Anamorphic

Anamorphic on a Budget – Helios 44-2 Cat Eye Mod

July 31, 2016

Doing the mods has been a lot of fun, but having a fully working oval aperture is a game changer. This Helios 44-2 has been modified to take an oval shape and has a smooth aperture that ranges from f/5.6 to f/11

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A video posted by Tito Ferradans (@tferradans) on

Tito Ferradans here to introduce you to another weird – and unique – mod for the Helios 44-2 – I was corrected about the pronunciation of the lens’ name, live and learn, folks. Helios is the right one, as opposed to Heeelios.

A few months ago, researching for the USSR Lens Buyer’s Guide, I came across this video, about a “cat eye” Helios aperture mod which automatically triggered my “anamorphic sense” due to the shape of the iris and the possibility of adjusting its values. The same channel also had a test video which pretty much confirmed my expectations, with the slight issue of the oval being turned on its side. I reached out to the person behind it, after realizing I’d bought several lenses from him in the past.


Roman is a very knowledgeable guy and promptly replied that he could make me one of those cat eye Helios. The last issue I had to solve was how to get it aligned properly, which was achieved through the use of a special M42 to EF adapter. The white spot on the adapter marks the direction that’ll face UP when attached to the camera, so aligning is easy.

The mod has a few limitations, such as the minimum and maximum apertures, from f/5.6 to f/11, which can be slow for low-light depending on your camera’s ISO limits. For the A7s2 it was a breeze and it allowed me to change aperture on the fly – which is the main issue with the oval aperture disk mod. The only downside is that the oval rotates very slightly upon opening and closing (I’d say around one degree). It’s hard to notice anyway, but I thought I should mention it here.

I think this mod is a GREAT combo to go with any 1.33x adapter for the following reasons: first, the oval aperture shape reinforces the anamorphic aspect of the footage, when most of these adapters don’t get nice ovals. Second, the slower aperture is also a good thing to get sharp images with 1.33x focus through adapters.

If you’re interested in getting one of the cat eye modded Helios, Roman is selling his spares on his eBay store, along with some other Russian glass at good price. Also, his channel – Retro Foto House – is very much worth of checking out, with lots of unusual – and useful! – tutorials and reliable information about soviet lenses such as Nikon mods, disassembly guides, relubing and cleaning.

That’s it for now. Subscribe if you’d like to stay updated on the anamorphic subject, and check out the blog for plenty of tutorials and reviews! Ferradans out.