The Helios was nice. I'd somehow missed the fact that speed boosters are now also called focal reducers. Nice if you have a stock of SLR lenses to use that you like. My favorite classics are all LSM/LTM lenses (which is why I went m4/3 in the first place) and discounting the Canon 50mm f/0.95, I'd have to say that my favorite is the Industar 61 L/D 55mm F/2.8, perhaps if only because I've had mine apart in order to adjust its focus and make it less loosey-goosey in general.
I really like late 60s/early 70s Pentax/Asahi lenses. I have a 55mm, 28mm, and 138mm. I have a few others, like a style zoom, another 28mm, plus a 35mm, but the brand names of those are escaping me at the moment. I'm using a BMPCC 4K with the 0.71x Metabones Speed Booster and the EF-Cine to MFT adapter. I just slap some M42 to EF adapters on them and I have a much lower crop factor, plus it's closer to the actual f-stop. Also, I modify them for a follow focus and I declick the aperture ring. I originally used them with an EOS M, because I only bought the body, and previous to that I was shooting film on some vintage Pentax and Yashica 35mm SLRs and I really liked the look of the lenses on them. I rented some more modern lenses, but the look was way too sharp and sterile for me. I really like the vintage lenses, so I just kept using them on my Black Magic. I also really like the Holga plastic lens, especially when I'm looking to get that old Super8 look. It just requires a LOT of light. This is a great channel. I really enjoy your work here. It's incredibly informative and entertaining.
Among my collection of nearly 100 vintage lenses which I shoot on both my Olympus E-M1 Mark ii and Sony A7r. My favs....24mm...Pentax Super Takumar 24 3.5, 28mm...Canon FDn 28 2.8, 35mm...Pentax Super-Multi-Coated 35 3.5, 50mm...Auto Yashinon DX 50 2.0, 135mm...Vivitar (Kino Precision) 135 3.5 'bright band'. CHEEERS
Just found your channel and OMG I LOVE YOU! You are absolutely delightful. Love your knowledge and definitely helping me in my analog photography journey. Keep up the fantastic work! YOU ROCK!
I love the vintage glass. My favourite by far is the KMZ Helios 44-m and when paired with a full frame camera to get the whole intended look it's something else. It's dead sharp in the centre and the fall off to swirlville is gorgeous. Great video and I'm looking forward to pt2 🖖😁
I started adapting older lenses back on my GH5 and loved them but once I stepped into full frame and got the full character of these lenses I fell in love even more. My current favorites are the Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 and Canon FD 28mm f/2.8. Those are always my 2 favorite lenses for street/walk-around photography.
Your timing is insane! I've been using my dad's yashica 50mm lens on my olympus em10 mark II for the last couple of months and I love it!! I haven't used my lumix 20mm ever since lol
I own a late version Auto Yashinon DX 50 f2. Incredible lens! Not the greatest when it comes to its technical abilities but oh man how it renders scenes when shot wide open is like nothing else. And I own around 25 vintage 50-55mm lenses.
@@kennyj604 I can totally relate! The lenses I know have are the 50mm f1.9 and the 28mm f2.8 (and a zoom lens f4 I don't really use) and they're gorgeous
GREAT video, Emily! The Helios looks interesting... I am old enough to have a number of 35mm SLR lenses, mostly Nikon and Olympus. The great thing about them is that they can take a beating and still render beautiful images! My favorite set up lately is my Nikon Zf with the Oly 50mm f/1.2. Just lovely. I also love some of those lenses on my Panasonic GX9 too but hadn't considered a focal reducer, so thank you!.... p.s. I love the background music... so fitting!
I've recently started my vintage lens collection. Started with the Helios 44-M which I first used when I started photography and recently bought a Jupiter 9 & Tair 11a. It's added another dimension to my photography and honestly worth every penny! Ps love your content, the editing style is 10/10.
You're fantastic. Thanks for the vintage lens recommendations. I'm a huge fan of the Nikkor 35mm f/2 myself. It's my first vintage lens love, and I've been looking for others like it every since. Btw, your style and creativity are a breath of fresh air
I found the old Mamiya 35mm SX lenses a couple years ago and was blown away by how good they are. They’ve flown under the radar completely, so are wildly cheap. The flares, sharpness, bokeh, and general clarity makes them a steal. I prefer them over vintage Nikon or Canon sets personally. They don’t produce the creamy bokeh look, more of a vintage hexagon or bubble bokeh look. Not a bad thing, just different. You do have to make some permanent modifications to get them on most modern cameras though…
Fantastic video! I’m quite new to photography and I’ve been binging your content! I’m not sure if I missed it but I was wondering what focal reducer did you use? I’ve been messing around with my G7 with the 25mm and it’s time to change up the lenses! Thanks for making amazing content 🙌🏻
Thank you!! Honestly unless you got for a premium and pricy Metabones focal reducer, I tend to just look on Ebay or amazon and see what I can find. I've had viltrox ones, and urth, and a few others 😊
My favourite lens for a film look is the M42 Auto Chinon 55mm f/1.7 - below f/2.8 it gives you a lower contrast, slightly dreamy vibe. By f/4 it sharpens up across the frame beautifully. At f/5.6 it's a match for anything old or new. All of which makes it such a versatile optic for whatever you're looking for. Plus it's TINY!
I have the Helios 44M-4. I like using it on full-frame bodies. It wasn't super cheap (about $100 after shipping/tax), but I like it a lot and don't regret the purchase.
