Important Things To Know When Using Vintage Lenses on Mirrorless Cameras

[@williammoskovitz7772]

Very informative video !!! I use a EM10 MarkII with different vintage lenses. One note worth mentioning regarding Zoom vintage lenses. When you are zooming the camera can't know what focal length is being used. So as "Rob Trek" suggests, just turn your image stabilization off and use the reciprocal rule and shoot in full Manual mode. If you pick 35mm then set your shutter speed to 70 (reciprocal rule of doubling your shutter speed). If you pick 105mm for example pick at least 200 shutter speed. And, pick auto ISO mode.

[@dongummphotography]

That would certainly work. I don't use vintage zooms much but that is s good way to manage it. Thanks for watching!

[@robertmilligan3950]

What a wonderful instructive video. I use a lumix gx80 in Derbyshire uk, and am enjoying using vintage lenses.

[@dongummphotography]

@@robertmilligan3950 Thank you!

[@ferencmolnar6086]

on my gx85 i have the same adapter which i filed a bit here and there to accomodate an altix-n mount Zeiss Tessar lens. i only comment this if someone would bump into this info looking for similar solution for his/her issues. i'm new to vintage lenses, this video cleared some questions i had, thanks!

[@dongummphotography]

@ferencmolnar6086 Good information! Thanks for sharing!

[@bernym4047]

Some very useful information. I have some Canon FD lenses that I enjoy using. Thank you. A very well produced video.

[@dongummphotography]

Thank you! Thanks for watching and commenting too!

[@alangamble3236]

I have a couple of FD lenses including a 100mm f2.8 which I attach to my EM1 mki. It produces great images.

[@dongummphotography]

@@alangamble3236 Canon FD lenses are usually excellent lenses. I used to shoot some Canons back in the days of film.

[@alangamble3236]

@@dongummphotography a couple of years ago I picked up a Canon AE1 in an antique store, it was in a filthy case and the seller didn’t know much about them, I bought it for £30. It was couples with the standard 50 mm lens but despite the case being in shocking condition the camera and lens were mint. I had it serviced and ran a film through it ….perfect results couldn’t believe my luck. As with most of my film cameras it doesn’t get used much at all.

[@thegreatvanziniphotos5976]

& it gives a great sense of,,,,, The Good Old Days. Great vid!!!

[@dongummphotography]

Indeed! Thanks for watching!

[@gregfeeler6910]

Nice video! These tips are also useful if you want to shoot with some of the new (mostly) Chinese fully manual lenses like from TTArtisan, Lowa, Brightin Star, and so on. Once you get comfortable using manual focus lenses it can open up a whole new world of interesting, and often very inexpensive, glass.

[@dongummphotography]

So true! Thanks for watching!

[@nicedward7544]

The best thing to nail focus is to turn focus peaking to red or yellow and switch your camera into b&w mode while shooting raw. You can see the peaking much better this way! As long as you shoot raw it will save the color photo when shooting in a b&w profile.

[@dongummphotography]

@nicedward7544 great tip! Thanks!

[@holzvvrm7718]

With Panasonic you can even set your liveview to black and white so you can shoot regular color jpgs and still get the benefit

[@Isamolle]

Thanks! 💛

[@dongummphotography]

@@Isamolle Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@meggys222]

that Olympus camera and the lens are a gorgeous kit sir

[@dongummphotography]

@@meggys222 Thank you! I am quite fond of them.

[@alangamble3236]

Hi Don in my February/March spending spree I also obtained a TTartisan 25 mm f2 to have a bit of manual fun

[@dongummphotography]

Nice! Always good to have a fast normal lens!

[@petermcginty3636]

Dom, I jumped in and bought an Olympus 135mm f3.5 OM mount or my OM-5. I am looking forward to having some fun with this new lens. Thanks for all your tips, Peter.m

[@dongummphotography]

I bet it will be a great lens! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@charliejg]

Nice explanations of these points regarding the use of vintage lenses. I haven't yet used any screw mount lenses, but I'd imagine variations in threads could make that last point even more of an issue. I find using vintages lenses a lot of fun. I have a couple FD lenses(28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8 and 135mm f3.5), a Rikenon from my Ricoh X-RP(35-70mm), and a Pentax-M 50mm f1.7 that I shoot on my X-T3. One thing I've found is that although you can find vintage lenses at relatively good prices, some of the wider focal lengths can be quite expensive because the videography folks like them. I'd really like to get an FD24mm, but they can be really expensive. Thanks again for a well done, informative video. BTW, I almost went into the Olympus system a few years back because I live in the Lehigh Valley where the company headquarters is located and I knew an employee who was able to get discounts. Somehow I never did it and we know what happened to the company! I do wish I had gotten one of the smaller bodies though. Take care and have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

[@dongummphotography]

Thank you, and thanks for watching and commenting too!

