Fuji XT2 + Helios 44m-4 -- initial thoughts

[eddy1123]

Hi guys,

Received my Helios 44m-4 yesterday and did some testing shots with my wife and daughter today. Just want to share my thoughts (I don't want to call it a review, as it has been just a day, and it is not thorough enough to call it a review) and hope this could help anyone with Fuji system that is thinking of getting this lens or try vintage lenses (most vintage lens review tend to come from SONY camera, so I thought to share my thoughts from a Fuji user's point of view).

Why did I get the Helios?



The reason is actually quite random. I used to have a Canon 20D that I used for more than a decade and finally pull the trigger to change it to Fuji. I had a vintage Contax CY 85 1.4 with me that was just sitting in the shelve. After I got the Fuji and some Fuji lenses, I was a happy camper as Fuji glasses are excellent. One day I saw my Contax I thought why not get an adaptor and play around with it, so I did. To be honest, I wasn't too impressed with the Contax on my Fuji (can see from my other thread), so I was doing some research if it was the lens or the sensor that is not adapting well. Then there goes... I started to look at more and more vintage lenses and got pretty hooked. At first I was looking at higher end vintage glasses with big names such as Leica, Zeiss etc. Then I came across videos on Youtube reviewing cheap but excellent vintage glasses such as Pentax and others. After some "analyzing" I came to a realization -- if I want a good optical quality I should just spend the money on good Fuji glasses, why pay 1k USD plus for a vintage. Don't get me wrong, some vintages are excellent even at today's standard but at the same price I can benefit more advanced technology from Fuji glasses which are highly regarded. So I started to focus on budget vintage lenses with good bang for the buck. There, I arrived at Helios, dirt cheap, with good potential. For anyone that is interested and new to vintage lenses, Helios 44 is probably the most mentioned lens on youtube if you are looking for a cheap yet good quality vintage lens.

My thoughts on the lens

In short, I love it! It has its unique character (ppl call it flaws in today's standard, but this is what I was looking for). Today's lenses are so advanced, tack sharp, super fast focus, excellent contrast, etc, but it actually loses the fun of taking photos. Especially with Fuji and its dials, and manual focus, I felt its the way photographs should be taken, I was having so much fun! Without further due, let me show you some pics that I took today. Photos are mainly taken in F2 and F2.8. As you can see crazy flare (I did that on purpose to shoot into the sun), and I somehow love the low contrast and swirl bokeh (some do have it but mostly don't) which you don't get in modern lenses. Note, these were take in JPG without any editing, straight out of camera (with film simulation pro neg or classic chrome)

Shot into the sun, see this flare...



Good contrasty photo when shot in normal condition



This is to show swirl bokeh... some people may say not really, but I think there is a little bit



Overall, I am very pleased with the result. Very interesting look, and let me say this lens is not less sharp and maybe a bit sharper than my contax 85 1.4 at F2. If you are thinking of going into vintage lenses, do it and it can be pretty cheap (I paid 60USD for mine at good condition, some ppl say you can get it at 5 bucks in the US). I would recommend to go for these cheap but yet excellent vintages. For serious work there are always awesome fuji lenses but for fun, these are more fun than native lenses.

As bonus, if you don't like low contrast and flare, just click one button that is all I did, that is called auto level in your Lightroom or captureone. Same photo and here is the result.





Happy shooting everyone!

 

[cantanima bis]

Hi guys,

Received my Helios 44m-4 yesterday and did some testing shots with my wife and daughter today. Just want to share my thoughts...

I somehow love the low contrast and swirl bokeh (some do have it but mostly don't) which you don't get in modern lenses. Note, these were take in JPG without any editing, straight out of camera (with film simulation pro neg or classic chrome)

Shot into the sun, see this flare...



...As bonus, if you don't like low contrast and flare, just click one button that is all I did, that is called auto level in your Lightroom or captureone. Same photo and here is the result.

Thanks for posting.

I had recently bought a Helios-44M for my X-Pro 1 and I love the output for the most part. I did however notice what seems to be very low contrast; I've rarely used Velvia in the past but I've found that it's very helpful here, as even Provia seems too low-contrast and unsaturated.

Do I understand correctly from these excerpts from your post that that is one of the points of this lens? (not just the swirly bokeh) Somehow I'd missed it in all the sites I'd read about this lens. I don't consider it a negative -- there are times when I'd really like less contrast! -- but I have had to rethink how to use RawTherapee.

Here's one of mine. I was shocked that I caught a carpenter bee with manual focus; it's been harder to do that with the XF 18-55.


This is after pumping things up with Velvia. Still seems a bit low-contrast (and underexposed) to me but I'm a bit new at this.

 

[eddy1123]

Hi guys,

Received my Helios 44m-4 yesterday and did some testing shots with my wife and daughter today. Just want to share my thoughts...

I somehow love the low contrast and swirl bokeh (some do have it but mostly don't) which you don't get in modern lenses. Note, these were take in JPG without any editing, straight out of camera (with film simulation pro neg or classic chrome)

Shot into the sun, see this flare...



...As bonus, if you don't like low contrast and flare, just click one button that is all I did, that is called auto level in your Lightroom or captureone. Same photo and here is the result.

Thanks for posting.

I had recently bought a Helios-44M for my X-Pro 1 and I love the output for the most part. I did however notice what seems to be very low contrast; I've rarely used Velvia in the past but I've found that it's very helpful here, as even Provia seems too low-contrast and unsaturated.

Do I understand correctly from these excerpts from your post that that is one of the points of this lens? (not just the swirly bokeh) Somehow I'd missed it in all the sites I'd read about this lens. I don't consider it a negative -- there are times when I'd really like less contrast! -- but I have had to rethink how to use RawTherapee.

Here's one of mine. I was shocked that I caught a carpenter bee with manual focus; it's been harder to do that with the XF 18-55.


This is after pumping things up with Velvia. Still seems a bit low-contrast (and underexposed) to me but I'm a bit new at this.

Hello. Flare and low contrast tend to be the “flaws” for many vintage lenses at wide open, and it depends on how you see it, some ppl like it and call it vintage character and some people don’t. I personally like it for certain situation, say for portraits, it gives you low contrast with this dreamy look. For me the fun of vintage lens is not to expect perfect photos which modern lenses are much better at, but it’s the unpredictability of the result that makes it fun. That’s why I still shoot film sometimes and you get excited when see the result. If you see my second photo, when at good light, contrast is brilliant for a lens at this price

Modern lenses are so perfect to a point that I can’t tell the difference between Fuji Sony and canon etc, sometimes I feel it’s a bit boring.

 

[WhateverNickname]

It really depends which version you have of Helios. I have a 44m-2 and it is anything but low contrast and used with a focal reducer on a Fuji is even more fun.