SimonOL

I think you need to ask yourself why you want to buy a Helios 44-2... Are you looking for and/or expect modern-style edge-to-edge sharpness and high resolution? Maybe look elsewhere ;-) If you want ...

The Helios 44 (58mm f2) is most commonly referred to. It has the ability to give you swirly bokeh in certain situations where the subject and background distances are just right. There are ...

Well done! This tactic applies to almost everything I've bought on ebay (no app for me either). Sometimes it's not possible because the item finishes at a time when I cannot be in front of a ...

I've had a few FDn lenses with this issue. I've found that in minor cases the problem isn't obvious by simply handling the lens but if you try to take photos you'll find that when you try to focus ...

They are available, at least for some lenses. I had a quote recently from a Canon FD specialist here in the UK to replace them in a nFD 300mm f4L (internal focusing and beyond my skill level to ...

I used to have a hardly used copy of the 20mm f2.8 and found it to be very good; quite capable at f2.8 (at least in the center) and very good across the frame when stopped down a little. My copy ...

In addition to that list, https://phillipreeve.net/blog/lenses/ can also be worth a look. Pentax Forums reviews are often an excellent resource with user reviews about a wide range of lenses. The ...

I thought that only applied to very early Canon rangefinder lenses prior to around 1950. After that, they changed to the same thread as Leica? I don't have any of those very early lenses but do use ...

Which is the better version? That's a good question and you'll have to excuse me not going back over whatever info I found about the lens before I bought it in 2013 ;-) I seem to remember ...

I had a very clean copy of the better of the two versions but sold it recently. It's a good lens - high contrast, very sharp in the centre wide open and decently sharp across the frame stopped ...

I agree - they make some really nice adapters. I tried a silver Tinray LM helicoid before buying the Yeenon and that worked really well for a while but then started seizing-up at full extension ...

Thank you :-) It's taken years to find a decent copy of this lens. Most seem to suffer from separation, haze, scratches or all of the above. This one isn't perfect but it's only real issue is minor ...

Unless you're particularly attached to the lens, it's probably not worth the bother. It can be quite an involved process to remove all the elements from a zoom lens. I've had some luck fixing ...

It's one of the least good lenses from the Olympus OM system IMO. Here's a review: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/59254227 It might work out for you depending on your priorities but I found ...

Most of my K&F adapters have been listed with the same info but they all fit fine on the A7ii. The mount of the A7ii and later cameras used a revised all-metal design with tighter tolerances so ...

I love how the old chrome rangefinder lenses look on smaller cameras like the old NEX-7 - they look a little out of proportion on the A7. 1956 Canon 50/1.5 on Yeenon helicoid adapter. Shot with ...

I'm not really seeing soft, I am seeing low contrast... although it's quite hard to tell with just these photos to go on; they're a bit small to make any kind of meaningful judgement. Maybe try ...

OK. There is also a non 'L' version which is often very cheap but I haven't used that one so can't comment about IQ. A quick search on ebay using terms like "Nikon 100-300mm", "Pentax 100-300mm" ...

Errr... Any prime lens will be constant aperture, although they're never known as such. Constant aperture is a term normally applied to zoom lenses where the aperture value remains constant over ...

I agree with you about the OM - not very good at all which explains why they're so cheap. The Minolta is in a different class. Surprisingly decent on the A7Rii with very little colour fringing and ...