The Empirical Manifesto

1990 Helios 77M-4 50mm f/1.8

Having become fascinated with the exceptionally swirly bokeh of my 1973 Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 because it has been taking *the* quintessential shots of my sessions, consistantly - well, they're always my favorites - I started looking into which of the Helios 44 family was the swirliest, and discovered its not limited to the 44-series at all. Less swirly (until proven otherwise) is the 81N, and more swirly is the 77M-4. Its also four times more expensive, but arrived from the Ukraine in record time. I was hoping I'd get it before michelle1963's wedding in Vegas, but managed to get it prior to my Colorado shoot - where I plan to put it through its paces.

At 50mm its a little shorter (especially on APS-C) than my 44-2 and a two tenths of a stop faster. I haven't gotten to play with it much, knowing the "sweet spot" isn't going to be found by shooting anything indoors, but I did finally talk my daughter into letting me shoot her one day after school because I was so excited to see it in action. It seemingly has less contrast than my 44-2 (and I really should have used a fill-flash on her), but its absolutely more swirly. So we'll just have to wait and see what wonderful things I get to point it at on the way to Colorado!