures is that you can take it anywhere and you don't have to worry about it.
Having said that, it's nice to have a lens that works well mechanically even if the appearance is less than perfect.
Beyond about 8 blades they number of blades is hard to count just looking through the lens. I would not discount that a 16-blader exists but the information on the web suggests that 13-bladers were the original number which were (presumably) updated to 8-blades in later made versions.
For those wondering, Retro Photo House posted a video on Youtube (from 18 Nov. 2016) of this very lens, though no mention if it is an original prototype, but mentions a modification he made to prevent mirrors on SLRs hitting the back. He posts a lot of great videos on restoring and maintaining old Russian lenses, such as how to disassemble, clean lenses and relube helicoid.
