Vintage Lenses for Modern Cameras: A Practical Guide for Photographers

In recent years, some of the world's cheapest lenses have made appearances in the world's most expensive movies. Several scenes in "Batman" (2022) and "Dune: Part Two" (2024) were filmed using re-housed vintage Soviet optics first produced in the 1950s. Surprisingly, these lenses—actually defective copies of optically superior German Zeiss designs mass-produced in Soviet factories—are cheap and plentiful and can be obtained for under $100 apiece. So why are major movies being shot on cheap lenses?

In a world where resolution and dynamic range are effectively unlimited due to improvements in sensors and software image processing technology, what sets images apart can often be seen as defects.

In the case of lenses like the Helios 44 and Jupiter 9, the swirly, dreamlike bokeh they produce cannot effectively be reproduced in software. Ironically, sometimes going up in production value requires a downgrade in equipment.

And what's true for Hollywood blockbusters is true for photographers. Fortunately for us, we can use the vast number of vintage lenses available on the secondary market without the extensive modifications required by cinematographers to adapt them to large, multi-operator camera rigs.

These lenses are inexpensive, readily available, and easily adaptable to all modern mirrorless camera systems. Some, like the Helios 44 and Jupiter 9, create dreamy images that stand out from the best, sharpest modern glass. And some, like Nikon's AI-S line, are simply the best value proposition for amateur photographers wanting big capabilities on a small budget.

Who Shouldn't Use Vintage Lenses?

It’s important to clarify that while any photographer can benefit from owning and experimenting with vintage lenses, they are not suitable for all circumstances. In fact, in many cases, it would simply be irresponsible to use a vintage manual lens in a shoot unless you have extensive experience mastering their quirks.

Sports photographers, wedding photographers, and photojournalists need to be able to consistently capture once-in-a-lifetime shots. For that reason, they need fast autofocus. In nearly all such circumstances, vintage lenses, which are almost all manual, are simply not the right tool for the job.

But lack of autofocus isn't the only pitfall. While a vintage lens may be as sharp and distortion-free as its modern counterpart, the same is not true for optical coatings. When shooting into direct sunlight, these lenses tend to flare and lose contrast much more than their modern counterparts. As shown by some of the photos in this post, these properties can be used to artistic effect. However, they can also easily make a shot unusable.

So save the vintage lenses for more relaxed sessions where you can take a shot, evaluate it, and reshoot with a different lens where appropriate.

Dreaming on a Budget: The Helios 44

Now that we've got the pitfalls out of the way, let's get to the reason we're all here: swirly, luscious bokeh. Let's start with the star of our show, the Helios 44. But that requires a quick detour into the 19th and 20th centuries.

Carl Zeiss, the famous German optician, was born in Jena in 1816, the year after the Battle of Waterloo. Zeiss revolutionized and modernized the production of precision optics for microscopes, playing a critical role in the scientific and industrial revolution of the 19th century.

In 1927, the German optics firm Zeiss designed the Biotar lens for cinematography. In 1939, it appeared on the Ihagee Kine Exakta, the first 35mm single-lens reflex camera to be brought into production. Two years later, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, an ill-fated adventure that ended in a gunshot in a bunker beneath Berlin.

After the war, Jena, where the Zeiss works were located, was first under American, then Soviet control. The workshop, tooling, and instruments were effectively divided up, with much of the equipment relocated to the Kiev Camera Works in Ukraine. Soviet factories began to crank out copies of the Biotar for the popular Kiev line of 35mm cameras.

But, to a degree even greater than the Biotar, the Helios produced swirly, dreamlike bokeh that becomes more elliptical toward the edge of the frame.

The Helios 44 was not an art lens. Rather, it was the standard "nifty fifty" of the Eastern Bloc. My father, a chemist who dabbled as an amateur photographer, owned a Kiev camera equipped with its standard lens, the Helios 44.

The Helios 44 is easy to adapt to any modern mirrorless camera. It has no electronic controls: it has a standard manual focus ring and the aperture is adjusted with a dedicated ring. All you need is a cheap, passive adapter for your chosen mount (the most common mount for the Helios is an M42), and you're ready to shoot.

How to Shoot Manual for Beginners

If you have spent your life shooting with autofocus, at this point, you might be stumped. How do I focus a manual lens? Fortunately, modern mirrorless cameras make this easy:

• Turn on focus peaking: Focus peaking is a feature in modern cameras that allows areas of the shot that are in focus to be highlighted. This is useful for rapidly acquiring focus for moving subjects.

• Assign a button for focus zoom: Whenever you have a subject that is holding still, you will want to use focus zoom to acquire focus. This feature magnifies a portion of the image in the viewfinder or LCD to allow you to get perfect focus. Typically, you will want to frame the shot, zoom, then pan over to the subject's eyeball to nail the shot. For even faster focusing, assign a hotkey for the focus zoom.

• Optional: Assign a focal length for IBIS (in-body image stabilization). Modern mirrorless cameras use optical in-body image stabilization. But without an electronic connection to the camera, these systems require you to manually input your focal length. But don't worry, you can assign a hotkey to select your lens focal length or, even better, shoot photos at a shutter speed faster than 1/100 and don't worry about stabilization. If you're shooting video, however, be sure to select the correct focal length in your camera's software.