I have a small collection of vintage lenses. But today, with cheap good chinese lenses i think there isn't a point in getting vintage lenses anymore. Good chinese manual lenses works without adapters and are better machined, without problems with fungus, rust, worn plastic, etc. I'm slowly replacing my vintage lenses for new cheapo manual ones, except for some special zooms. Regarding "vintage look" I prefer having a cleaner starting point and then edit to taste. You can always set the sharpness at minimun, use mist filters, and work your picture profile if you want to speed your post edit.
Very interesting you should say that... that's exactly what next week's video is about 😁 you can get some lovely "vintage" style lenses that are modern (and cheap!)
I think with some vintage lenses, it really is worth it but only if the lens has some character to it that you actually want. The Helios for instance with its bokeh shape being down to the shape of the apertue blades. There's a lot to be said for filtering and post processing to get a similar look, but tbh, it's far more work to fake it. One cheap and cheerful lens I used to own was a 28mm f2.8 Soligor on m42 mount. It was a bit heavier than I'd like, but it had the most gorgeous flaring pattern when you shoot with the light hitting it about 45 degrees off axis. Good if you want the JJ Abrams look... I'm looking forward to seeing what's in the vintage extreme category.
I've got a couple m42-mount lenses (35mm Pentax and a 135mm Takumar), with a Sony E-mount adapter. I love how they look, but as I'm considering switching to a M43-based system, I was wondering how well they would adapt. This video came out at just the right time for me--thanks for the advice!
I have four nifty fifty M42 lenses. My favourite is the Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Tessar 50mm f2.8, but the Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.8 is also very nice (and very compact). I wish, I had wide focal lengths in M42, but they tend to be more expensive, and my M42 cameras aren't good enough for that kind of investment. I prefer to use my M42 lenses on APS-C/full frame camera bodies - most recently on an old Sony NEX 5N with very satisfying results so far. One of the most "affordable" Leica M-mount lens btw. (40mm f2 Summicron-C) works very well on M43 camera bodies too. I wouldn't buy it for M43 alone, but if you already have it, the adapter is quite affordable 😉 Another adapter, I'm considering is for Minolta MD to M43, because Minolta...
As a much, MUCH cheaper option, I have loved the Sigma Mini-Wide II 28mm f2.8. It is not considered among the greats but seems to get things done pretty fabulously.
Love my vintage lenses and as an owner of a Sony a6500 and an Olympus EM5 mkiii I have to say they are more versatile on an APSC than MFT if like me you use cheaper dumb adapters, purely because of the doubling of focal length. However they are still great for close up images with lots of lovely bokeh. The only one that is probably a bit too long for MFT is my 135mm.
With mFT, you can just adapt old C-mount lenses designed for 16mm film cameras. Legit old cinema glass that is kind of affordable as everybody is just looting the S35 lenses.
I have a number of copies of the Helios 44, most of them the later 44-M2/4/6 to fit my film SLR bodies. For my digital M4/3 bodies, I have a 44 that pre-dates the "-2" (although not the highly coveted silver body 44 with the 13-blade aperture and the M39 mount), as well as a number of "-2" copies made by different factories. Some are so well built you wonder how come you paid so little for them, and others sound like a box of washers when you shake them so badly they were made. But they all have one thing in common - they make me smile. The Helios 44 range is totally bonkers, everybody should have at least one. Or two. Or more... :-D They are all different and unique, and I have started buying them now and again to give them away to my photography friends as presents. My other two favourite lenses from the USSR lens pantheon are the Jupiter 8 and Industar 26m (also called the 61 in more recent versions). The Industars are tack sharp, while the Jupiters are dreamy and soft. Also, the Industars and Jupiters are tiny little lenses made for range-finders, so use the Leica M39-mount. You can put a Jupiter 8 or Industar 61 with adapter on a small M4/3 body and still have something you can just about put in a pocket. I think that there have been more Industar 26m/61 lenses made than there are grains of sand on the beach, so they are super cheap at £15 or more. Jupiters are becoming a bit more rare, but you can still find prices ranging from £20 to stupid money (definitely not worth paying more than £40 for a standard one in mint condition, unless you are a collector of super-rare versions). These three vintage lenses had more impact on me than all of my fancy Lumix and Olympus native lenses combined, so I can heartily recommend you buying them. Super fun playing with these things! :-)
I know you made this a few months back... but I feel like the Lumix S9, has ushered in the new era of affordable compact full frame, making it easier to use these amazing vintage lenses and getting the entire image as originally intended.
Nice vid as always. I just have a question: What is a focal reducer? Is it a mount adapter or is it another accessory? Btw I signed up for playbook. That 4tb of free storage is super helpful
Indeed, she didn't explain this...I think* instead of plain (no optics) lens adapters to M43 you can get lens adapters from vintage to M43 WITH optics built in to shorten the focal lengths of the lens that is being used..... looks like around $200+ compared to maybe $25 for a non reducing adapter.
My farvorite is my Nikon 50mm 1.2 with metabones speedbooster making it a 0.80 lens on MFT. That means i can get some of the vintage full frame look in my Lumix camera. And honestly its easier to focus with it because of focus peaking and such then it ever was on my full frame nikon.
@@MicroFourNerds Sorry, but I cannot find any focal reducer for M42 lenses to M4/3 mount, certainly not from Viltrox. They only provide focal reducers for Nikon F or Canon EF lenses for M4/3.
@BerndMeyer56 another decent quality brand that isn't too pricy is K&F Concept. In fact looking at the images I think they might be re-badged viltrox ones they look identical to mine!
