Russian 50mm prime lens

Good post on Cinema5d.

"Lots of great primes to try, many work with a tight budget.
I shoot mostly alternate glass, and still do even with the new firmware. I've sold all of my canon lenses but two, because the alt glass is superior for video and stills.
This is my first post here on Cinema5D, so i'll share some juicy secrets:
Here's my short list:Pentax SMC 20mm f4 Great lens, incredibly small. Good luck finding one, but if you do ! $300Olympus OM Zuiko 28mm f3.5 Not super fast, but super small and incredibly sharp. Sharper than the Canon and better tonal range $50-$80Carl Zeiss 28mm f2.8 distagon A legendary 28mm, but i prefer my zuiko 28mm $300Carl Zeiss Jena Flektagon 35mm f2.4 Insanely sharp, incredible lack of distortion, fantastic close focusing. Absolutely killer. $100-200Pentax Super-Takumar 50mm f1.4 Some versions have thorium radioactive glass (not harmful) and it's an incredibly dreamy lens. One of my favorites, ever. $40 !Pentax SMC 50mm f1.4 Many say it's better than the legendary Zeiss and i agree. Amazing contrast, punch. Far better than the canon 50mm f1.4, and only $100-$150 You need to modify the lens a little to not hit the mirror. Easy 5 mins.Contax Carl Zeiss 35-70mm f3.4 As good or better than every Canon L prime within it's range. Better than the primes ! Killer macro mode too. Must have lens. $350Minolta Rokkor 58mm f1.2 The legend. You need to hack the back or get a custom mount, but woah, f1.4 and SHARP WIDE OPEN. Arguably better than the $4500 Noct-Nikkor. I got mine for $250, but i hear the price is running up these daysLeica R 90mm f2 Summicron This thing is like two lenses in one. Wide open it's sharp but beautifully dreamy and 3D - great for headshots (a bit like the Pentax Super-Takumar 50mm f1.4 radioactive). Stopped down it's razor sharp. Leica lenses have this wonderful way they 'draw' and the results have this '3d' look to them. Some clients have specifically asked for the '3d' lens. $300 There's an APO corrected version which is blazing sharp wide open, much more expensive, and not as good for portraits.
So no.. You don't have to shoot Nikon. There's a lot better alternate lenses than Nikon, and they're cheap. All of these lenses work on your 5D with the right adapter, available on ebay for $20-$45 each. Many have focus confirm chips so they 'beep' when in focus.
Build an entire rig for half the price (or less) of a Canon L lens.
The killer price / performance setup:Olympus OM Zuiko 28mm f3.5 $50-$80 It's not just good for the price, it's good for ANY price. This lens is sickPentax SMC 50mm f1.4 $100-$150 Fast, razor sharp, near as good as a 50mm gets. Period.Canon 85mm f1.8 $300-$400 Yep, not an alternate... This thing should be called an L lens. They're incredible, cheap, fast and way-overlooked.
World-class quality with a wide, standard and semi telephoto for only $500-$600ish wow
I've got around 23 alt lenses, done numerous shootouts, obsessed over reviews and tech specs. You can get really great stuff cheap, if you don't mind manual focus (great) and manual aperture (great)
Good luck. There's a whole world of amazing (and dirt cheap) lenses which work on the dreamy 5D"
 
Zykkor sells some good solid ones, check them out on ebay, they are cheap and no lens or mount wiggle.
 
The other ones are harder to find and more expensive

When you are looking at ebay, make sure to check shipping time.
 
Question:

Whats the best formula to get the awesome bokeh you can get with this lens(the paintbrush effect). I have been able to get some nice shots with it. But sometimes i want that effect and cant quite get it. Im finding it is usually with a really scattered background?

Help and tips to shoot with this lens please, thank you.
 
Amen to that. I am so tired of facepslming people for wasting money on Canon's budget primes when they could have a lens that rivals or surpasses L glass for under $500.
 
Exactly. And search Ebay. only place you can get them really. Since they all come from ukraine and such.

You can find some rough condition ones for like 20 bucks. I got mine for 37 in perfect condition.
 
The ideal would be a well lit background that have some kind of contrast/color change in it not too far away, for maximum swirl use F2(remember the sharpest part is always in the middle of the frame on this lens)

Swirl

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For just crazy bokeh you can try to aim it at some kind of light and you can get interesting results.

Christmas star

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Macro shots also brings forth the bokeh (Duh!) you can get different results from having objects in the background close or far away from the camera.

Sunset macro

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I wasn't impressed with the Canon. The optics were pretty nice, but the housing sucked. For $120 you can get a Pentax SMC 50mm 1.4 which rivals Zeiss primes in terms of contrast, sharpness, speed, housing, and throw (imo).

But between the two, I'd pick the Helios over the Canon any day.
 
^^^thanks for the pictures and help.

Any more advice and Pictures would be awesome, would love to see what you guys are doing with this lens. Im going out shooting with it right now, so i will see how it does.
 
The 44-2 was based of the same optical formula as the Carl Zeiss Biotar lens. I believe they are all the biotar copy, so maybe the ebay seller is just adding it to get his ad recognized more. I could be wrong but i believe that is what is going on.
 
Not just durability wise, but Canon lenses tend to have bunk markings. Also, the throw on them doesn't even come close to the near 270º range on my Pentax. It's buttery smooth, rock solid, tack sharp, and fast. I couldn't ask for a better 50mm, especially for $120.

alas, I do no know anything about biotar copies.
 
tried a 44-2 on my 1d2, only to hear my shutter slap against the lens :/ not russian primes for me
 
its your mirror not your shutter. google around. i know you can only put pentax lenses on a full frame canon if you pull off a little pin thats normally used to communicate with pentax bodies. might be the same with these.
 
anybody tried a 44-2 on a nikon body, i have one and it doesnt focus to infinity, i have an adapter that focuses to infinity on a 7d but on my nikon DX body it doesnt focus past about 5-8 feet

 
On nikon bodys you need to have an adapter with a focus lens in it to be able to focus to infinity.
 
You'll love it. Why use a filter? It's a sharp ass lens and it's cheap as tits. IF you scratch the shit out of it (of course you'll be careful without a filter) you can just buy another for 40 bucks and sell yours for 20 on craigslist lol. Might as well not take away from the impeccable image quality.

BTW USSR quality control is hilarious. When mine arrived the aperture ring was locked and it took some wiggling to free it; only to find out they put the aperture system in backwards LOL. So when my lens is at f16 on the lens body it's at f2.0 aperture and visa versa or how ever the fuck you'd say that.
I purchased mine new.
 
Which ones? The have different apertures, the 50mm anyway.

Takumar makes really nice lenses, the SMC Takumar f/1.4 being the most appraised one: and for a reason!

The other 50mm's I don't know much about; I've never really heard anything about them, because the f/1.4 is so popular!

The 135mm is also a nice lens, I'm in the process of picking one up now, really want to try it. They come in f/2.5 and f/3.5. Getting the f/3.5 personally. Plenty fast enough for me and I'm not much of a bokeh whore. Super multi-coated in pristine state for not too much. Same all-metal mount as the 50mm f/1.4 with the super nice focus ring.

 
I have the 135 3.5 sitting on my desk right now. Phenomenal lens. Sharp, reasonably fast, and super small and light.
 
I picked up a 50 1.4 SMC and a 28 3.5 SMC. The 28 has a really small rear element and it leads to vignetting on crop sensors, but it's not that bad and still a nice piece of glass. The 50 1.4 is DREAMY. I picked mine up for 50 bucks off craigslist and it is absolutely phenomenal as far as bokeh and IQ goes.
 
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