I thought I would make a comparison between my two favourite portrait photography lenses, the Helios 85mm f/1.5 and the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4. The Helios is known for its unique swirly bokeh, whereas the Nikkor is popular for its colours and smooth, dreamy bokeh. The swirl is not for everyone, for every person that loves it, another will probably find it a bit dizzying! In a world of clinically perfect glass, it's fun to add in some character every now and then. The YouTube video below features a side-by-side comparison, capturing two similar shots - one with each lens. The Helios is mounted on the Panasonic S5II using a Canon EF to L mount adapter and the Nikkor 85mm is mounted on the Nikon Z6 using an FTZ adapter.
Despite the difference in price points and the years that they were manufactured, I was quite surprised by the results that can be achieved when post-processing with modern software. I've used Topaz photo AI to increase the sharpness of the subject on the Helios images. Both images colour graded in Adobe Lightroom. The soft results of the Helios are adored by many and it can look great for video but for me, I do like the subject to be sharp. My use case is all about the bokeh!
I've also been experimenting with Envato AI for skin retouching as it dramatically cuts down the retouching time whilst still maintaining professional results. I know AI has become a dirty word in parts of the photography world, but it does have it's good uses when used moderately. It's enabled me to produce very similar skin retouching results to what I usually do manually in Photoshop whilst saving 30 minutes of post processing time per image. I shall soon be making a follow up video to the below, the start to finish editing process of the Helios images. If you would like to see it, please hit subscribe and the notification bell.
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