I have the Mamiya/Sekor 28mm and I agree it is an excellent filmic lens. I also have the M42 TL version of the Mamiya/Sekor 35mm f/2.8, 50mm f/2, 55mm f/1.8 and they are all excellent. My Helios 58mm f/2 44-2 is a good portrait lens.
What is/how does a focal reducer work? Can you use any brand or are there any compatibility restraints? Very great and interesting video, thank you! Love the look of the Mamiya lens!
So you need to buy the correct mount still, for example the focal reducer for all three of these lenses is the M42 to M43 adapter. It basically has a magnifying bit of glass inside, which makes your aperture better by one stop(!) And also helps reign in the focal length too. They're great! They are also known as "speed boosters" because they make the aperture better 😁
Would you recommend one @@MicroFourNerds. I Picked up a Chrome Helios 44-2 58mm posted from Ukraine 6 months ago. Super Takuma (with radioactive and golden glass) then a 300MM Tamron for moon shots and the odd bird snap on the feeder. Only went for the adapter so the reducer/speedbooster may be a good option.
Would you recommend one @@MicroFourNerds. I Picked up a Chrome Helios 44-2 58mm posted from Ukraine 6 months ago. Super Takuma (with radioactive and golden glass) then a 300MM Tamron for moon shots and the odd bird snap on the feeder. Only went for the adapter so the reducer/speedbooster may be a good option.
@jasonsika7205 I would recommend an adapter for sure, it will give you generally sharper results. It's almost like getting an entirely new lens, depending on whether you dumb adapt it or focal reduce - the effects and the focal length be very different 😊 but you can absolutely get good results without a focal reducer too.
Looks very nice but I've been burned on vintage lenses that were promised as 'working perfectly'. If I can figure out how the hell to fit FD lenses back together (or if M42 is a _lot_ easier to repair) I might recant, but 'til then 7artisans and Brightin Star will scratch my manual lens itch.
Out of those three, I like the Helios the best. I bought my Minolta SR mount lenses over 10 years ago and used them with MFT. 45mm F2 50mm F1.4 50mm F3.5 Macro 100mm F4 Macro 135mm F2.8 200mm F4 Now in the present time we can buy cheap Chinese lenses and not pay the inflated prices for Vintage lenses. With Chinese lenses you can get the F0.95 or F1.2 for a fraction of the Vintage prices.
Cool tricks and info. I like old Minolta manual mc and md lenses as well as Pentax. I’m old enough to remember some of what you showed… but there was no link to other videos to check out 😥 sad fail
I meant at the end at 9:08 you mention the other three categories of lenses and say check out this video next … no link there for me. I do look forward to part two next week.
The bokeh on mamiya on a crop is lovely, I wish you tested it on a full frame. And the question about helios anamorphic oval, did you put at the front end of the lens?
These lenses are still all way too good for what I’m looking for. I need some MFT lenses that are really, really bad for photos that look like memories or dreams. I don’t want to do it in post, or as little as possible, and ideally I’d rather that the poor quality really comes from the lens itself rather than an additional filter. Possibly with plastic elements or something like that. I got both the Olympus body cap lenses (9mm and 15mm f8 fixed aperture), but their quality is still much too good. Is there anything like that out there?
Need advice please. Im really interested in the Mamiya Sekor 28mm lens, i have a nikon z50, with the z mount system. What kind of an adapter do I need to make it work?
Hi there hope your are well I am interested in getting the seKor 28mm but I therer is other version sx cs ect Which one shoujd I get ? I have the 55sx f1.8 which is beautiful lens Regards Hamzee
Thank you! So I got two(!) Copies of the helios lens at a place called Bygone Times for £20. They were both just in this little random leather pouch labelled "lenses". Bargain!! Haha The other two I got from eBay. I play a lot of "ending soonest" to see the bids about to end, and sometimes you can find some real bargains. Also "lens job lot" "camera job lot" searches can give you a ton of hidden gems, if you don't mind staring at bad photos of dozens of lenses for an hour or so 😂
Hi. Loving the reviews! I am digging the 17mm and the 56mm. Which focal reducer did you use for them? Is it a direct m42 to m43 reducer? It is kinda difficult to find one in ph.
Hello Emily, thank you for this intresting video ! Just a question, a little far in the conversation you talk about viltrox as focal reducer. I searched but i didn't find something to M42 -> M4/3 in viltrox. Could you share a reference ? Did you use another brand in this case (i'm agree it's a good brand, cheaper than metabone...) ?
Which focal reducer do you recommend? Some of them seem really expensive and others suspiciously cheap. Also what are the downsides of using a focal reducer and an FF lens vs just buying a FF camera?
So the top tier brand for a focal reducer is Metabones. They sort of pioneered it in the first place I believe. I really like the viltrox ones, they're much more affordable and I've found them to be great! The main disadvantages of adapting a full frame lens with a focal reducer is you lose auto focus, and adding in one extra piece of glass to your system can always risk introducing flares etc. But the aps-c Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 is so popular on micro four thirds because with the focal reducer you get an even faster aperture! So it can be really beneficial
Hi. I very often use a Zuiko Olympus 50 mm f:1.8 and a Zuiko Olympus 135 mm f:3.5 with very good results. I don't what can be their current acquisition price, given that I own them from more than 40 years ago. But they are really good quality. But one question: given that I use them with a dumb adapter, which adds about 15 mm to the total length of the lens, is still "2x" the crop factor? Does that extra length add any mm to the equivalent focal length?
