{"id":41886,"date":"2017-09-25T11:23:15","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=41886"},"modified":"2021-12-16T02:09:33","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T06:09:33","slug":"helios-40-2-85mm-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/helios-40-2-85mm-lens\/","title":{"rendered":"Helios 40-2 85mm f\/1.5 lens"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Helios 40-2 85mm f\/1.5 lens<\/span><\/h1>\n

The quest to add an interesting, eye-catching element to a photograph, often leads us photographers to start working with lenses that have a distinctive bokeh. One of the more affordable vintage lenses that gives a distinctive bokeh and is also a perfect portrait focal length, is the Soviet made\u00a0Helios 40-2 85mm f\/1.5 lens<\/strong> (for Canon<\/a> \/ for Nikon<\/a>).\u00a0The 85mm Helios is also is surprisingly affordable as photography gear goes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The swirly bokeh is fairly distinctive of the Helios optic. Adding this kind of effect in-camera to enhance a photograph, without resorting to Photoshop trickery, will help with a more streamlined workflow. The challenge then is to find that balance where the bokeh doesn’t distract from your subject, but enhances the image.<\/p>\n

With this sequence of photos of Anelisa<\/a>, I used the\u00a0Sony a7ii<\/a> (B&H<\/em><\/a> \/\u00a0Amazon<\/em><\/a>) again. As I described in the article –\u00a0Sony mirrorless cameras with vintage lenses<\/a>\u00a0– the way that Sony is able to implement manual focus due to the Electronic ViewFinder (EVF), sets it apart from DSLRs. Fuji does it in a similar way, but because the Fuji is a crop sensor, you lose much of the effect of using these vintage lenses. I discuss the\u00a0Fuji cameras manual focus mode<\/a>\u00a0in this linked article.<\/p>\n

This lens is all metal and glass, and is a heavy beast, especially on a smaller camera like the Sony.<\/p>\n

You can purchase this lens via these affiliate links:<\/p>\n