[@hansemannluchter643]

Basically, there are 2 screw-mounts, M42 (East-German), also known as "Pentax thread mount", and M39 (Leica). The M42 mount was "open source", so lense- manufacturers didn't have to pay royalties to use it. Therefore you can find literally thousands of different M42-lenses, and some of them are absolutely amazing. Fex the Sigma Mini-Wide MC 28mm f2.8.

[@charliejg]

@@hansemannluchter643 Thanks!!

[@keithwilkinson8310]

Thanks for an interesting and useful video. I sometimes use vintage lenses. I find focus peaking incredibly useful although I do not find it as fast to find focus as the micro-prism and split-image centre area that used to be on manual SLR focus screens. I have several Olympus MFT cameras and different lens-mount adapters to use with vintage lenses: M42/PK/OM/L39. I also have a Sony A7 camera that I use only for vintage lenses with adapters. I have noticed that all of the MFT adapters on Olympus cameras allow the lens to focus beyond infinity as you point out, but none of the E-mount adapters do this, indicated infinity is infinity on the Sony. But I have also noticed that the required infinity focus correction is different depending on which MFT camera I use. This seems to be because some MFT cameras have slightly less than required mount to sensor distance. Of course that is not noticeable with an autofocus lens but it can matter with a native MFT mount manual focus lens as I discovered with my modern TTArtisan 7.5mm lens which has a factory fitted MFT mount. Its depth of field is of course enormous and I expected to be able to leave the lens at indicated infinity and have almost everything in focus. This exactly what I get when the TTArtisan lens is mounted on omy EM1-II, but not on my EPL7, EM10-II and EM5-III where I have to manually focus just before indicated infinity to get infinity focus. I first noticed this because TTArtisan photos taken on EM1-II were sharp at indicated infinity but on the other cameras were not: very annoying, especially with the EPL7 where it would be nice to shoot from the waist at indicated infinity without need to check infinity focus first. I wonder if other MFT cameras have this, or have my cameras shrunk slightly!

[@dongummphotography]

That is really interesting! I'll have to do a comparison among my M43 cameras! I wonder if this difference is a product of the IBIS? Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@keithwilkinson8310]

@@dongummphotography Thanks. I had not thought about the possible effect of IBIS on mount distance, The A7 does not have IBIS

[@steveworthington930]

Takes me back to film day,s Don. Set infinity then back a gnat,s! The OMD Mki/ii etc allow you to type in make of len,s & focal lenth, important for IBIS. Zoom adapted lenses I think you dial in minimum focal lenth if memory serves. I can recommend Minolta glass. Gives an undigital look, old school, agian film day,s. ATB.

[@dongummphotography]

Good to know! I love some of my old Minolta glass! Thanks for watching!

[@alangamble3236]

@@dongummphotographyI have a Minolta 55 mm on my EM1 , almost made for each other beautiful results

[@thaikramom]

A more important reason for using the lens hood (which is a must have if you don't want to be frustrated by the lack of contrast in your images) is the light bouncing inside the adapter, since it wasn't supposed to be there to begin with, that reduces overall contrast, adds CA and fringing/ghosting. Lens age also plays a role, but not nearly as much as the light bouncing inside the adapter (I've experienced it with a fairly modern 4/3 lens from Olympus and couldn't really understand why the IQ wasn't nearly up to the expected mark until I put the hood on).

[@blacksheep6888]

I am using PK CY M42 and F mount to Nikon 1 adapters on my J5 and V1 and i find it most useful.

[@5teve5hilling]

Nice video, I've been using a Sony NEX C3 for close on 5 years now, mainly with vintage lenses, I never knew why they go past infinity until today. The C3 is on it's way out and so I purchased an Olympus E-PL3 cheap, IBIS doesn't work which I knew before purchasing, and using it with a fujian 35mm f1.7 cctv lens, the images I have got from that combination are amazing and being able to change buttons is great. Just wish I'd made the change sooner, I am now looking at the E-PL5 or E-P5, thoroughly enjoying my photography a bit more now 😁

[@dongummphotography]

I think you will like the EPL5 or EP5, both are great cameras. The EP5 has focus peaking which the EPL5 doesn't and is a bit bigger making it easier to hold in my opinion. It will cost a bit more however. The EP5 is one of my favorite cameras. I have videos on both if you look back through my videos. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@5teve5hilling]

@dongummphotography Thanks, I have watched those videos, I'd been researching for a while and when the E-PL3 came up cheap I decided to purchase it to see if I like Micro 4 3rds, I took to the camera like a duck to water, so easy to set up and use. Feels nice in the hand apart from no hand grip and the outside is smooth, I'll be buying a stick on one. I did try an em5 a couple of years back and liked the IBIS. Using a Sony nex camera I'm used to focus peaking but with the magnification I didn't miss it but I might go for the EP5 just so I can have the option to use it if I want. Thank you for your videos.