It would be a 2x crop factor on a micro four thirds camera (double the focal length), and either a 1.8 or 1.7x on an aps-c camera if you don't use a focal reducer 😊
You can buy a fabulous 35mm camera SLR or Point and Shoot and lens for the prior plus film and a lot of developing and printing for a minuscule fraction of the cost of a fabulous Digital camera. Cost is offset only if you buy cheap digital gear….and I know that’s your bag too. I shot film until digital cameras got to 10 Mp because they couldn’t really compete until they got to that point within my budget. I shoot digital and film now. Finding somewhere to process film is really difficult now and luckily i bought loads of 35mm expired film before the price of film became outrageous. There’s still something very exciting about not knowing how the shots will look until the film is processed. It’s much more haphazard but when you have to reload the media every 24 or 36 shots you think much more about shot composition. Love my Pentax, Fuji, Voigtlander and Olympus 35mm cameras.
Is that the zebra one? Looks really cool! I've got quite a few ttastisan lenses featuring in part two of this video (coming next week) but not that particular one sorry!
I really like your channel, but the „bargain“-narrative for adapting vintage lenses on mft feels like a joke to me - a (good?) focal reducer is about 300/400€, right? I can buy a canon 5d m2, a dumb adapter and all your lenses for that.
Ma My Ya :) I am old enough to know how it's pronounced :) I have a Mamiya C330 med Format film camera , check that bad boy out :) Love your vids, keep up the good work :)
Where are you finding these cheap lenses? I just had a look at ebay and there is no mamiya lenses in good condition under $250. Maybe you should be a lot more honest or be weary we all don't come from the UK. I pay AUstralian prices.
I can only share my own experiences at the end of the day. I am being honest. There would be absolutely no benefit to lie. These are used, very old lenses, so of course prices will fluctuate depending on how many are for sale in place to place.
I got a mamiya 55mm at an antique store for $20USD. Love the lens. Also picked up a 100mm telesandmar for $10. Half it finding the deals is going looking around. Look at thrift stores and antique stores. I check them out in whatever town I travel to. Hell, my adapters for them cost more than I paid for lens 🤣 I did just buy 2 Helios, 44m 2 and 44m 4 off eBay but had anamorphic mod and follow focus gears attached but were $100USD each. Shipped from Ukraine. But considering modern lenses like my Sony G master lens ran $2k each, that's a steal to me and had adapters included already to e mount. Nevermind cine lenses that budget level is around $1500 and wildly go up from there to tens of thousands. But that stuff is usually rented even by the pros.
I never think of lenses contributing to a "film look". I have a number of film emulation programs and some of them are pretty good, but I have yet to find anything that will make little square pixels look like film grain. I have the Mamiya Sekor and several Helios lenes, so I will have to play with and see. Interesting video.
I have the Helios from my days as an m42 shooter, so the second lens I put on my GX8 after the kit lens. I got a reversing ring at the same time so have used for macro, with some surprisingly retro-looking results. I also have what appears to be a copy of the Mamiya, badged as Soligor, which is in somewhat less than mint condition.
So which one was your fave? What other lenses would you recommend!
I really like the Helios, and the Mamiya
The Helios was nice. I'd somehow missed the fact that speed boosters are now also called focal reducers. Nice if you have a stock of SLR lenses to use that you like. My favorite classics are all LSM/LTM lenses (which is why I went m4/3 in the first place) and discounting the Canon 50mm f/0.95, I'd have to say that my favorite is the Industar 61 L/D 55mm F/2.8, perhaps if only because I've had mine apart in order to adjust its focus and make it less loosey-goosey in general.
I really like late 60s/early 70s Pentax/Asahi lenses. I have a 55mm, 28mm, and 138mm. I have a few others, like a style zoom, another 28mm, plus a 35mm, but the brand names of those are escaping me at the moment. I'm using a BMPCC 4K with the 0.71x Metabones Speed Booster and the EF-Cine to MFT adapter. I just slap some M42 to EF adapters on them and I have a much lower crop factor, plus it's closer to the actual f-stop. Also, I modify them for a follow focus and I declick the aperture ring.
I originally used them with an EOS M, because I only bought the body, and previous to that I was shooting film on some vintage Pentax and Yashica 35mm SLRs and I really liked the look of the lenses on them. I rented some more modern lenses, but the look was way too sharp and sterile for me. I really like the vintage lenses, so I just kept using them on my Black Magic.
I also really like the Holga plastic lens, especially when I'm looking to get that old Super8 look. It just requires a LOT of light.
This is a great channel. I really enjoy your work here. It's incredibly informative and entertaining.
Minolta MD Rokkor 50 mm f/1.4 and the 58mm f/1.4. Also the Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 SSC
Among my collection of nearly 100 vintage lenses which I shoot on both my Olympus E-M1 Mark ii and Sony A7r. My favs....24mm...Pentax Super Takumar 24 3.5, 28mm...Canon FDn 28 2.8, 35mm...Pentax Super-Multi-Coated 35 3.5, 50mm...Auto Yashinon DX 50 2.0, 135mm...Vivitar (Kino Precision) 135 3.5 'bright band'. CHEEERS
Emily keeps improving video quality with every video, I can't tell you how excited I get for every new upload !
Thanks so much I really appreciate that!
Helios has a pseudoanamorphic look and I'm all here for it!
Just found your channel and OMG I LOVE YOU! You are absolutely delightful. Love your knowledge and definitely helping me in my analog photography journey. Keep up the fantastic work! YOU ROCK!
I love the vintage glass. My favourite by far is the KMZ Helios 44-m and when paired with a full frame camera to get the whole intended look it's something else. It's dead sharp in the centre and the fall off to swirlville is gorgeous.
