Improve Your Street Photography With These Lenses

Vintage lenses are the hidden gems for street photographers on a budget, especially for those who want to learn zone focusing on wider focal length lenses. Regardless of the street photography camera, you're using, you can find adapters for your lens mount to take advantage of older lens mount manual focus street photography lenses. This video features Sony A7C street photography, some Minolta X-700, and even some Canon 7.
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#streetphotography #PGYTech

[@GeorgeHolden]

Check out MPB here and grab a used camera deal! MPB UK: prf.hn/l/QLBLRLl MPB US: prf.hn/l/y8b8X8w MPB EU: prf.hn/l/BJ1JqJo

[@donkey3081]

At last, you granted my request about putting vintage lenses on digital body with mf techniques tips! Thank you i appreciate that, love your content George ❤️

[@GeorgeHolden]

Thanks for the request! It's an idea I have plenty to say about so happy to share 😄

[@josecaringal]

As someone with little knowledge about adapting and using manual vintage lenses. Your very first tip regarding the size difference of adapters for rangefinder and slr vintage lenses was quite eye-opening. I'll remember this tip from now on, and make use of that tip when I start to look for vintage lenses. Thank you. I had quite a lot of "Aha! Moments" throughout your 9 mins.+ video. Thank you for this insightful and entertaining video. I'll be looking forward to more of your upcoming uploads. 👏🏼🙌🏼

[@GeorgeHolden]

Thank you Jose, really happy that each point helped you in some way - appreciate you stopping by and leaving your feedback!

[@DouglasKnisely]

x700 was my first real camera. I miss it. Amazing OTF flash metering. They are pricy now (and I know I won't really do film anyway), but it would be nice to touch one again. I abandoned Minolta when they dropped backward compatibility when going to AF mount.

[@Meowwentthedino]

Love your content! I've seen you about in town and your stuff is great, would love to have you on one of my instagram groups photo walks one day!

[@GeorgeHolden]

Thanks! Oh cool, drop me a message on insta would be good to connect 👍

[@derrenleepoole]

Them Canon lenses are rather lovely, I have the 50mm f1.4 and it's so nice. If you want to get even smaller, try the TTArtisan 28mm f5.6 m-mount lens... it's so small and is really sharp. Set to 2 metres at f8.0 and just shoot. It's a lens that shoots way above its price point. Nice straps too :)

[@GeorgeHolden]

Oooo that's good to know re the TTartisan! I did consider it a while ago but wasn't sure about the 5.6 in a general use case! Cheers Derren 😄

[@derrenleepoole]

@@GeorgeHolden I wasn't sure either, but it's a great little lens. Very heavy for it's size as it's made of brass. The focusing isn't super assured, but the way it's designed is you push in the focus release button and move it till you hit a tiny little knick in the mount and that sets it to 2 meters. Set at f8.0 auto ISO and way you go. Just set it and forget it. Everything from minimum 1 metre up to infinity is in focus. If you pop over to @derrenleepoole there's a few snaps captured around Blackpool a few weeks ago using the lens this way.

[@film.fiasco]

Maaaaaaan... I've been shooting with vintage (SLR) lenses on my digital cameras for around 5 years, and i've never head of the rangefinder lenses🤯. I am quite invested in the m42 system and it is true that those adapters are bulky and you ended up with a 50mm that looks like a telephoto haha. I will definetly go down the rabit hole of range finder lenses, thank you for the tip. Also, great video as always❤‍🔥!

[@GeorgeHolden]

Definitely worth a try! Let me know how you get on and thank you!

[@sebastianop.3052]

There are a lot good inespensive vintage lenses, although now the price is going up, to use on the modern camera. I think is a best combo and combine the good points of both, especially on some prime lenses, + bring back the old manual control of photography.

[@GeorgeHolden]

This is true!

[@randomstuffman01]

Good video. I use a few old film SLR lenses on my m43 Panasonic cameras.; Canon FD, Minolta, Yashica. etc. Not for street shooting but for fun. As to using rangefinder lens, they're less commonly found. So I'll stick to SLR lens. Thanks. toronto canada.

[@GeorgeHolden]

That's great and thanks!

[@beholder2012]

I recommend trying Sovjet lens Mir 1B 2,8/37 - it offers very good picture quality and fantastic bokeh!

[@GeorgeHolden]

That's great to know thanks!

[@orfeasch6945]

Just a notice: With crop sensor cameras, the distance indicators don't "work". The same 28mm will have shallower acceptable focus distance on a crop sensor (mft , apsc...) than on a full frame sensor. You can use an app to calculate that "safe focus" space but i always wondered : Do specialized crop lenses (eg. olympus) take that into considaration? Does the olympus 17mm - for example - have the right markings?

[@sebastianop.3052]

This is true, what I use doing is looking into the camera and set up the distance I want in focus and then start shooting without any other overthinking.

[@GeorgeHolden]

This is true the scales are off, apparently there's a calculator for working out the adjusted zones of focus?

