The Petzval Mod on a HELIOS 44-2 lens

In modern photography, the “Petzval Mod” is a camera lens hack that will turn a dull, run-of-the-mill Soviet camera lens into a dreamy, kaleidoscopic master shooter. The modification will provide a surreal, swirly background field, or bokeh, that envelops the center subject.

To put it in basic terms, you need a HELIOS 44-2 common 35mm lens. The HELIOS can be hacked by taking the front bezel off, flipping the front lens over, and re-assembling the unit. If done properly … this could be a great new art lens for my 35mm arsenal. And not every HELIOS 44-2 can be modified this way; you’re really depending on a combination of camera quality build and optics.

Then you need a proper subject – something centered in your photo that will allow for a blurry bokeh background to swirl around and enhance your central subject. Again, you need something that works with the photo; you can’t just take a photo of a road sign and hope that the swirly Petzval-style bokeh will win Competition Season awards. The subject has to be approximately one meter away from you, and there needs to be plenty of light sources nearby – i.e., tree branches with pretty leaves, sunlight poking through foliage, that kind of thing.

But I have to try, don’t I?

By the way … if you ever want to have an argument with other photographers, just tell them that the way you pronounce “bokeh” is correct. And they’ll say to you, “No, man, it’s bokeh, it rhymes with croquet and bouquet.” Meanwhile, another photographer will argue, “Bro, it’s bokeh, it rhymes with mocha and loca.” At which moment, a THIRD photographer will slide into the conversation, and say, “You all are idiots, it’s bokeh, it rhymes with smokey and pokey.”

You know who’s right about how to say bokeh? Me. It’s bokeh, and it rhymes with bokeh. 😀

So I need to test this lens out. I slapped the lens on my Nikon Df primary digital SLR, and went for a short photo walk. To get the swirly bokeh that makes this lens work its magic, I need a subject that is suspended approximately one meter from my camera lens … with a background that’s at least another meter in the distance.

Hello, little dandelion. Let’s test this out.

And here we go. Freehanding it and …

Holy swirly concentric background, Batman! This just went into the Competition Season pile in a freakin’ instant!!

Hey, let’s try this again. A little walk through the neighborhood, and it looks like someone hasn’t taken down their Christmas lights yet. I mean, no big deal, it is only MAY…

Let’s get a shot here. See what we can pull.

Yeah, it looks better when there’s a distant background in front of the main subject, but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep trying this out. Oh, I could have some SERIOUS fun with this …

Serious fun.

Yeah, baby. Let’s make this happen.