Great video and I'm looking forward to pt2 🖖😁
I started adapting older lenses back on my GH5 and loved them but once I stepped into full frame and got the full character of these lenses I fell in love even more.
My current favorites are the Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 and Canon FD 28mm f/2.8. Those are always my 2 favorite lenses for street/walk-around photography.
P.s. part two coming next week 😁
Great lens, wow sometimes its all about what you can do with them and you created some good images out of them, weldone
Your timing is insane! I've been using my dad's yashica 50mm lens on my olympus em10 mark II for the last couple of months and I love it!! I haven't used my lumix 20mm ever since lol
my uncle gave me his lenses too, so it became a cheap way to try on new focal lenghts! And the results are great!
I own a late version Auto Yashinon DX 50 f2. Incredible lens! Not the greatest when it comes to its technical abilities but oh man how it renders scenes when shot wide open is like nothing else. And I own around 25 vintage 50-55mm lenses.
@@kennyj604 I can totally relate! The lenses I know have are the 50mm f1.9 and the 28mm f2.8 (and a zoom lens f4 I don't really use) and they're gorgeous
I have a pentacon praktica 50mm 1.8 on my Lumix GX80 and I have to say its rebooted my photography, just love it !!
GREAT video, Emily! The Helios looks interesting... I am old enough to have a number of 35mm SLR lenses, mostly Nikon and Olympus. The great thing about them is that they can take a beating and still render beautiful images! My favorite set up lately is my Nikon Zf with the Oly 50mm f/1.2. Just lovely. I also love some of those lenses on my Panasonic GX9 too but hadn't considered a focal reducer, so thank you!.... p.s. I love the background music... so fitting!
I've recently started my vintage lens collection. Started with the Helios 44-M which I first used when I started photography and recently bought a Jupiter 9 & Tair 11a. It's added another dimension to my photography and honestly worth every penny! Ps love your content, the editing style is 10/10.
You're fantastic. Thanks for the vintage lens recommendations. I'm a huge fan of the Nikkor 35mm f/2 myself. It's my first vintage lens love, and I've been looking for others like it every since. Btw, your style and creativity are a breath of fresh air
I found the old Mamiya 35mm SX lenses a couple years ago and was blown away by how good they are. They’ve flown under the radar completely, so are wildly cheap. The flares, sharpness, bokeh, and general clarity makes them a steal. I prefer them over vintage Nikon or Canon sets personally. They don’t produce the creamy bokeh look, more of a vintage hexagon or bubble bokeh look. Not a bad thing, just different. You do have to make some permanent modifications to get them on most modern cameras though…
I like how you separated vintage lenses into 4 categories! Waiting for the modern vintage video
Fantastic video! I’m quite new to photography and I’ve been binging your content! I’m not sure if I missed it but I was wondering what focal reducer did you use? I’ve been messing around with my G7 with the 25mm and it’s time to change up the lenses! Thanks for making amazing content 🙌🏻
Thank you!! Honestly unless you got for a premium and pricy Metabones focal reducer, I tend to just look on Ebay or amazon and see what I can find. I've had viltrox ones, and urth, and a few others 😊
My favourite lens for a film look is the M42 Auto Chinon 55mm f/1.7 - below f/2.8 it gives you a lower contrast, slightly dreamy vibe. By f/4 it sharpens up across the frame beautifully. At f/5.6 it's a match for anything old or new. All of which makes it such a versatile optic for whatever you're looking for. Plus it's TINY!
I use a Nikon 50 f 1.4, a 100 mm 1.4 nice.....great lens. And 20 mm f 3.5 Nikon.
theres also minolta lenses that are criminally underrated and deliver good images at a good price
I have the Helios 44M-4. I like using it on full-frame bodies. It wasn't super cheap (about $100 after shipping/tax), but I like it a lot and don't regret the purchase.
Great to see this. I shoot mainly vintage lenses on all my cameras.
I have a small collection of vintage lenses. But today, with cheap good chinese lenses i think there isn't a point in getting vintage lenses anymore. Good chinese manual lenses works without adapters and are better machined, without problems with fungus, rust, worn plastic, etc. I'm slowly replacing my vintage lenses for new cheapo manual ones, except for some special zooms.
Regarding "vintage look" I prefer having a cleaner starting point and then edit to taste. You can always set the sharpness at minimun, use mist filters, and work your picture profile if you want to speed your post edit.
Very interesting you should say that... that's exactly what next week's video is about 😁 you can get some lovely "vintage" style lenses that are modern (and cheap!)
What you do is amazing. Very good video. Do you feel like grading the Mamiya lens and adding contrast couldve make it less soft looking?
I think with some vintage lenses, it really is worth it but only if the lens has some character to it that you actually want. The Helios for instance with its bokeh shape being down to the shape of the apertue blades.
There's a lot to be said for filtering and post processing to get a similar look, but tbh, it's far more work to fake it.
One cheap and cheerful lens I used to own was a 28mm f2.8 Soligor on m42 mount. It was a bit heavier than I'd like, but it had the most gorgeous flaring pattern when you shoot with the light hitting it about 45 degrees off axis. Good if you want the JJ Abrams look...
I'm looking forward to seeing what's in the vintage extreme category.
I've got a couple m42-mount lenses (35mm Pentax and a 135mm Takumar), with a Sony E-mount adapter. I love how they look, but as I'm considering switching to a M43-based system, I was wondering how well they would adapt. This video came out at just the right time for me--thanks for the advice!
I have a sony e mount and love how it works with vintage lenses. I also have M43 system and I don't enjoy it as much.
