Helios 44 and 44 2 Cleaning the Aperture Blades

[@stusrambles]

I have watched and used your video a few times now, opening and cleaning my 2 helios 44's. First of all your video and guidance is brilliant and I thank you for that. I've completed the process 5 times between the 2 lenses, to the extent which I can do it blindfolded 😂 Problem is.. I cannot get rid of all the oil! I started with Isopropyl, then I turned to lacquer, and eventually I tried your lighter fluid.. and I spent hours and many many many cotton buds. But still, after all that effort - slim traces of oil

[@crazyeye1]

Followed your video, I had considerably more oil on my aperture than what you had on yours so I used more cotton swabs and lighter fluid, working the aperture then repeating. All in all, this technique worked perfectly compared to another well documented video that involved physically removing and cleaning the blades and reinstalling them one by one. Great video and thank you for your assistance on me keeping this 44-2 clean. 🫡 Now I get to strap it onto my a7iii and learn how to get the bokeh savvy

[@beer_goggler]

Thanks for this video. I took apart my 44-2 to clean the lens glass and aperture blades. The thick front inner glass element seems to have 2 or 3 black specks but inside the glass not on the outside. I assume it’s 2 elements that are bonded(?). Anyway no way to remove them. Fortunately they don’t seem to affect the performance of the lens. Just bugs me when I look through the lens and see them.

[@aidanhowgate5437]

Thanks for this, I followed your process on my Tessar Pancolar and Helios 44-2 all zebras, the Tessar really benefitted because the blades were sticking. I used isopropyl alcohol, it worked brilliantly

[@zenography7923]

I'm glad it was useful!

[@aidanhowgate5437]

Very useful, thank you for your relaxed and thoroughly informative videos. 😊

[@RadBadTad]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I was going to replace my 44-2 that had extremely oily aperture blades, but you gave me the confidence to rip it apart and clean it. Since good copies have shot up 500% in price, I bought a lens spanner instead. You saved me quite a bit of money! Plus now I can say I rebuilt this lens myself!

[@aseingarnevaborn]

Thank you bought a lovely condition Helios 44-2 other than a lot of oil on the aperture blades. Great guide and the Helios now looks and performs brilliantly on my EOSR.

[@zenography7923]

That's great, glad the video was useful! Enjoy the Helios...

[@tapasyatyaga4041]

Your channel is one of the best photography channels. It is well named because you do appear to be the Zen Master of Photography. You do remind me slightly of Boris Karloff however 😂🤣

[@zenography7923]

Well, I'll take that as a compliment! 😀 Thanks for looking in, glad you're enjoying the channel!

[@AshesOfArcadia]

Thank you very much for this vid. Had a bit of oil on my Helios, not much of an issue, but enough to annoy me a little. Now it's gone.

[@zenography7923]

Glad it's been useful!

[@cdavey061]

hi can you assist me [e-mail]

[@kenblair2538]

Great video. It helped me to make my Kiev 88, Arsat B , 80mm lens serviceable . Thank you.

[@zenography7923]

Very glad it helped!

[@IvanKhramov]

Great video, it was pleausre to watch! But shouldn't one wipe the blades anti-clockwise on one side, and once flipped over, go clockwise?

[@HeartPumper]

For all of you, disassembling Helioses for different reasons, one good thing is also to blacken rims of the lenses with a permanent marker, while you're at it. Less reflections inside = better outcome ;) PS Some Helioses are impossible to unscrew/disassemble the aperture block (lenses are easy). So this technique works miracles ;)

[@NeonSparks]

I had a massive issue with mine had to totally dismantle it and use a silicone on the mechanism and lighter fluid on the aperture blades. Eventually got it working

[@bartoszkrol8846]

Thanks! I would love to learn enough to someday repair cameras and lenses for profit. Great video!

[@zenography7923]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@DoctorMikeReddy]

Would isopropyl alcohol be better? Less chance of residue than lighter fuel?

[@cnrgfilm]

reason I watched this vid was because I was looking for a way to correct my iris-ring on my helios as it is operating in an opposite manner, meaning at f2 it's almost fully closed and on f16 it's wide open. @9:18 you mention that you "got your aperture-blades fully closed and stopped down to f16" - but I clearly see that your aperture-ring is indicating f2. just as mine! what's the deal here? is it just that Russian lenses are built opposite in this manner? small number - small aperture, big number - big aperture? pretty confusing. any advice on this?

[@zenography7923]

With an indicated f16, turn the second ring anti-clockwise and the lens will stop down. The twin ring system on this lens takes a little getting used to!

[@cnrgfilm]

thanks! that was very helpful. :n)

[@vicentelambies5327]

Very good vídeo, only one suggestion, I think it's important to let the lens "breathe" to evaporate all the solvent before continue with the process. The solvent should damage the coating of the glases.

[@zenography7923]

You're right, I should have mentioned that. Thanks for watching!

