85mm and bokeh

An interesting test of several Nikon 85mm lenses. I also tested the Petzval lens and Helios 40-2-H, both on Nikon mount. I paid more attention to wide open apertures, sharpness, and bokeh.

85mm or the ideal portrait lens

Almost every photographer's next step, after the kit lens, is 50mm. Once you've had enough fun with it, the next plan is to go either wider or narrower. Those who shoot more nature look at wider lenses, but those who are into portrait photography look at 85mm or narrower lenses. This time we'll look at seven 85mm lenses that can be purchased with Nikon mount for full frame matrix. You'll also be able to see test photos. I personally am more interested in how well the lens works with an open aperture, how sharp it is, and what the background rendering is like, i.e. bokeh.

Lenses

	AF-S Nikon 85mm f/1.8 G (420 Eur) On the market since 2012 Size 80 x 73 mm Weight 350g Aperture blades 7 Filter size 67mm Minimum focus distance 80 cm + Light, quiet, small, cheap. - Bokeh is calm, no f/1.4, slower autofocus, aberrations at f/1.8 Rating: 7+ Photo Video
	AF-S Nikon 85mm f/1.4 G (1300 Eur) On the market since 2010 Size 86 x 84 mm Weight 595g Aperture blades 9 Filter size 77mm Minimum focus distance 80 cm + 1.4 - Bokeh is calm, not ideal sharpness at f/1.4, slower autofocus, expensive, lots of aberrations at f/1.4 Rating: 8 Photo Video
	AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 D  (1000 Eur) Produced 1995-2010 Size 79 x 74 mm Weight 560g Aperture blades 9 Filter size 77mm Minimum focus distance 85 cm + 1.4, fast, ideal for photojournalism, better bokeh - not ideal sharpness at f/1.4, overpriced, soon won't be able to buy new and price will rise Rating: 8 - Photo Video
	AiS Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 (used on eBay 600 Eur) Produced 1981-2006 Size 72 x 80 mm Weight 620g Aperture blades 9 Filter size 72mm Minimum focus distance 85 cm + 1.4, beautiful bokeh, smallest of the 1.4 lenses, quiet, ideal for video - manual, not ideal sharpness at f/1.4, heavy, hard to find, price rising Rating: 7 Photo Video
	AiS Nikkor 85mm f/2.0 (used on eBay 180 Eur) Produced 1977-1995 Size 64 x 61 mm Weight 312g Aperture blades 9 Filter size 52mm Minimum focus distance 85 cm + beautiful bokeh, smallest and lightest of the lenses, ideal for video, ideal for film camera - manual, no 1.4 Rating: 7 - Photo Video
	Helios 40-2-H 85mm f/1.5 (new on eBay 450 Eur, new in Russia 200 Eur) Production resumed in 2012 with Canon and Nikon mount. Size 96 x 82 mm Weight 880g Aperture blades 10 Filter size 67mm Minimum focus distance 85 cm + beautiful bokeh, 1.5, smoothly changing aperture, can be useful for video - the largest and heaviest, manual, awkward manual focusing Rating: 6 - Photo Video
	Petzval Lens 85mm f2.2 (new 550 Eur) Invented in 1840. Production restarted in 2013 and adapted for 35mm format. Size 110 (with lens hood) x 70 mm Weight 700g Aperture blades 1 Filter size 67mm Minimum focus distance 100 cm + sharpest and most aggressive bokeh, smallest and lightest of the lenses, ideal for video, ideal for film camera - manual, no 1.4, aperture changes with an insertable plate, looks silly without lens hood, worst sharpness at wide open apertures, designed for photos with central composition, quite large and heavy. Rating: 7 - Photo Video

Testing

    I want to elaborate a bit on testing. Lenses give the best sharpness at apertures f/4 and f/5.6. Opening the aperture to f/2.8 sharpness is still good, but getting closer to f/1.4 sharpness and contrast deteriorates. More aberrations appear, contrast and sharpness are lost. Therefore sharpness at f/1.8 will always be better than at f/1.4. Almost all lenses develop a kind of haze or fog at f/1.4. Lens manufacturers try to eliminate or improve it, but it drastically affects the price and lens size. I'm personally not interested in sharpness at f/2.8 because it's decent on almost all lenses. The purpose of the test is specifically to test at wide open apertures, which shows the manufacturer's level and latest achievements in optics.

