I’m admittedly a bit gear-obsessed – and my digital camera assortment spans each digital and movie. But, as a lot as I really like analog, growing movie is pricey. That’s why I made a decision to experiment – and put an outdated movie lens onto my digital digital camera.
I’ve an outdated Pentax K1000 that I take advantage of to shoot the occasional roll of movie. And I’ve Fujifilm gear that I take advantage of as a marriage and portrait photographer. Lately, I’ve taken to taking pictures with a heat diffusion filter to magnify the retro look of Fujifilm’s movie simulations, as a result of the lens performs a key position in getting a extra retro look to pictures.
The lens is half the image quality equation. Film lenses weren’t as close to perfection as modern lenses, often lacking some sharpness, but creating lovely halos of light and beautiful lens flare.
I started to wonder, if the lens is half the equation, could I adapt a film lens onto my digital camera for a more analog look without the film costs? I found a K Mount to X Mount adapter that price lower than growing one roll of movie and twisted my Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 onto my Fujifilm X-T4.
The Okay-mount Pentax 50mm f/1.7 has been round for the reason that late Nineteen Seventies and remained in manufacturing till round 1984. The lens is a fairly compact nifty fifty and has that retro look as a result of, effectively, it truly is retro.
Using the lens on my X-T4 felt just like utilizing the lens on my K1000 in that it’s a completely handbook lens. Manual focus tends to gradual me down, however that’s factor. I’m not worrying about what number of movie frames I’m filling up whereas tailored on my mirrorless, however I’m taking the time to manually dial within the focus.
There’s no auto exposure when adapting a film lens to digital, either, as there are no electronic contacts for the camera to communicate with the lens. I dialed in the aperture on the lovely clicked aperture ring on the lens and took advantage of the mirrorless’ electronic EVF with exposure preview to dial in the remaining settings.
The images I captured with the adapted film lens are sharper than I expected, but fall off to a lovely bokeh at f/1.7. The lens gives light sources a little more of a halo or glow than my native glass.
Mixed with film simulations like Eterna Cinmea and Across (monochrome), I loved the soft colors the film-digital combo created in soft lighting. When a patch of afternoon sunlight started streaming right through the window, I was able to create some moody, dramatic shots with deep shadows.
I didn’t mind the manual focus or all manual exposure. Perhaps what I missed the most about my native lenses was the weather sealing. Using a dusty old film lens risks adding dust to the camera sensor. I gave the inside of the lens a good cleaning with a blower before using it, and my mirrorless seems to be unaffected – though admittedly, baking Christmas cookies with an abundance of flour and sprinkles was probably a riskier type of shoot to do with this setup!
Retro feels like a photography buzzword as classic designs return to digital and younger generations try film for the first time. But trends often bring higher costs with them. Adapting an old film lens with an inexpensive adapter was a refreshingly affordable way to bring some nostalgic charm to my digital camera.
No, using a film lens on digital is still not quite the same thing as true analog. But it brought a bit more diffused look, soft colors, and slower shooting with manual focus – and my digital camera has never felt more retro.
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