Helios & Industar · M42 screw mount · From 1966
The Helios-44 is the Soviet version of Carl Zeiss Jena's Biotar 58mm f/2, and it was made in enormous numbers as the kit lens on Zenit cameras. The 44-2 is the M42 screw-mount version. It arrived in 1966 with the Zenit-E and later came on the Zenit-B, ET and 10. KMZ at Krasnogorsk, MMZ in Minsk and the Jupiter works at Valdai all built it, and MMZ made it in two barrel styles, one of them the black-and-metal zebra. Inside are six elements in four groups behind an 8-blade preset aperture. You set the f-stop on one ring, focus wide open, then turn a second ring until it stops at that value. It works exactly the same on a plain M42 adapter. The swirl it's famous for comes from aberrations at the edges of the frame, which stretch out-of-focus highlights into a vortex. Shoot into the sun and it scatters light hard. On an APS-C body the 58mm becomes a short portrait lens.
Known forSwirly bokehHarsh flare
On a mirrorless camera
It’s a M42 screw mount lens, and its mount sits 45.46 mm from the film. Every mirrorless mount below sits closer than that, so a plain adapter ring fills the gap and the lens still focuses to infinity. On a smaller sensor it frames tighter, like a longer lens.
Versions
The Helios-44 name covers many versions. The original Helios-44 has an M39 thread made for a 45.2mm flange distance, so it won't focus to infinity through an M39-to-M42 ring. The 44-2 is the M42 version with an 8-blade preset aperture and a 49mm filter thread. The 44M series (44M, then 44M-4 to 44M-7) adds an auto-aperture pin, click stops and a 52mm filter thread, and from the 44M-4 on the iris has 6 blades. The MC Helios-44-3 (1991–1993) is a multicoated preset-aperture cousin made only by MMZ in Minsk. Lenses from KMZ carry its logo, a prism with a refracted ray of light.
These are 35 to 60-year-old lenses, so oily aperture blades, haze and dried-out focus grease are common. Soviet quality control has a reputation for being uneven, so two copies can look and feel quite different.
New to old glass? How to check a used vintage lens covers haze, fungus and the rest in detail.
Buying guide
We'd buy a 44-2 titled serviced, like the one asking $92 delivered from a 100% seller in Ukraine, well under the $110–180 band where most copies sit. There are at least 45 for sale, nearly all from Ukraine and Belarus with $19–25 shipping, and many are titled serviced or CLA'd. It has a preset aperture and no auto-aperture pin, so a plain M42 adapter is all it needs, and the model page lists the adapters by camera. Read the name ring in the photos for 44-2, then ask for a flashlight-through photo of the glass and one of the blades at f/8. Two copies here come with adapters, which is part of why they ask $159 and $236 delivered.
$63.65est. delivered
The lowest delivered 44-2 here, a US auction at $64 delivered with one bid and days left, so it will climb. The title makes no condition claim, so ask for a backlit photo of the glass before you bid.
Helios Helios-44-2 58mm f/2 Manual Focus Standard Lens
$92.00est. delivered
Titled serviced, with both caps in the photo, at $92 delivered from a 100% seller. That's well under the $110–180 band, so ask what the service covered and for a photo of the blades at f/8.
Helios 44-2 2/58mm M42 mount *SERVICED!*
$155.00est. delivered
Titled serviced with a full CLA, the most specific service claim on the page, at $155 delivered, the median. Top Mint is the seller's own grade, so ask for a flashlight-through photo of the glass.
⭐Top Mint⭐ Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 M42 Lens / Swirly Bokeh / Serviced (Full CLA) №2
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 12, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ. eBay shows yours before you pay.
Snapshot
Checked . Some may have sold.
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 12, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ. eBay shows yours before you pay.
Used$63.65est. delivered
$50.00 + $13.65 shipping
Auction · 1 bid · ends in 3d 19h
Good buy
US auction with one bid. No condition claim, and the price will climb.
Seller: osvgar53
100% positive
Serviced$92.00est. delivered
$73.00 + $19.00 shipping
Buy It Now$73.00
Good buy
Titled serviced. Both caps in the photo.
Seller: kosbik84
100% positive
Serviced$155.00est. delivered
$130.00 + $25.00 shipping
Buy It Now$130.00
Good buy
Titled serviced with a full CLA. Top Mint is the seller's grade.
Seller: gloryukraine
100% positive
Serviced$116.00est. delivered
$91.00 + $25.00 shipping
Buy It Now$91.00
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
Fine if you might miss it? Send an offer first. Someone else can still buy it while you wait for a reply.
Want it for sure? Use Buy It Now.
Our take
Titled serviced, a 1981 copy.
Seller: soviet_vintage_house
100% positive
Used$134.99est. delivered
$119.00 + $15.99 shipping
Buy It Now$119.00
Our take
US seller. No condition or service claim.
Seller: concourse
99.3% positive
Serviced$155.00est. delivered
$130.00 + $25.00 shipping
Buy It Now$130.00
Our take
Titled serviced, with the BelOMO logo.
Seller: gloryukraine
100% positive
Used$158.99est. delivered
$139.99 + $19.00 shipping
Buy It Now$139.99
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
Fine if you might miss it? Send an offer first. Someone else can still buy it while you wait for a reply.
Want it for sure? Use Buy It Now.
Our take
Titled M42/Sony E NEX, and an adapter shows in the photo. Ask if it's included.
Seller: powerlens
100% positive
Used$235.99est. delivered
$210.99 + $25.00 shipping
Buy It Now$210.99
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
Fine if you might miss it? Send an offer first. Someone else can still buy it while you wait for a reply.
Want it for sure? Use Buy It Now.
Our take
Silver version, with an M42 to Nikon Z adapter.
Seller: olekvrazo_0
100% positive
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