Sharpness

    The first thing we look at is sharpness. A bit difficult to evaluate sharpness on lenses with different maximum apertures, but let's try. Below are shown cropped fragments from the first test. The test mentions the term aberrations, which means green and violet shades on illuminated contours where they shouldn't be. Lenses with similar aperture openings are marked with colors. Each lens gets a rating on a 10 point scale. You can safely download test photos both cropped fragments, and full frames from Nikon D800e

 

AFS Nikon 85mm f1.8G	AFS Nikon 85mm f1.4G	AF Nikon 85mm f1.4D	AiS Nikon 85mm f1.4	AiS Nikon 85mm f2.0	Helios 402H 85mm f1.5	Petzval Lens 85mm f2.2
Good sharpness, but quite a lot of aberrations.	Best sharpness at 1.4	A bit more haziness than the G version.	Sharpness is already lost	Less aberrations, but sharpness is worse than the 1.8G version	Minimal aberrations, but worst sharpness. Photo has greenish brown tint	Almost no aberrations, sharpness is bad
8	8	7	5	6	5	4

We can conclude that the more modern and newer the lens, and also the more expensive, the sharper the image, but there's still a long way to go, because at wide open apertures quite a lot of aberrations appear and sharpness is not perfect. You can see that old Nikon lenses have haziness at open apertures. The haziness completely disappears on old lenses at f/4 and on new ones at f/2.8. I want to mention that the Petzval lens has pronounced sharpness in the center, and because of its effect it's recommended to use central compositions for photos with it.

Bokeh

    Bokeh test is subjective because it's based on like or dislike. Bokeh, or bokeh, is the out-of-focus rendering in the area outside the focus zone. The larger the aperture number, the more impressive the bokeh, i.e. the circles are larger, but the shape of the circles themselves and the sharpness boundary are determined by the optics design. Bokeh can be very cutting and sharp, or on the contrary very soft and dreamy hazy. I personally like sharp and prominent, but it can also interfere. It all depends on the subject and what's being photographed. Below are analyzed cropped areas from the second test. Visit the test page to download full resolution photos to more easily view the results.

AFS Nikon 85mm f1.8G	AFS Nikon 85mm f1.4G	AF Nikon 85mm f1.4D	AiS Nikon 85mm f1.4	AiS Nikon 85mm f/2.0	Helios 402H 85mm f1.5	Petzval Lens 85mm f2.2
Calm bokeh with blurred contours	Calm bokeh with larger circles	A bit sharper bokeh than the G version	Bokeh shape changes. A bit sharper  than the D version	Sharper than the 1.8G version	Similar shape to the AiS 1.4,but even sharper and more pronounced	Most aggressive and sharpest bokeh
5	6	6+	7	7	8+	9+

As we can see, unfortunately bokeh and lens sharpness cannot be combined in any way. The older the lens,, the more beautifully and sharply it renders the out-of-focus area.
While testing I encountered an oddity that the AiS lens viewing angle differs from the D and G series Nikon lenses. AiS lenses are slightly more telephoto, it seems, that 85mm is actually like 90mm, so in the test photos there may be a feeling, that the bokeh circles are larger.

Petzval Lens

    The Petzval lens itself was invented in 1840 and was used for large cardan film cameras. This lens rendering became legendary because it creates a circular bokeh pattern that is enchanting. Petzval lenses became difficult to find and expensive. The old ones cost around 1500 Eur on eBay and adapting them to Nikon or Canon mount was cumbersome. Until in 2013 I noticed the kickstarter project which was raising money to launch Petzval lens production for Nikon and Canon cameras:


The Kickstarter project gathered 3379 backers who invested 1.396.149$ in this project to make it happen. The lens can be purchased from www.lomography.com or on the Petzval project page.
    Speaking about the Petzval lens, it renders very beautifully in sunny weather, but when it's cloudy, I don't even take it out. I recommend using it for central compositions because sharpness is weakest in the center and the bokeh circles form a rounded progression. Here are some of my examples:

    With this lens it's comfortable and fast to manually focus, but at wide open aperture it's sometimes difficult to hit focus. Aperture changes by inserting lens aperture plates with holes, which is not as convenient and fast. The lens itself creates people wonder and interest because of its appearance. A good way to start a conversation about photography. There's also an option to buy a black version, but it's more expensive. I haven't seen sharper bokeh than what this lens renders.
    Video, where I show how bokeh changes when focusing with the Petzval lens at open f/2.2 aperture.