Beyond the Helios: Experimenting With Projector Lenses

The Helios 44 is the most popular vintage effects lens. But there are hundreds to choose from, including the Jupiter 9, an 85mm portrait lens that also renders beautiful bokeh. And if you want an even more radical look, you can experiment with projector lenses. These lenses, originally built for movie projectors, offer even more radical bokeh. One example worth considering is the KO-140M, which produces gorgeous, dreamlike telephoto images. Projector lenses require a focusing helicoid to adapt them to modern cameras, and they are limited to a single, bokehlicious wide-open aperture.

The Value Proposition of Vintage Lenses

Producing dreamy looks is far from the only reason to use vintage lenses. In fact, I would argue that vintage lenses are by far the best value proposition for nearly all amateur photographers, and even some professionals.

One of the most vexing questions in learning any new skill is "Is my equipment holding me back?" This nagging doubt often leads photographers to overspend, dropping thousands of dollars on equipment that exceeds their capability to use it. At the other end, amateur photographers often cheap out and buy equipment incapable of producing the beautiful images they aspire to create.

The greatest mistake an amateur art photographer can make is buying a kit lens. These lenses, often priced between $150 and $250, seem to be able to do it all. They can cover any focal length, from telephoto to wide. However, they create unpredictable vignetting and distortion. Their lack of fixed aperture creates unreliable changes in the way the camera handles light, making it impossible to really understand the mechanics of photography and master depth of field. Often, amateur photographers buying these lenses are satisfied with photos they produce, but they don't understand why.

Nikkor 50mm AI-S

Of course, expensive fixed aperture zoom lenses are available, but they are usually out of the price range of an amateur photographer.

The solution is to buy a set of prime lenses, which will allow a beginning photographer to master the technical elements of photography and create beautiful images repeatedly.

But of course, buying a set of modern prime lenses is even more expensive than buying a single professional zoom lens that covers the same focal length, putting modern professional primes out of reach.

Fortunately, there is a huge quantity of vintage professional primes on the market for extremely reasonable rates. For just $300, amateur photographers can pick up a wide angle, a normal lens, and a telephoto lens, each of which will produce beautiful photos.

With a secondhand last-generation body, a photographer can be fully equipped to take beautiful, professional-quality photos for under $1,000.

But What’s the Best Value Vintage Lens for Professional Photography?

Here, everything is much less clear-cut than the Helios 44 and Jupiter 9. Ask ten vintage lens enthusiasts, and you will get ten different answers. That’s because it’s a lot easier to agree on what looks technically accurate than what looks beautiful.

But I'll give you my personal recommendations based on my own experience. For years as a semi-pro, I produced professional-quality work on Nikon AI-S lenses, each of which I paid less than $150 for. I am confident in recommending them to anyone looking for excellent quality without going broke.

• Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI-S: This is one of the best-value vintage lenses you can buy. It's sharp, fast, and built like a tank. It's an excellent all-around lens for portraits and general photography.

• Nikkor 135mm f/2.8: Another excellent choice, the 135mm f/2.8 gives beautiful compression for portraits, with smooth bokeh and excellent sharpness.

• Nikkor 105mm f/2.5: A legendary portrait lens, the 105mm f/2.5 is well-regarded for its creamy bokeh and flattering rendering of skin tones.

Tips for Buying Vintage Lenses

eBay, now nearly 30 years old, is still the king of the hill for buying any type of specialized equipment. With tens of thousands of professional resellers and hundreds of thousands of everyday people selling their own belongings, it remains the best place to get vintage photography equipment. eBay offers some amazing values, if you take the time to do your research. Here are some tips:

• The buyer is king: If you buy an item that is marked "used," you should expect it to be in functional condition unless the seller specifically indicated a defect. "Buyer beware" does not apply on eBay. When in doubt, bid. If there's a problem, return the item. In many cases, the seller will offer a generous partial refund or even let you keep the item for free. Remember, lenses are specialized equipment and many sellers don't know how to fully test them. Even experienced sellers are under constant pressure to cut corners. So know there's a risk of defects like fungus, haze, or scratches, and be prepared to work with a seller to resolve any problems.

• The best deals are auctions: Often, when a seller does not know how to price an item, they will list it as an auction. Sometimes, auctions can go for high prices, but for every item that sells for a high price, there is another that sells for a fraction of its actual value. So use the product research tool to find historical prices, then bid away.

• Use an auction sniping service: The best way to guarantee the lowest price for an item you are bidding on is to "snipe," or place automated bids. This will automatically bid on an item in the last 30 seconds of an auction, ensuring you don't get caught in a bidding war. Gixen is an excellent service.

Finally, if you decide a lens is not for you, no problem! Quality vintage lenses do not depreciate and are built to last for generations. So when you're done experimenting, don't be afraid to pass your lenses on to another photographer!

So that's it. Go have some fun, learn some new skills, and explore new looks that help you express your vision.

Be sure to stop by my site, Roketa Industries, for more examples of working with vintage lenses.