[@garyvivian1772]

P​@@dongummphotography

[@petermcginty3636]

Thank you Don, great video. I was thinking of getting an Olympus OM mount 200mm F4 for my OM-5 but I was concerned that stabilisation could be a problem; and I am not a tripod guy! However, after watching your video, it may not be such of a problem. Thank you. 🎉🎉🎉

[@dongummphotography]

Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@steveworthington930]

IBIS is in body on Olympus camera,s and will stabilise any len,s.

[@VBITS97]

I have a bunch of vintage Minolta A-mount lenses; mostly primes. I use the LA-EA5 adapter on my Sony A7 iv and I have Sony's best autofocus algorithms working with really old lenses, The screw drives are a little slow but that is a minor complaint.

[@dongummphotography]

Sounds pretty cool! Love old Minolta lenses. Thanks for watching!

[@K7.2023]

i have a vintage tokina om mount with an mft adapter i use in my omd-e10 and is really a great combo!😊 500mm f/8 x 2 and i get 1000 mm equivelent to full frame😂 its insane 😅

[@dongummphotography]

@@K7.2023 sounds pretty cool!

[@stevenwagner7520]

Two things that I have found with using vintage lenses on a Olympus m43 camera. 1) Lenses with elements that protrude into the camera. The Jupiter 12 35mm f/2.8 rear elements go past the lens mount into the camera. I haven't tried it as the rear element greeting the sensor would not be good for either. 2) Depth of field impacting focus peaking. It the lens is set at f/16 the depth of field will be deep and everything in that range will get the peaking edge color.

[@dongummphotography]

Both good points. I haven't tried the Jupiter 12 because I had the good fortune to find a 35mm f3.5 Leitz Summaron for $60. In some cases, it is better to open the lens to a wider aperture when focusing and then stop down to expose. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@ShutterNChill]

I do not have Olympus, so I cannot speak of it. I have Canon APSc mirrorless, and it appears to have a very similar adapter as the Olympus M43 adapter. Keep in mind that the rear element does not retract into the camera - it retracts into the adapter. So, to reach the sensor it has to retract significantly more than the depth of the adapter to hit the sensor. You can test it if it safe by screwing on the lens into the adapter, and focusing to infinity. If the read element does not protrude beyond the adapter, then it will not reach the sensor. The most extreme protrusion I've seen from a manual lens is about 5mm or so, and that does not even clear a half of the adapter, absolutely safe.

[@dongummphotography]

@stevenwagner7520 both are true. The Jupiter 12 should only be used with film cameras. You can focus at a wider aperture and then stop down before exposing. I generally don't use apertures as small as f16 because diffraction limiting will reduce image sharpness. I usually stop at f8, maybe f11.

[@donsoley746]

Really has helped!

[@dongummphotography]

@@donsoley746 good to hear! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@xpucmogrozdanov6391]

Because of you i bought e-p5. to be honest I still prefer the ep1, but this has image stabilisation of some sort and ep123 is the old system that is always broken and annoying to repair. For manual lenses I use only lumix as the focus assistance on olympus is more an insult than an assistance even on em1 bodies.

[@dongummphotography]

I hope you enjoy the EP5. It really is a great camera. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@theblackmanarmedwithacamera]

HOW DO YOU BACK BUTTON FOCUS ON THE EP5? PLZ MAKE A VIDEO ON THIS!!!💯💯💯

[@Koji-888]

Just Curious.. No one ever talks about adapting Nikon F mount lenses. Is there something inherently “not ideal” with using them.? I have a lot of old Nikon Ais and Afd manual lenses. I may try my 105mm 2.5 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@dongummphotography]

I did create videos about a 300mm Nikkor, a 55mm f3.5 Micro Nikkor, and a 105mm f2.5 Nikkor. I also have plans to do one on some 50mm Nikkors. You are right, though. There aren't too many videos about Nikkors for some reason, I'm not sure why. Perhaps Nikon has always been a popular line of cameras, and content creators are looking for something a bit less common. Nikon has made some great lenses, and I will be doing more on them.

[@hansemannluchter643]

That's maybe because on the good "vintage" Nikon DSLR's you can mount AI/AIS lenses without a converter.. I purchased a D200 dirt-cheap, for exactly that reason. It's not Full-frame, so there is the crop-factor to consider, but the D200 has a CCD-sensor and makes beautiful colours, even though it's "only" 10.2 megapixel.

[@twentypeak179]

Love those takumar lenses- they are slightly radioactive, so don't sleep with them :P

[@dongummphotography]

I like them too, but not so much that would take them to bed. Thanks for watching and commenting!