Helios 40-2

    Helios 40-2 lens is a Soviet legend. Unfortunately in the film era it wasn't as popular because it was expensive, weighed a lot and was large, as well as in the film era it was difficult to hit focus at wide open aperture, in the digital era we can shoot several variants without fear of running out of memory cards. This lens also has legendary bokeh and softness or haze. Some call it a defect and consider this haze to be ugly and a reject, others think that this unsharpness creates 3D volume  and beautiful dreaminess, and a feeling of old times in photos. The haze personally I don't like, but the resulting bokeh very much I do. The lens is very heavy and quite large. The most inconvenient lens to manually focus. Filmmakers will like it because the aperture closes without transitions, like it does on other lenses.
    Also be careful when buying Helios with its original mount (lens contact). If you buy a Helios lens with 42mm thread (original) and put it on a Nikon camera with an adapter, You won't be able to focus to infinity, or there will be other limitations on focus distance, because the distance from lens to camera sensor changes. In the test Helios and Petzval lenses have Nikon mount.
    Also the Helios 40-2 lens doesn't render beautiful bokeh circles at closed down apertures. The bokeh loses its circular shape and becomes more polygonal with each aperture step. Example, at aperture 2.8.
    Unfortunately I haven't tested the Helios lens in real shooting conditions. Once I shoot something interesting with it I'll put it up right away. For now you can look at test photos in the galleries.
    I recommend buying it new from the manufacturer website shop.zenit-foto.ru

Nikon AiS

    I really like Nikon's manual AiS lenses. Because of lens durability, size, bokeh, and color rendering. Manual focusing them is very easy. On film cameras focusing is not a problem because they have a built-in focusing screen, or focusing screen. With digital cameras it's a bit harder. I have an idea to put one of these focusing screens into my Nikon Df to make focusing even more comfortable. If I need to shoot for myself everyday and family photos, I gladly choose AiS, rather than G or D Nikon lenses.
    Also several Nikon AiS lenses are like an investment, because their price only keeps rising. It's getting harder and harder to buy legendary AiS lenses.

Video

    If you want to buy an 85mm lens for video, then I conclude that super sharpness and quality for video is not necessary, but the cutting bokeh can only help with artistic variations. Also auto focus is really not usable because of noise and imprecision. The newest and most modern lenses are also loud when manually focusing because they transmit sound through the body. I was surprised by the smoothness, quietness and convenience of AiS lenses when manually focusing. The first table has a "Video" link for each lens showing each lens's behavior when focusing both manually and with Nikon D750 autofocus.
    I filmed how each lens behaves when focusing both with auto mode and manually: AF-S Nikon 85mm f/1.8 G, AF-S Nikon 85mm f/1.4 G, AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 D, AiS Nikkor 85mm f/1.4, AiS Nikkor 85mm f/2.0, Helios 40-2-H 85mm f/1.5, Petzval Lens 85mm f2.2.

