How to use Vintage Lenses on Mirrorless Cameras
In this video, we take a look at using vintage lenses with a mirrorless camera
I'm using a Sony a7III with Minolta Rokkor and Praktica Lenses.
The adaptor I'm using (Affiliate link) https://amzn.to/3C0OpJA
I also used the Beta of Dehancer 7.0 in this video to grade some of the shots.
Dehancer is a Film Emulation plugin for DaVinci Resolve that uses real photographic and motion picture film stocks with analogue controls. Dehancer Pro includes Film Grain, Bloom and Halation effects to really bring your footage to life.
If you'd to find out more check out their website:
https://www.dehancer.com - get 10% off Dehancer using DANG at checkout
I've finally had the chance to try something I've wanted to do for a long time.
Recently I rediscovered my Dad's old photography kit and I've been looking to try out his lenses on my Sony a7iii.
They are over 50 years old now and carry a great deal of history and memories with them from my dad's time at sea.
He used both Minolta and Praktica (prak-ti-ca) camera bodies, unfortunley, I could only find the Praktica but luckily all of his lenses were still there.
There was quite a range to choose from and experiment with, but for the purpose of this video, I'm just going to focus on the 28mm, the 50mm and the 75-205mm.
Using vintage lenses on a Sony mirrorless is actually quite simple.
All you need is your lens, an adaptor and your camera.
The majority of my Dad's lenses are Minolta Rokkor and so I needed a MC to Sony E mount adaptor. For the lenses that had a Praktica mount, I used the same small additional adaptor that my dad used to switch lenses between his Minolta and Praktica.
The first step is to attach your adaptor to your lens, making sure there is a secure connection.
Then attach them both to your camera body.
Some lenses will have a switch that you will have to twist to make sure the aperture blades can be controlled manually.
Again make sure there is a secure connection here.
The next step is to go into the menu system and enable release without a lens. For the sont a7iii, this is in the 2nd camera menu on page 4.
This needs to be enabled as vintage lenses don't have any electronics in them and so the camera body won't recognise if there is a lens attached otherwise.
A final step I would recommend is turning on focus peaking.
As you will have to use manual focusing with vintage lenses, having focus peaking enabled just makes life a bit easier. If you have an external monitor, having it enabled on that as well is a good idea when you need it.
I also like to use the manual focus assist feature to get critical focus by zooming in quickly to 5 or 10x.
That is basically it! now you're ready to go out and shoot.
I didn't do any extensive, critical or scientific tests but I did shoot against a colour checker with all of the lenses wide open to demonstrate a quick comparison.
These shots have just a standard rec 709 conversion LUT applied to them.
I then did a few quick tests around the house and in the garden and I must say I was very impressed with the images I was getting.
The first lens I played around with was the 75-205mm. It's a very heavy lens with a solid metal build and so I decided to stick it on a tripod and do a bit of bird spotting with it.
Next up, I gave the 28mm a go. I don't mind this focal length but I would have preferred a 35mm as I always find 28 isn't quite wide enough or tight enough.
And finally, I took the 50mm out and this was probably my favourite of the bunch. This opened up all the way to 1.4 and so you're able to get a very shallow depth of field if you want.
I had to use a Variable neutral density filter with all of these along with some step-up rings as it was so bright outside.
The one thing I may buy for these for future use is a focus ring adaptor so I can either use a follow focus or just get some extra control when pulling focus right of the lens.
Overall I'm very impressed with how these lenses hold up on a modern mirrorless camera and the image they produce is fantastic. They're able to take off a bit of that digital edge without the need for additional filtration.
To give these images a bit more of a filmic look I've been testing out the beta of Dehancer 7.0.
I've talked about Dehancer a few times on this channel and I've been impressed with this latest version which includes several updates.
As a full disclaimer, this is not a sponsored video but I have been given access to Dehancer Pro and the latest beta to try out. I also have an affiliate link in the description if you'd like to save 10% when purchasing a licence for yourself. There will be a price change on June 1st and so if you'd like to get Dehancer at the old price make sure you check it out before then.
With that out of the way!
This new version brings several new features and improvements, including a redesigned core engine, a new film damage tool, tool profiles, and more.
Dehancer Core Engine
The redesigned core engine in Dehancer 7.0. offers a number of performance and quality improvements. For example, the new engine can now process images up to 4x faster than the previous version. Additionally, the new engine uses a more accurate and sophisticated model of film, which results in more realistic and natural-looking results.
Film Damage Tool
The new film damage tool in Dehancer 7.0. allows you to add realistic film grain and damage to your images.
The tool offers a number of different settings, so you can fine-tune the look of the film damage to your liking.
I won't talk too much about the grain tool as I've done a whole video on it before and you can take a look at that here.
The Damage setting controls the amount of damage to the image, such as scratches, dust, and dirt.
Dehancer now offers Tool Profiles
Tool profiles are pre-configured settings that can be used to quickly and easily achieve a specific look. For example, there are tool profiles for different types of film, different lighting conditions, and different creative effects.
These profiles include:
8mm, 16mm, 35mm, 65mm, Daylight, Night and Creative
Here are some more examples of Dehancer 7.0 in action:
It's been a lot of fun trying out my Dad's vintage lenses and Grading them with Dehancer. I can definitely see myself using this set-up a lot more in the future as I'm quite impressed with the results I've been able to get.
Thank you for watching, If you found this video helpful, please give it a like and subscribe to my channel for more videos on low-budget cinematography and filmmaking in general. Take care and see you next time!