[@thewheelieguy]

Native crop sensor lenses have DOF scales adapted correctly (if they have them at all)

[@jfjoubertquebec]

Newbie questions... manual lenses are great but the better ones are getting sought after. What about an old "auto focus" without using the auto feature? Possible??

[@williammoskovitz7772]

Very interesting video and I certainly learned a lot !!!! Thanks. At the very end of the video you mention a link to click on regarding a "mirrorless camera using a third party lens". I just don't see that link. Can you please provide it to me in your response to this comment ?

[@dezfoto7534]

If zone focusing at f11-f16 is your plan, why not just zone focus a point and shoot? That way you’ll get the same depth of field but you can use a larger aperture to let more light in and keep your ISO low. They’re smaller, more discreet and generally less expensive.

[@GeorgeHolden]

That's an option, however this is just one way to user a camera and wouldn't want to limit use cases for other photography or video

[@melody3741]

You literally mentioned rangefinders in this video, just keep in mind that rangefinders, SLRs, TLRs, literally many many ways to perfectly nail focus have existed for a very long time. And also the first autofocus camera was in like 1970s so yeah

[@GeorgeHolden]

All of that is true, I don't think I said any of that didn't exist?

[@Fecho33]

hi my friend, zone focus works the same for apsc sensors?

[@alexcarrillo5510]

Dude, I have both adapters for SLR to Rangefinder, and I am happy in what I have, from Carl Zeiss Jena to Pentax Takumar lenses, to Vintage Manual foucs Nikkor Lenses, to 39mm to Contax II Mount Zeiss, and Jupiter Lenses. Ok I understand the sizes of the Adapters, as I am happy to capture the Image due to that is important to capture the Image Right, Not the Camera.....

[@GeorgeHolden]

That's great to hear!

[@TheUrbandilema]

Totally agree with u I was actually watching to get some vintage lens for my m50 will have to check out..great advice ..zone focusing is really important...also can u do zone focusing on the 40mm focal length?

[@GeorgeHolden]

Thanks! I haven't tried with any 40mm lens but if the zone marks show a helpful range of focus you should be okay, I've don't it a bit on 50mm before but is more difficult!

[@JoeLopez]

Well done! That PGYTech system looks familiar…

[@GeorgeHolden]

A very good system!

[@mko7680]

What's the benefit of putting old bad quality lenses on hightech cameras?

[@GeorgeHolden]

These lenses are actually amazing quality, this canon 35mm is the best I've used

[@david.robertson.photography]

Why not add a Canon rangefinder film body to your 'new' lenses 🙂 I have a Canon 7 which cost £150, yeah I know film costs but cheapish B&W stock exists and home developing is cheap, especially if you already have a scanner or half decent DSLR. As for rangefinders, I've gone all in and sold all my latest Z bodies and glass. So nice to wander around with a discreet camera body, fully manual and zone focus/hyperfocal set. Happy snapping!

[@GeorgeHolden]

Thanks! I showed my Canon 7 in the video and I'm using it today 😅

[@filipradvan5533]

Hi, can I just ask where to buy the lens adapter? And also if the distance indicators will work just fine on the olympus om d e m10?

[@GeorgeHolden]

This one is a K&F concept, available on Amazon and other online retailers - apparently for crop factors there's an app called "Hyperfocal" that calculated them for you

[@keithc4252]

I found many of these vintage lenses are molded due to age

[@GeorgeHolden]

For me so far it's been okay!

[@binarytrash]

A Canon 35mm m39 goes for 350€ and above at eBay in Europe. For that price I can get 2 50mm 1.8 Sonys (I got a new one for 120€ back in January) so cool concept but it’s a hard pass from me. I have a few vintage cameras and lenses from back in 2018 when prices were still reasonable but unless you own gear from years ago, nowadays investing into anything vintage gear is just not worth it.

[@GeorgeHolden]

Yeah hence me recommending the Minolta as a cheap prime!

[@robertwaffel8248]

I agree with George. You can pick up these spectacular Minoltas for next to nothing and they are amazing. Pentax SMC glass is also fantastic and still cheap. However, most of these reasonably priced lenses are for SLRs so you have to use thicker adapters. Still worth it. I almost exclusively shoot with vintage glass on my Fuji X-T30ii.

[@binarytrash]

I have a 50mm pancake Nikon and a Minolta but the adapters are for slrs so again the gains are marginal compared to native Sony 50mm and the concept of the whole rangefinder compact size speech doesn’t apply 😅

[@greysuit17]

What m39 adapter are you using? I have one but it doesn’t let me infinity focus.

[@GeorgeHolden]

That's interesting, which is that? This adapter is from k&f, I believe it's one of the "pro" lineup

[@alwinbenjamin]

💯👏🏻

[@bohdanbohdan223]

Industar lenses was manufactured in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Ukraine not russia.

[@GeorgeHolden]

That's my mistake, I should have said USSR and not generalised as Russia

[@bohdanbohdan223]

​ @GeorgeHolden will be great if you make remark about this in next video, because in modern world situation it was not cool, i know many people from UA who watching you, and we all be very grateful for this