Helios meets Tilt and Shift

The Helios 44-2 lens is a bokeh beast, but what would happen to its bokeh if we added tilt-shift functionality to it?

TLT ROKR tilt-shift adapters add both tilt and shift functions to a variety of adapted lenses. When adapting a vintage Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 lens to a modern mirrorless camera, that means a whole lot of selective focus bokeh magic! These Soviet-era lenses already have a cult following for their wild flare and unique bokeh, and adding tilt to the mix makes that bokeh even more pronounced.

Because The Helios 44-2 is an M42 lens, we're going to be using one of our new M42 TLT ROKR kits, a three-adapter kit that double adapts an M42 to Canon EF adapter to a select Canon EF to mirrorless camera TLT ROKR adapter. For older M42 lenses that don't have a depth of field preview lever, use the Type 1 M42 to EF adapter. For newer M42 lenses that do have a depth of field preview lever, use the Type 2 adapter. Mount the lens to the M42 to EF adapter, mount both to the EF to mirrorless camera TLT ROKR adapter, and mount the TLT ROKR to your camera. Now you're ready to shoot.

Loosen the gold knob on the side of the adapter to tilt the lens down, and push the gold button on the other side of the adapter to rotate the tilt 360 degrees. The adapter can be shifted by pressing the silver, metal tab before adjusting the adapter from left ot right.

Tilting the lens down or up tilts the focal plane of the lens vertically, creating a horizontal strip of focus while throwing the top and bottom of the image out of focus.

without tilt

with tilt

Similarly, tilting the lens left or right tilts the focal plane of the lens horizontally, creating a vertical strip of focus while throwing the left and right of the image out of focus.

without tilt

with tilt

As you can see, tilting the TLT ROKR adapter and Helios 44-2 lens creates some truly dream-like selective focus images, perfect for fall photography and landscape shots like these. This type of selective focus art photography isn't for everyone, but more subtle focus adjustments can be achieved by tilting the lens only slightly.

We can also create stitched panoramas with the TLT ROKR's shift function. To do this we locked the camera down on a tripod, set up our shot, then used the adapter's shift button to shift the lens all the way to the left and take a photo, then all the way to the right and take a photo.

Full shift to the left

Full shift to the right

Stitching these two photos by using Photoshop's "photomerge" function in post creates a panoramic image like this:

Because the Helios 44-2 is a full-frame lens and we used a Sony camera with a full frame sensor to capture these panoramic shots, we did get some vignetting in the corners. This is because we're shifting and capturing photos right up to the edge of the Helios 44-2's image circle. You won't get vignette like this if you use an APS crop mode or a mirrorless camera with an APS-C sensor.

Using the TLT ROKR adapter with this legendary cult lens unlocked a whole new selective focus, bokelicious look: one we're excited to experiment with more in the future!

Click here to learn more about our new M42 TLT ROKR adapter kits.