I have four nifty fifty M42 lenses. My favourite is the Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Tessar 50mm f2.8, but the Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.8 is also very nice (and very compact). I wish, I had wide focal lengths in M42, but they tend to be more expensive, and my M42 cameras aren't good enough for that kind of investment.
I prefer to use my M42 lenses on APS-C/full frame camera bodies - most recently on an old Sony NEX 5N with very satisfying results so far.
One of the most "affordable" Leica M-mount lens btw. (40mm f2 Summicron-C) works very well on M43 camera bodies too. I wouldn't buy it for M43 alone, but if you already have it, the adapter is quite affordable 😉
Another adapter, I'm considering is for Minolta MD to M43, because Minolta...
As a much, MUCH cheaper option, I have loved the Sigma Mini-Wide II 28mm f2.8. It is not considered among the greats but seems to get things done pretty fabulously.
The Helios photos and clip looked wonderful. Character.
I'm so over "get-the-film-look" yt videos, but the comparison shots were particularly inspired
Takumar 55mm f2, pentacon 50mm f1.8
Pentax 50mm f1.7 worth trying used only vintage lenses to create my clips.
Great production value!
Love my vintage lenses and as an owner of a Sony a6500 and an Olympus EM5 mkiii I have to say they are more versatile on an APSC than MFT if like me you use cheaper dumb adapters, purely because of the doubling of focal length. However they are still great for close up images with lots of lovely bokeh. The only one that is probably a bit too long for MFT is my 135mm.
Love your content! Litterally you made me get back to the photography and grab a M4/3, Thank you for that!... Cheers from Colombia 😎
With mFT, you can just adapt old C-mount lenses designed for 16mm film cameras. Legit old cinema glass that is kind of affordable as everybody is just looting the S35 lenses.
I have a number of copies of the Helios 44, most of them the later 44-M2/4/6 to fit my film SLR bodies. For my digital M4/3 bodies, I have a 44 that pre-dates the "-2" (although not the highly coveted silver body 44 with the 13-blade aperture and the M39 mount), as well as a number of "-2" copies made by different factories. Some are so well built you wonder how come you paid so little for them, and others sound like a box of washers when you shake them so badly they were made. But they all have one thing in common - they make me smile. The Helios 44 range is totally bonkers, everybody should have at least one. Or two. Or more... :-D They are all different and unique, and I have started buying them now and again to give them away to my photography friends as presents. My other two favourite lenses from the USSR lens pantheon are the Jupiter 8 and Industar 26m (also called the 61 in more recent versions). The Industars are tack sharp, while the Jupiters are dreamy and soft. Also, the Industars and Jupiters are tiny little lenses made for range-finders, so use the Leica M39-mount. You can put a Jupiter 8 or Industar 61 with adapter on a small M4/3 body and still have something you can just about put in a pocket. I think that there have been more Industar 26m/61 lenses made than there are grains of sand on the beach, so they are super cheap at £15 or more. Jupiters are becoming a bit more rare, but you can still find prices ranging from £20 to stupid money (definitely not worth paying more than £40 for a standard one in mint condition, unless you are a collector of super-rare versions). These three vintage lenses had more impact on me than all of my fancy Lumix and Olympus native lenses combined, so I can heartily recommend you buying them. Super fun playing with these things! :-)
I've been watching some Jupiter lenses for a while! Just waiting for the right quality and price they look superb!
I love the bargain aspect of this channel! sub! Greetings from up north!
Gosh!!! you are good. Very on point
I know you made this a few months back... but I feel like the Lumix S9, has ushered in the new era of affordable compact full frame, making it easier to use these amazing vintage lenses and getting the entire image as originally intended.
I totally agree! The s9 could be a manual lens smaller setup. Everything mounts to L Mount it's so easy!
Side note all lenses despite what sensor they are made for are what they say they are. Crop factors are always applied if it’s not full frame.
love your vibe!!!
I'm just glad you didn't mention my vintage mount so I can keep getting my weird €10 lenses uninterrupted 😅
Nice vid as always. I just have a question: What is a focal reducer? Is it a mount adapter or is it another accessory? Btw I signed up for playbook. That 4tb of free storage is super helpful
Indeed, she didn't explain this...I think* instead of plain (no optics) lens adapters to M43 you can get lens adapters from vintage to M43 WITH optics built in to shorten the focal lengths of the lens that is being used..... looks like around $200+ compared to maybe $25 for a non reducing adapter.
@unionse7en Ah that makes so much sense. I thought I had to mount so many things on my camera. Thank you for the info!
I loved your video. Very useful. Thank you!
My farvorite is my Nikon 50mm 1.2 with metabones speedbooster making it a 0.80 lens on MFT. That means i can get some of the vintage full frame look in my Lumix camera. And honestly its easier to focus with it because of focus peaking and such then it ever was on my full frame nikon.
Which focal reducer can you recommend? Whenever I play with the thought of getting one, the Amazon reviews will prevent me of getting one
I like the Viltrox focal reducers personally, it's a good sweetspot for the price and quality
@@MicroFourNerds Sorry, but I cannot find any focal reducer for M42 lenses to M4/3 mount, certainly not from Viltrox. They only provide focal reducers for Nikon F or Canon EF lenses for M4/3.
@BerndMeyer56 another decent quality brand that isn't too pricy is K&F Concept. In fact looking at the images I think they might be re-badged viltrox ones they look identical to mine!
