I ordered a cheap set of M42 extension tubes of Amazon and tried them out today with the Helios 44-2 and the Pentacon 135.
Initially, I couldn’t find the focus until I realised HOW close I can get to the flowers with these extension tubes. The Pentacon 135 was no use as I had to crawl into the flowers 😂 but the Helios is delivering again. It shortened the focal distance dramatically and still produces a beautiful messy bokeh behind the subject.
Sharpness is maintained too. It produces a slight halo around the edges, but I quite like this as it produces a dreamy and vintage look.
I find the colours of the Helios 44-2 a little bit muted and I have to do a bit of post-processing, increase contrast and possibly saturation to make them pop. Again – something that makes the images look a little bit more “vintage” – if that’s a thing…Â
See my first images with the Helios here.