[@vicentelambies5327]

@@zenography7923 thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@gixrec]

Is it possible that the oil is leaking out onto the camera sensor? please reply

[@DamianoPodda]

In absence of the proper tool, more than a screewdriver as in 1:31, I would advice using a caliper or a compass with a needle in both arms.

[@TiagodeAngelisSilva]

Easy fix, help me alot! Thanks.

[@adsertheblade]

Great video. I just bought one of these 44-2's and it is soaking in oil. But I read that it was intentionally put there to lubricate the blades. Is it actually supposed to be removed?

[@zenography7923]

It's not supposed to be there. It can cause reflections within the lens, which can degrade the image, although in practice I haven't found it to cause significant problems. However, if there's enough oil in a lens to find its way onto the aperture blades it might well find its way onto the glass, which would be a big problem. A couple of very tiny drops of light oil, applied with a needle, will benefit the aperture mechanism itself, but the blades should be left dry.

[@philhodgkinson1460]

Need to do my 44M won't completely stop down....like this vid...

[@fredr.]

Can I replace the lighter fluid with some acetone?

[@zenography7923]

I'm not sure if acetone will remove oil - but if it does then it would probably do the job.

[@nguyennamduan4505]

Great video, thanks!

[@zenography7923]

Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@subbbass]

great video, thank you! I have a question: Can alcohol, acetone or hydrogen peroxide damage the coating or any other part of the lens?

[@zenography7923]

I doubt that alcohol would do much harm (though I may be wrong!). Acetone and hydrogen peroxide I would steer well clear of - they're both pretty reactive and may well damage coatings. Why do you need to use chemicals - are you trying to remove fungus? If so, a weak vinegar solution is all you need.

[@subbbass]

Zenography thank you very much. Yes, i saw a video on how to remove Fungus on a Lens. So i will try vinegar.

[@wakkowarner8810]

I got a helios 44-2 with oily blades. Thanks for this video man. I just ordered a spanner and will clean my lens as soon I get my spanner. Does oil cause any damage, or can I use my lens while I wait to clean it up?

[@zenography7923]

Oil doesn't cause any damage as such, and the lens should work well enough even with a little contamination. Oil gets on to the blades because the factory installed grease goes hard, making focussing difficult; a drop or two of oil can soften this grease and free up the lens, but when too much is added it gets on to the blades. If it's been flooded with oil it's possible that some may get into your camera, which you definitely don't want, especially if you're using the lens on a digital body. Be really gentle when cleaning the blades; they're very delicate and can be dislodged if you're too vigorous!

[@labollit]

Great video. Which liquid do you use to clean the oil?

[@zenography7923]

I use lighter fluid, for filling Zippo lighters, it cleans well and evaporates quickly. Always use in a well ventilated area though! Thanks for looking in.

[@alain.danet_f4hwr]

Hello my friend. First of all, please excuse my poor english ! I have a Helios 44-2 from 1977 according to the first two digits of the SN. All is fine with this lens but there is something curious : The aperture rings are offset about 45 degrees to the left. I mean they are not aligned with the central-axial red mark with the diamond. Any idea of what the problem could be ? Regards, Al.

[@zenography7923]

Hi Alain, it sounds like your lens might have been apart in the past and not quite reassembled correctly. Many, if not most of these lenses will have been apart by now, and any competent camera technician could put it right for you - these are very easy lenses to service. Et aussi, votre Anglais est plus meillieur que ma Francais! Bon chance mon ami!

[@edsmartcol]

Thank you !!!

[@zenography7923]

You're welcome!

[@cdavey061]

hi can you assist me [e-mail]

[@albertavila9574]

I thought that my helios was niot bad because the aperture ring is smooth, but now looking this video I realized that it has oily blades, probably generating some haze in my pictures, but I have so much fear about doing it by myself, I have seen this video like 3 times haha

[@_K.L]

​@UCza1hvHVZmCh0Bzk3jl5NSw Thanks for another great video! It is possible to remove oil if there is oil on the internal side of the lens ? If so, what solution would you use for removing oils from the lens? Or is it no longer salvageable?

[@DonaldNadreau]

I enjoyed the video and have a 44-2 coming the end of the month. Did you also clean the lenses while you had them out? If so, how did you do it?

[@zenography7923]

Very carefully, with a lens cloth!

[@TomFindahl]

This is not the proper way to clean the aperture leaves, they have to be taken out and cleaned one by one, then put them back in place. You also have to clean the aperture plate. If you clean the leaves shown in the video, the oil from the helicoil will be back in no time...

[@zenography7923]

The repair seems to have held up ok - I've found that with enough cleaning the oil can be removed.

[@TomFindahl]

@@zenography7923 In my case, the amount of grease applied was overdone by a large margin. I removed all the grease and applied proper helicoil grease, cleaned the aperture leaves, so now it's in proper working condition.

[@chrissmith7069]

@@TomFindahl well isn't that just great, it would be even better if you took the time to uploaded a video to help others, just like this one.

[@TomFindahl]

@@chrissmith7069 I slr with film only

[@TomFindahl]

I shoot slr with film only