Photographer Mathieu Stern is crazy about vintage lenses, and his collection contains some pretty unusual pieces. For his latest video, he chose three vintage prime lenses of different manufacturers and focal lengths. He used them to photograph the same model on three different locations, and you can compare the results and check out how each of the lenses performs for portrait photography. For the comparison, Mathieu used Konica Hexanon 28mm f/3.5, Industar 50-2 50mm f/3.5 and Minolta Rokkor 100mm f/2.5. He paired them with his Sony A 7II and shot some photos around the city.
Konica Hexanon 28mm f/3.5
Mathieu has patience (and perhaps some luck) to find great lenses for an incredible price. He got this one for only €5 ($6), and it’s a really good and sharp lens. He photographed his model on three different locations, and here are some of the photos he took: Location #1
Location #2
Location #3
Industar 50-2 50mm f/3.5
Industar 50-2 50mm f/3.5 is a mini vintage Russian lens, and it’s incredibly cheap. You can find it for about $25, and sometimes for as low as $10. But despite the price, it’s also a pretty sharp lens, and I just love the swirly bokeh it produces. Check out how it performs: Location #1
Location #2
Location #3
Minolta Rokkor 100mm f/2.5
As Mathieu says, this lens was in a horrible condition when he bought it. But he opened it and cleaned it thoroughly, and now it works like a charm. Check out the portraits he made with this lens: Location #1
Location #2
Location #3
Now, for another comparison, here are the shots from the same location, but taken with different lenses. The lenses are from left to right: Konica Hexanon 28mm f/3.5, Industar 50-2 50mm f/3.5 and Minolta Rokkor 100mm f/2.5.
Although all three lenses are sharp, I like the 50mm because of the bokeh it creates. Which one is your favorite? [3 VINTAGE LENSES SHOOT THE SAME MODEL – Episode 2 | Mathieu Stern]
