Infinity Focus with Helios 44-2 - Possible?

S

Self-Eating Pie

New member
Hi Everybody,

I've just picked up a Helios 44-2 plus a Fotodiox M42 adapter on ebay. I love the shots the Helios takes - the only problem is the maximum focus distance is about 10 feet.

I know there are a lot of people using these lenses out there in the DSLR-verse, so I'm just wondering if anyone else is having the same issue?

Are there any adapters that will work? I've tried searching but I can't seem to find an answer on the net.

Thanks for any and all help.

I posted this on the T2i forum as well, but there seems to be a lot of people using vintage lenses with DSLR's here so I thought I'd try my luck.

Thanks again.
 
im using that lens with a super cheap adapter i got on ebay and infinity focus is perfectly fine. Are you sure your lens is screwed down tight?
 
Yeah the lens is screwed in tight and everything fits fine, but no dice. I have just ordered a cheapy adapter from ebay which doesn't have the aperture flange bit at the back that the fotodiox one has, so hopefully that works. I thought that infinity focus with this lens/camera combination was possible, so thanks for confirming it. Hopefully a different adapter will do the trick.
 
It may not be the adapter. I had a Soviet MIR lens with the same problem. After some research I learned that focus on the lens can be adjusted (on the MIR this involved pulling off the rubber focus grip, untightening 3 screws, then adjusting focus so that the lens would focus to infinity - all done easily and quickly). I don't know if this will work with the Helios, googling the topic should help.
 
I bought a leitz elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 for $400 on ebay (it's the second version, which usually runs for $600 to $800)

I mounted it on my 550D with a fotodiox adapter, and found it couldn't focus to infinity; it wasn't mentioned in the ad; damn!!

it turns out it wasn't assembled correctly; I opened it for cleaning and iris ring declicking, found that I could reassemble it so the glass block would be closer to the camera, and problem solved :)
(edit: it's not perfect by any means, though: now it can focus past infinity, and the focus marks are off; but I'm pretty happy with it)


similar thing happened with my leitz elmarit-R 90mm f/2.8: it arrived with a big ding on the focus ring (again, not mentioned or visible in the ad), so big that the ring was stuck; opened, fixed (and now that I was at it, declicked and cleaned), and there you go: awesome lens for half its usual price


what I never understood is how I could get both these lenses at a relatively low price: how did the other buyers know these were damaged lenses? (both sellers had great feedback)
 
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sounds like the an issue with the lens. im using a fotodiox m42 to eos adapter to use a helios 44m-6 on my t2i and i have no problems with infinity focus.
 
Bugger. I was hoping the adapter was to blame. I might end up buying another 44-2 off ebay if it ends up being the lens at fault. It's a shame, cause the stuff that's in focus is great!

Thanks for the responses everyone.
 
Fotodiox <-> chinese adapters... same thing. DISTANCE is seldom the problem on aps-c, rather you should just begin with google, "[lensname] infinity" and you will most likely find your answer... Or, in the case of distance you should be able to find a big solid metal chunk adapter to try aswell (this is usually the case with m43, btw).
 
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