Lens News

Why would anyone want to hang a manual focus vintage lens on a modern digital camera? Well, for starters, you can find used legacy lenses on eBay and elsewhere, and if you know what you’re looking for you’ll save big bucks in the process.

But as you’ll see in the video below, there are other reasons to use vintage lenses on your digital camera (with an inexpensive adapter), not the least of which is that there’s a lot of old glass that delivers impressive results. And many older lenses impart a unique look to your images.

One trick is understanding which legacy lenses are good candidates for mounting on digital cameras, and there are a few tricks to keep in mind if you want to give this a try. Fortunately, you’ll find everything you need to know in the video below.

Like most of us, photographer/filmmaker Curtis Padley loves saving money, and he regularly shoots with vintage lenses on his Sony A7R IV full-frame mirrorless camera. In this tutorial, he provides several reasons why he says, “You seriously need to start shooting with vintage lenses in 2021.”

Padley discusses what he looks for when shopping for old glass. And he demonstrates the different visual characteristics these optics provide, as compared to modern lenses optimized for digital cameras. Another thing to consider is that lenses designed for 35mm SLRs work great for both full-frame and crop-sensor digital cameras.

The video includes tips for shooting still images as well as video, and Padley provides helpful advice for getting sharp images with manual focus lenses. He also offers advice for achieving proper exposures, including using the aperture ring on the lens rather than setting your f/stop with the camera’s controls.

So watch the video and see if this is the right time for you to go back to the future. You may sacrifice a bit of contrast, or experience more flare, but sometimes that’s an interesting look. If you have a few vintage lenses in the back of you camera cabinet, it’s time to dig them out. And when you do, you’re likely to find that (unlike many of todays plastic lenses) they feature robust all-metal construction.

And be sure to check out Padley’s YouTube channel for more interesting videos.