Things We Love: Using Classic Lenses on Modern Digital Cameras

Although I’ll always be a film photography enthusiast, one of the things I love about digital cameras is the ability to create a more classic look by adapting vintage glass to DSLR and mirrorless models. Shooting with the optics of yesteryear opens you up to a world of alternatives, some of which are no longer made and, some of which, in my opinion, rival their modern counterparts. While there are modern lenses that offer advantages and improvements, photography isn’t always about maximum sharpness, intense contrast, super saturated colors, and perfectly controlled halation and flares. Sometimes, you want a look that has the edge taken off and doesn’t scream “digital.”

One of my favorite lenses to adapt is Canon’s FD 35mm f/2 SSC, which was made from March 1973 through April 1976. It features a concave front element, but what makes this lens truly unique is its design utilizes radioactive thorium elements to increase the refractive index while maintaining low dispersion. Not only is it very sharp, even wide open, but it renders images with a warmer color balance. Another personal favorite is the Meyer Optik Görlitz Primoplan 58mm f/1.9, an M42 lens that was manufactured in East Germany between 1952 and 1959. Although 58mm is an unusual focal length, its 14 aperture blades create some unique bokeh and its outdated coating renders lower contrast images with a timeless quality.

Above Photograph Canon 5D; ISO 400; 1/125 sec.; Nikon Micro-NIKKOR 55mm f/3.5 @ f/5.6

Photographs © John-Paul Palescondolo

If this is something you’d like to explore, here are a few tips to ensure a smooth experience that you’ll love just as much as I do:

1. Make sure the adapter in question retains infinity focus for your lens. Cameras are designed with a specific flange back distance, which is the distance between the lens mount and the image plane. Using a lens adapter can alter this distance, and problems will arise when the flange back distance for the lens and adapter becomes greater than that of the camera. The result is that the lens won’t be able to focus all the way to infinity, which will in turn throw off the focus markings, but you’ll still be able to use the lens for close-up work that doesn’t involve landscapes and distant subjects.
2. Try and use adapters that don’t contain a glass element. While glass elements are used to correct improper flange back distances and thus retain infinity focus, this extra piece of glass will affect the overall quality of your image. So, while there are certain instances where lenses cannot be adapted to retain infinity focus without the use of a glass element, you’ll need to determine whether any image degradation takes place and if it’s a worthwhile trade-off. One instance is where you may want to use a speed booster for mounting full-frame lenses on a smaller sensor and retain more of the full-frame angle of view.
3. If you’re shooting with a DSLR, make sure the mirror doesn’t hit the back of the lens when it flips up during an exposure. The closer you focus toward infinity, the closer the rear element of the lens moves toward the mirror. If it gets too close, there will be audible contact and error messages. Mirrorless users won’t have to worry about this.
4. Be sure the adapter you’re using allows for aperture control using the lens’s aperture ring, although there are some instances where adapters will have a built-in click-less aperture control ring, an integrated diaphragm, or even electronic contacts. However, those adapters usually lack f/stop markings, leaving you to guess how much light is being allowed in.
5. Autofocus, automatic diaphragm (AE metering), and other functions dependent on communication between the camera body and lens will usually be disrupted. You’ll need to focus manually, although some adapters do have a focus-confirmation chip, and some digital cameras come equipped with focus magnification and focus peaking functionalities. You’ll also need to set exposures manually or meter in aperture priority (stop-down) mode. Furthermore, Exif data won’t be recorded, which can be frustrating, especially if you like to know at which f/stop you were shooting.

However, as with any undertaking, there are those who have tried to talk me out of re-purposing these older lenses that were initially designed for 35mm photography because they feel today’s lenses are just better. Are today’s lenses truly better? As I wrote above, while there are modern lenses that do offer improvements, whether they are “better” is a subjective question. It depends on the photographer and what they’re trying to create/convey. There are also those who feel older lenses cannot fully resolve the higher megapixel counts of today’s digital sensors, and that these sensors will cause older lenses to exhibit diffraction sooner than they normally would, at f/4 or f/5.6 instead of f/11. However, don’t forget that these classic lenses are the same ones that allowed photographers to capture images on now-legendary high-resolution black-and-white negative films such as Kodak High Contrast Copy Film (5069), Kodak Technical Pan, and Agfa 25. All in all, I think those of us who take lenses designed for analog capture and mount them on digital bodies will be just fine.

B&H’s full list of available lens adapters, including ones that allow full electronic communication and Exif data for select cameras and lenses, can be found here.

I have personally adapted M42 and Nikon F lenses to the Canon 5D and Canon 5DS R, as well as Canon FD, M42, and Minolta MD lenses to the Sony a7R II and Sony a7R III. Do you have a vintage lens that you swear by when shooting digitally? Do you need advice in adapting lenses? Feel free to comment below.

The “Things We Love” series articles are written by B&H Photo Video Pro Audio staff to talk about products and items that we love. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the writers and do not represent product endorsements from B&H Photo Video Pro Audio.