Shooting Portraits with Vintage Lenses
Vintage glass can be a terrific way to get fast lenses without spending a lot of money. While I do have a large collection of Canon L lenses, I have always wanted to pick up the vintage lenses to shoot with as they can offer unique looks that are often not available with modern lenses. Mirrorless cameras have an option for focus peaking, meaning they show colored lines (usually red) for areas in focus when using manual focus lenses. Since picking up my first mirrorless a few years ago, I decided to purchase a few vintage lenses.
I currently own a Pentax SMC (Super-Multi-Coated) 85mm f/1.8, a Pentax Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4, a Canon nFD 50mm f/1.4, and a Helios 44-2 58mm f/2. The Pentax and Helios lenses are in M42 screw mount while the Canon is an FD mount. Adapters are readily available for both mounts to adapt to my Canon EOS R.
For this past weekend’s shoot in DUMBO, Brooklyn, I took the Canon nFD 50mm and Pentax SMC 85mm. I always shoot with either my Sigma 50mm F1.4 Art or Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L (occasionally the
Canon EF 135mm f/2L) so I was comfortable taking only these two lenses.
I am not a tech review writer so if this is why you are here, don’t expect me to get into the minute details on how these lenses operate and their light capturing properties. This is merely an opinion piece
I mounted the Canon nFD 50mm and we started along Plymouth Street which has an iconic view of the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop. It’s extremely popular for wedding and couple shoots.
Next, walking along the waterfront, we did some shots on a bench and then headed into the Empire Stores, which has a nice rooftop with magnificent views of the city that is open to the public.
The Canon nFD 50mm was very pleasing to work with. The focus ring is smooth, and the throw is manageable. Besides the focus peaking on the EOS R, you can magnify the viewfinder to find tune focusing as well.
The bokeh can be pleasing or busy, depending on the background. I enjoy the look the Canon nFD provides. I am looking forward to using it on more shoots!
Next up was the Pentax SMC 85mm f/1.8. This has to be my favorite out of the vintage lenses I have. The colors and look are absolutely amazing to me. We walked north towards the Manhattan Bridge and there was this garage door that the sun was hitting perfectly. Next, we did some more walking and took some street shots.
The focus throw on the Pentax is significantly longer than the Canon’s. It’s smooth but does require slightly more effort to turn. Shooting some walking shots and manually focusing proved to be a small challenge as I’ve never done it before but the results came out great.
In conclusion, both lenses were fantastic to work with and I learned a lot using them for this photoshoot. I am looking forward to future shoots with these gems!