I have the Mamiya/Sekor 28mm and I agree it is an excellent filmic lens. I also have the M42 TL version of the Mamiya/Sekor 35mm f/2.8, 50mm f/2, 55mm f/1.8 and they are all excellent. My Helios 58mm f/2 44-2 is a good portrait lens.
Hi there which of the seKor do you have there’re a about three which is is the better one or are they all the same
What is/how does a focal reducer work? Can you use any brand or are there any compatibility restraints? Very great and interesting video, thank you! Love the look of the Mamiya lens!
So you need to buy the correct mount still, for example the focal reducer for all three of these lenses is the M42 to M43 adapter. It basically has a magnifying bit of glass inside, which makes your aperture better by one stop(!) And also helps reign in the focal length too. They're great!
They are also known as "speed boosters" because they make the aperture better 😁
@@MicroFourNerds Amazing thank you!! Love your channel as a camera newbie!
Would you recommend one @@MicroFourNerds. I Picked up a Chrome Helios 44-2 58mm posted from Ukraine 6 months ago. Super Takuma (with radioactive and golden glass) then a 300MM Tamron for moon shots and the odd bird snap on the feeder. Only went for the adapter so the reducer/speedbooster may be a good option.
Would you recommend one @@MicroFourNerds. I Picked up a Chrome Helios 44-2 58mm posted from Ukraine 6 months ago. Super Takuma (with radioactive and golden glass) then a 300MM Tamron for moon shots and the odd bird snap on the feeder. Only went for the adapter so the reducer/speedbooster may be a good option.
@jasonsika7205 I would recommend an adapter for sure, it will give you generally sharper results. It's almost like getting an entirely new lens, depending on whether you dumb adapt it or focal reduce - the effects and the focal length be very different 😊 but you can absolutely get good results without a focal reducer too.
Love this video
Looks very nice but I've been burned on vintage lenses that were promised as 'working perfectly'. If I can figure out how the hell to fit FD lenses back together (or if M42 is a _lot_ easier to repair) I might recant, but 'til then 7artisans and Brightin Star will scratch my manual lens itch.
Out of those three, I like the Helios the best.
I bought my Minolta SR mount lenses over 10 years ago and used them with MFT.
45mm F2
50mm F1.4
50mm F3.5 Macro
100mm F4 Macro
135mm F2.8
200mm F4
Now in the present time we can buy cheap Chinese lenses and not pay the inflated prices for Vintage lenses.
With Chinese lenses you can get the F0.95 or F1.2 for a fraction of the Vintage prices.
Very nice! And yes, I definitely agree there are some fab modern alternatives now!
Idk where you're finding these prices, can't find the Helios for anywhere under £50 unfortunately
I´m new to MFT, so which focal reducer would you recommend, Emily? Nice videos btw👍
Great vids. Love MFT system
Cool tricks and info. I like old Minolta manual mc and md lenses as well as Pentax. I’m old enough to remember some of what you showed… but there was no link to other videos to check out 😥 sad fail
You mean part two? It'll be out next week and I'll link it at the end then 😊
I meant at the end at 9:08 you mention the other three categories of lenses and say check out this video next … no link there for me. I do look forward to part two next week.
vintage lenses have become a bit of an obsession, biggest problem is hiding them from the missus 🥴
The bokeh on mamiya on a crop is lovely, I wish you tested it on a full frame. And the question about helios anamorphic oval, did you put at the front end of the lens?
On the front of the lens like a filter 😊
Emily, LOVE your channel! Can you tell me what focal reducer to buy? Or what works with each of the lenses you discussed here? TIA.
loved this vid!!!!!!
These lenses are still all way too good for what I’m looking for. I need some MFT lenses that are really, really bad for photos that look like memories or dreams. I don’t want to do it in post, or as little as possible, and ideally I’d rather that the poor quality really comes from the lens itself rather than an additional filter. Possibly with plastic elements or something like that. I got both the Olympus body cap lenses (9mm and 15mm f8 fixed aperture), but their quality is still much too good. Is there anything like that out there?
The next video after this one has some pretty extreme examples which might work!
Need advice please. Im really interested in the Mamiya Sekor 28mm lens, i have a nikon z50, with the z mount system. What kind of an adapter do I need to make it work?
Could you do a spray painting video please
Where are you finding the Mayima for £10? Cheapest I found in the us is $70
I have a video on my bargain hunting methods due next week 😊
where do you find these lenses and on a good deal ?
Hi there hope your are well I am interested in getting the seKor 28mm but I therer is other version sx cs ect Which one shoujd I get ? I have the 55sx f1.8 which is beautiful lens
Regards Hamzee
I love your energy Emily great video but I would love to know were you buy your lenses 😊
Thank you!
So I got two(!) Copies of the helios lens at a place called Bygone Times for £20. They were both just in this little random leather pouch labelled "lenses". Bargain!! Haha
The other two I got from eBay. I play a lot of "ending soonest" to see the bids about to end, and sometimes you can find some real bargains. Also "lens job lot" "camera job lot" searches can give you a ton of hidden gems, if you don't mind staring at bad photos of dozens of lenses for an hour or so 😂
@@MicroFourNerds thanks I must try harder to find some of my own bargains 😊
Hi. Loving the reviews! I am digging the 17mm and the 56mm. Which focal reducer did you use for them? Is it a direct m42 to m43 reducer? It is kinda difficult to find one in ph.
I've been looking for some of these lenses, but none are cheaper than $100 USD.
Hello Emily, thank you for this intresting video !
Just a question, a little far in the conversation you talk about viltrox as focal reducer. I searched but i didn't find something to M42 -> M4/3 in viltrox. Could you share a reference ? Did you use another brand in this case (i'm agree it's a good brand, cheaper than metabone...) ?
