Congrats on the anamorphic lens! I had been wondering about that too, but after some searching I found an earlier Helios (the 44, not the 44-2) on eBay in great shape with a gorgeous golden coating. My understanding is that there were a lot of different 44-2's manufactured over many years, some may have the same coating. But keep an eye out for the original 44 too. Cheers, -Bold
One of the more underrated and nicest 'organic' lenses, especially for crop frame cameras. very sharp, lovely golden flare. this Isco type has a min focus of around 1m. Closer focus can be made by fixing diopters to the front. This lens does not have a front filter thread, so I've found that tightly wrapping a step ring to the front with electrical tape can allow for common diopters to be attached and detached easily by screwing into the step ring's filter thread. Or even better solution is to get a proper front filter clamp from Redstan. As for 'cheap' clamp? - you can find them online, but the Redstan clamps are well worth the money. The others are made from cheap and nasty materials with metal clamp screws that will mark and scratch your Isco every time you tighten. the Redstan clamps use nylon screws that do not damage your lens when clamped. As for suitable taking lens? - on S35 I've used f2 58mm Helios 44 and on Full frame, 85mm Olympus OM f2 or Jupiter-9 85mm f2 gave me the best results by far...very sharp and filmic images, even wide open. On GH4 I'd personally recommend a Helios 44 on speedbooster as taking lens, if you get an older 'zebra' Helios 44 with golden coatings - the flares will match beautifully in your taking and your Isco anamorphot.
In short, this lens is great - and well worth saving for proper rear clamp from Redstan and experimenting with vintage lenses to get the nicest look from it IMO.
Thai Reisje got a reaction from Hans Punk in My first Anamorphic lens, some advice please ;)