Conclusions

    The test very well shows how Nikon evolves over 35 years. AiS lenses which were produced from 1980-2000. Then came autofocus and the Nikon D version appeared 2000-2010. And in recent years the Nikon G series has come, where lenses are improved with various coatings (Nano Crystal Coat) and quiet autofocus motor (Silent Wave Motor), this is how they compete on quality and convenience. With each generation the glass elements themselves get larger, and, to optimize weight, metal construction parts are partially replaced by  durable plastic. It's surprising that Nikon AiS lenses are so popular that they're still being produced! As of now Nikon produces 8 manual lenses (unfortunately 85mm is not among them). Why is it still being produced? First of all I've noticed, that these lenses' color rendering is slightly more alive than modern lenses. Colors are more saturated and slightly more contrasty. Also the bokeh rendering is liked by many people. People often prefer the mood of photos rather than perfect sharpness. We also feel the mood of photos at 10x15cm print size, but sharpness can only be appreciated when enlarging the photo or printing it large. Also lenses are smaller and will last much longer than autofocus lenses.
    Modern contemporary Nikon lenses have improved sharpness at wide open apertures, but unfortunately aberrations remain :(. Bokeh also becomes monotonous and inexpressive, compared to both old Nikon manual lenses and Helios and Petzval lenses. You need to understand for yourself what's really needed. Focusing speed, sharpness, or bokeh? None of the lenses combines all three of these values. Nikon G series is very sharp, D version is very fast, but AiS version renders the most beautiful bokeh. Speaking about speed,, when I bought my first G version lens, I was surprised that it works a bit slower focusing on Nikon Pro bodies. Nikon G version has the quiet focusing motor inside the lens, but for the D version the focusing motor is in the camera, and is transmitted through a screw (cardan type). Therefore, the more expensive the camera, the better its autofocus motor. Nikon D series lenses have this kind of screw on the mount and the camera itself has this kind of screw. Thanks to these screws D series lenses focus. Many beginner cameras don't have this motor at all,, so you need to be careful when buying D series lenses. Here's a video test showing, that D series lenses focus faster on professional cameras. The fastest 85mm lens is considered to be Nikon 85mm f/1.8 D.
    A relevant question remains,, what's the benefit of f/1.4? If you don't need to shoot in dark spaces and at night, then you can easily get by with f/1.8. Aperture 1.4 will allow a bit more blurred background, the camera will have an easier time focusing in dark conditions because more light reaches the autofocus sensors. As for f/1.4 disadvantages, there's the lens expense, size and weight, and there will be more post-processing work removing aberrations. Adobe Lightroom helps fight aberrations, but they can't always be removed.
   
    DxoMark test shows that Nikon G version f/1.4 and f/1.8 are almost the same. The f/1.4 version has slightly higher resolution and slightly more aberrations. Nikon D version is still good and at larger apertures, if the camera's megapixel count is below 23,  you won't feel the difference.

There are a few more alternatives that I couldn't get for this test. That's the very good Samyang 85mm f/1.4, which is very similar to Nikon G series in terms of haziness at f/1.4, but without aberrations. You can see examples here. Samyang costs approximately 270 Eur new, but remember it's a manual lens.
Another alternative, which is already classified as top hi-end is Carl Zeiss Apo Planar Otus 85mm f1.4, which unfortunately is also manual and costs around 3500 Eur. It's an optics masterpiece, but unfortunately unattainable for me. I assume that for this price you'll get a great lens that embodies both great sharpness, beautiful bokeh, and minimal aberrations, but the price stings :)

Recommendations

    If you have to choose an 85mm lens in front of you, then you need to understand, who you are and what you want to shoot with it. If you're a professional and use high resolution Nikon cameras (24, 36mpix or more), and earn money with it, then quality is first and you should only choose between AF-S Nikon 85mm f/1.8 G and AF-S Nikon 85mm f/1.4 G. Here the choice depends on both money and preferences. If you shoot a lot in studio, then I would recommend the 1.8 version. If money is no obstacle and you want to play with 1.4 sometimes, then get 1.4.
    If you're a photojournalist or shoot a lot of weddings, and use a pro body, then I would recommend considering AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 D or AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D versions. With a stopped down aperture they don't differ much from G versions, however the focusing speed will be noticeable.
    If you're at amateur or hobby level, and don't mind manual focusing, then I recommend considering buying one of the AiS lenses or Samyang 85mm f/1.4.
    I would recommend Helios or Petzval as an additional effect lens if you already have one of the Nikon 85mm lenses. These are not everyday lenses, and as a first 85mm I wouldn't recommend them.

Test photos

    To write this article, I performed several tests of these 7 lenses, and, if someone wants to look more closely at large size files, here are the gallery links:
Sharpness test -

Vertical sharpness test - short version long version
Horizontal bokeh test 1 - short version long version
Horizontal bokeh test 2 - short version long version

In the long testing version I additionally added sharpness at infinity and at the closest possible focus.
While testing at one point I thought, that Helios is sort of similar to the Petzval lens, because Helios and Petzval are made by the same - Zenit. I had a feeling, that with the same aperture, the image would be similar, but I was wrong. Here's a test of all 7 lenses with approximately f/2.0 aperture:
Same aperture test
 

Share your experience with 85mm lenses.

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