So my recent episode of GAS has been all about vintage Soviet lenses. I now own five - all of which are in near mint condition and were amazingly cheap. The fascination began with me seeing posts of pics taken with the Helios 44-2 lens. It’s a 58mm f/2.0 manual focus job that was made famous in the west by Aussie cinematographer, Greig Fraser- he used it in The Batman in the car chase sequence. The lens has optical imperfections which, under certain situations, produce ‘swirly bokeh’ in the background behind the subject. The 44-2 has probably the most exaggerated form of this effect, but there were many different versions made of this lens. I own the 44-M which has less swirliness, but is possibly sharper in the center. The funnest thing about these lenses is the video they produce. I just use the ‘Natural’ preset on my Lumix S1, shoot in 4k/50p and get instantly ‘cinematic’ results. I love it. The gallery below contains images from the Bui Vien backpacker area and Binh Thanh district in Saigon, as well as a few from the night market in DaLat.
Here’s a couple of video links to show the wonderful imperfections of this lens, especially its insane flaring.
Landmark 81 tower, HCMC, VN
