luxman

I have Helios 44M and it is my most used legacy lens with my X-T10. I also own Canon 50mm 1.4 SSC wich is suposed to be superb lens compared to Helios, but I like pictures from Helios more, especially portraits in BW simulation are great with Helios. I cant define what is it with Helios that I like more than Canon but I simply find photos from Helios mora appealing to me. As far as differences between lenses go, I tryed 44M, 44M-2, 44M-4 and early version of this lens without M, just Helios 44. 44 and 44M have 9 apperture blades, others have 6, so bokeh could be nicer on these two. There is also early version of this lens with 13 blades, but I never had a chance to test it. Like others stated it is cheap enough to test it and see for yourself if you like the look from the lens or not.

Like title sais, I went out to play with my newest toy, Vivitar 2x macro focusing tele converter. I got it for 20€and it is interesting little device. It can serve as regular tele converter but also as macro converter. It has build in focusing helicod and can turn your regular 50mm lens into 100mm macro 1:1 lens. I use it with Canon 50 1.4 so it converts it to 100 2.8 1:1 macro. As regular converter it is nothing special, but for macro I find it quite good, especially when considering price. It is sharp enough and is easy to use. For 1:1 magnification you need to focus lens to closest distance and then use focus on converter to get to max magnification. It is also possible to use all steps in between. These samples are all handheld, aperture on lens was set to f8 and I used built in flash as I left my Yongnuo at home. It is hard to handheld at 1:1 as doff is really thin but with practice it should get easier.

No one mentions National Geographic bags. I have one and it is great. It is made from canvas, grey color so it blends with everything you wear and is not obtrusive or attention grabbing. Model number is NG W2140. It uses velcro for front flap and under that is another small flap with zipper for extra security when in crowds. The bags fabric is tough and durable, yet soft and isn't too rigid like many other camera bags so it actually conforms to your hip when worn. Padding is sufficient and there is extra insert with zip cover that can be removed from bag. It holds my XT 10 with 18-55, 50-230, Canon FD 50 1.4 with adapter and Yongnuo flash. In smaller pockets I carry cleaning cloth, spare battery, charger, Raynox DCR 250 adapter, pocket knife and some other things. It also has a pocket for iPad or small laptop-up to 10 inches. Also included is rain cover. It is great bag for every day walk around and price is fair-around 80 €.

Hi there, my name is Sandro and I am an Fujiholic. I am amateur photographer, interested in macro and nature photography. My first camera was Sony DSC-P32 with 3.2 mp and 256 mb card :-). Then moved up to Sony V1, Panasonic FZ 28 and finally Canon 500D. Later I was suffering with severe case of GAS and collected great number of lenses and other acessories to the point where I could not decide what to use and how to carry it around. So too much gear became limiting factor (we are not talking expensive or pro gear but 6 modern lenses and around 20 vintage pieces were just too much). Last year when I came back from summer vacations I realised that I shot entire trip with my mobile phone, because I didnt want to carry my gear with me to the beach or walking around because it was just to big and heavy. I decided that it is time for change and in that time Fuji just released X-T10. It was love at first sight :-). I did like X-T1 before but it was too expensive for me, so little X-T10 was perfect. I sold all of my Canon gear and bought X-T10 with 18-55 lens and later added 50-230. The later is probably the best spend 200 eur in long long time. I kept some of my vintage glass and bought adapters for it and it is joy to use with focus magnification and peaking. I can carry X-T10 with both lenses, Canon 50 1.4 with adaptor, spare battery, small tripod, closeup lens and Yongnuo flash ( maybe I still hawe some of that GAS) in small National Geographic bag all day long without braking my back. It is really liberating and people dont pay any atention to someone with small bag and something what appares to be film camera, so I can go to playground with my daughter and take pictures of her without people pointing fingers at me and asking stupid questions. I hope to learn new things from this site as I still have a lot to learn and to read about interesting topics.