What font is that? (The yellowish 'film' fonts used on the overlay)
I don’t understand the point of buying vintage glass then interposing a modern focal reducer (a glass element). Just not my thing. Those prices tho 😂.
Which focal reducer do you recommend? Some of them seem really expensive and others suspiciously cheap. Also what are the downsides of using a focal reducer and an FF lens vs just buying a FF camera?
So the top tier brand for a focal reducer is Metabones. They sort of pioneered it in the first place I believe. I really like the viltrox ones, they're much more affordable and I've found them to be great!
The main disadvantages of adapting a full frame lens with a focal reducer is you lose auto focus, and adding in one extra piece of glass to your system can always risk introducing flares etc.
But the aps-c Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 is so popular on micro four thirds because with the focal reducer you get an even faster aperture! So it can be really beneficial
How you edit the intro ?
How much are metabone speed boosters compared to the cheap lenses, I have om, m43 and canon fd lenses which were cheapish, thanks.
What m42 speed booster are you using and do you recommend it?
I have Viltrox branded speed boosters, they're usually a good price and well made
Hi. I very often use a Zuiko Olympus 50 mm f:1.8 and a Zuiko Olympus 135 mm f:3.5 with very good results. I don't what can be their current acquisition price, given that I own them from more than 40 years ago. But they are really good quality.
But one question: given that I use them with a dumb adapter, which adds about 15 mm to the total length of the lens, is still "2x" the crop factor? Does that extra length add any mm to the equivalent focal length?
It would be a 2x crop factor on a micro four thirds camera (double the focal length), and either a 1.8 or 1.7x on an aps-c camera if you don't use a focal reducer 😊
Well done on this work . This is impressive and helpful
You can buy a fabulous 35mm camera SLR or Point and Shoot and lens for the prior plus film and a lot of developing and printing for a minuscule fraction of the cost of a fabulous Digital camera. Cost is offset only if you buy cheap digital gear….and I know that’s your bag too. I shot film until digital cameras got to 10 Mp because they couldn’t really compete until they got to that point within my budget. I shoot digital and film now. Finding somewhere to process film is really difficult now and luckily i bought loads of 35mm expired film before the price of film became outrageous. There’s still something very exciting about not knowing how the shots will look until the film is processed. It’s much more haphazard but when you have to reload the media every 24 or 36 shots you think much more about shot composition. Love my Pentax, Fuji, Voigtlander and Olympus 35mm cameras.
Can you make a review on ttartisan 23mm f1.4 lens for the m43 mount!?
Is that the zebra one? Looks really cool! I've got quite a few ttastisan lenses featuring in part two of this video (coming next week) but not that particular one sorry!
You definitely need to review the 23mm TTA lens!!!!@@MicroFourNerds
I really like your channel, but the „bargain“-narrative for adapting vintage lenses on mft feels like a joke to me - a (good?) focal reducer is about 300/400€, right? I can buy a canon 5d m2, a dumb adapter and all your lenses for that.
God no! The ones I buy in ebay are like £40 at the absolute most!
Ma My Ya :) I am old enough to know how it's pronounced :) I have a Mamiya C330 med Format film camera , check that bad boy out :) Love your vids, keep up the good work :)
Haha I knew I'd get it wrong 😂 thank you!
It's a Japanese company, so you'd actually pronounce it like Ma Me Ya, just like @microfournerds did!
Yea, MF older lenses are so cool
Where are you finding these cheap lenses? I just had a look at ebay and there is no mamiya lenses in good condition under $250. Maybe you should be a lot more honest or be weary we all don't come from the UK. I pay AUstralian prices.
I can only share my own experiences at the end of the day. I am being honest. There would be absolutely no benefit to lie. These are used, very old lenses, so of course prices will fluctuate depending on how many are for sale in place to place.
I got a mamiya 55mm at an antique store for $20USD. Love the lens. Also picked up a 100mm telesandmar for $10. Half it finding the deals is going looking around. Look at thrift stores and antique stores. I check them out in whatever town I travel to. Hell, my adapters for them cost more than I paid for lens 🤣
I did just buy 2 Helios, 44m 2 and 44m 4 off eBay but had anamorphic mod and follow focus gears attached but were $100USD each. Shipped from Ukraine. But considering modern lenses like my Sony G master lens ran $2k each, that's a steal to me and had adapters included already to e mount.
Nevermind cine lenses that budget level is around $1500 and wildly go up from there to tens of thousands. But that stuff is usually rented even by the pros.
Anamorphic?
Is your accent a soft Liverpudlian?
I've worked a lot in Liverpool, I like to think of myself as an honorary scouser haha
If you like film look buy film camera. And no film is not that expensive compared to hours spend in front of photoshop chasing film look.
28mm in M43 is... 28 mm. The "crop" is simply the are captured, using full frame as a reference.
Camera manufacturers work for years to make better camera , better image quality . The photographer: I like film look. 😂😂😂.
I never think of lenses contributing to a "film look". I have a number of film emulation programs and some of them are pretty good, but I have yet to find anything that will make little square pixels look like film grain. I have the Mamiya Sekor and several Helios lenes, so I will have to play with and see. Interesting video.
I have the Helios from my days as an m42 shooter, so the second lens I put on my GX8 after the kit lens. I got a reversing ring at the same time so have used for macro, with some surprisingly retro-looking results. I also have what appears to be a copy of the Mamiya, badged as Soligor, which is in somewhat less than mint condition.
What adaptors did you use?