Life through a vintage lens

Driving around Mull, looking for birds of prey

I got the photography bug from my dad, who was always capturing moments with his Olympus OM-1n when I was a kid. All the photographs I love from my childhood were taken on that camera, and it’s the one I started my photography journey with, learning everything I needed to know about aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

I don’t shoot much film these days so my film cameras haven’t been getting a lot of use and my dad's Olympus mostly sits on a shelf in my office, but when I get stuck creatively or when things start to feel a bit stale I often find myself reaching out for vintage lenses. I love the flexibility that comes with digital cameras, but I also love feeling those lenses in my hands; their history, their familiarity, their imperfections. It helps me physically reconnect with why photography felt so fun and exciting in the first place, when some days it can just feel like any other job.

It might sound counter-intuitive, owning a mirrorless camera that shoots video in 4K and can produce technically beautiful images, only to degrade that quality by using lenses that were made more than 40 years ago and might come with chromatic aberration, distortion or vignetting. I wouldn't use them on every job, of course - sometimes I do need the more recent lens with high-end glass and super fast auto-focus. But for capturing my own memories, or for work that gives me more creative freedom? They're a joy to use, and they've made me feel excited about photography again.

A series of press shots taken recently for singer-songwriter Ellie Gowers, using the Zuiko MC 28mm f/2.8.

I went on holiday to the Isle of Mull at the beginning of July and all I took was my Sony A7IV, a Zuiko MC 28mm f/2.8 and a Pentax-M 135mm f/3.5. Plus of course the relevant OM- and K- to Sony E adapters (mine are from Urth), as well as a diffusion filter I bought from Tide Optics earlier this year. The way it diffuses the light is gorgeous and I think it just works so well with those lenses, adding even more to that ethereal, vintage feel they produce.

I took things a step further and set up a custom black & white Picture Profile on my Sony, which works in a similar way to the film simulation recipes that can be found on Fujifilm cameras nowadays. (I got the Picture Profile recipe from veresdenialex.com, who has now created more than 40 film simulations for Sony cameras — highly recommend having a look at his work!) Spending the whole week shooting primarily in black and white was so much fun and really pushed me to think differently about the way I choose and compose my shots, and I loved capturing some precious memories for the friends I was travelling with and their 3-year-old boy.

Here's a selection of images from the week - I'd love to hear what you think! And if you're a photographer: how do you keep things feeling exciting in your work?

This post was originally published on Substack.