![]() ![]() The Helios 85mm flares like crazy - sometimes in very cool ways, other times in image-ruining, awful ways. Crop in post to achieve the desired composition. Below are two unedited images taken at f/1.5 and f/2 respectively.ĭepending on distance to background and aperture, the Helios 85mm’s bokeh ranges from the legendary swirling that it is known for to an interesting, almost painted, creamy look. The best way to ensure sharp images is to stop worrying about composing in camera and just always shoot with your subject dead center. Personally, I find the lens to have the best balance of bokeh and sharpness at about f/2.0. Wide open, this lens is fairly soft, though usable if you only need the very center of the frame to be sharp. Step outside those limitations and sharpness falls off like crazy. If you stop down the Helios 85mm and place your subject in the center of the frame, sharpness isn’t too bad. In late 2015, they finally started to find their way to being easily accessible in North America. Two of the Helios lenses have become legendary for their extremely characterful rendering of bokeh, the first being the relatively common 58mm f/2.0 and the second being the much rarer 85mm f/1.5, which ended up being used more in night vision devices than cameras, which made the few M42 mount versions of the lens quite expensive given the exotic beauty of their performance.Ī few years ago, in reaction to this demand, the Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5 was updated for modern DSLR mounts and put back into production in Russia. Over the course of a few decades, dozens of Helios lenses variations were created, the majority designed for non-photographic uses. This lens makes the perfect gift to those relative newcomers to photography who would benefit from learning about the joys of a prime lens with a fast aperture.Īnyone with a passion will want to upgrade quickly from the lens, but it makes an excellent stepping stone and an equally fine stocking-filler.įor anyone shooting on an APS-C camera and wondering if they might enjoy creating portraits, this an ideal first choice, even if there will be a number of soft images along the way.įor those on a full frame, the Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8 is a fun walkaround lens that doesn’t require much care and attention, generating some nice swirly bokeh that’s perfect for social media.Many years ago, the Helios lens line was first born as a clone of sorts to port the legendary Zeiss Biotar lens formula into the M42 format that was used in the Soviet Union. It has a plastic feel and delivers suitable plastic-feeling images, but the autofocus - though sometimes inconsistent - makes it comparatively easy to use and no other lens will deliver this much bokeh for such a tiny amount of money. It’s not too dissimilar to having a vintage 50mm lens, albeit with autofocus and without the weight of a metal shell. The Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8 is a fun lens and offers great value at an exceptionally affordable price. The Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8 doesn’t quite have that feel, but it certainly comes close.Įither you see these quirks as deficiencies or as idiosyncrasies, and if you like loose, fun photographs where quality isn’t a priority, the Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8 delivers entertaining results.Ĭanon EOS 6D + Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 | Left: 1/2500 f/1.8 ISO 100. Personally, I don’t find this to be too much of a problem - if I’m shooting straight into the sun, that drop in contrast can create dreamy, ethereal images, an effect you’d normally associate with manual focus, vintage lenses. More expensive lenses have coatings to control flare and maintain contrast, but this is absent from the Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8. ![]() If you want to spend as little money as possible to create bokeh for social media, this is still a good option as the lack of sharpness will not be an issue, especially when viewing on mobile devices.īright light entering the lens directly will cause a drop in contrast and flares are not controlled (no lens hood is supplied, either). Shooting at smaller apertures will sharpen up the images somewhat and, given the price, contrast is good and chromatic aberrations can easily be sorted out in post.įor publishing online - and Instagram in particular - even the softest images produced by this lens will be more than adequate. Though I’ve captured some relatively crisp images with the Yongnuo YN 50mm f/1.8, sharpness when shooting wide open is often absent, sometimes leaving you wondering if you’ve forgotten to remove the protective film from the rear element.
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