Dispatch 001: Lumix S9 + Vintage Lenses
Let’s talk about VINTAGE LENSES.
If you’ve been in the photography scene for a while, I’m sure you already realize that vintage lenses are cool. Every hipster photographer from Brooklyn worth their salt shoots on a Leica M6 with Leica glass.
Vintage lenses look great, take unique photos, and give users a plethora of options to buy from. Let’s face it: Vintage glass is objectively cool.
Sure, with a simple adaptor, you can pair vintage glass with most digital cameras these days, but few digital cameras (with interchangeable lenses) have that sleek rangefinder-esque look.
Enter the Lumix S9.
This compact, full-frame, 6k-open-gate shooting little camera is truly a blast to shoot with. Sure, the haters love to point out its lack of an EVF (the main limitation that made me hesitate to buy it), its lack of a hot shoe, and its electronic shutter. Still, if you can get past these issues, then I think you, like me, will be pleasantly surprised by the images and shooting experience of the S9.
I won’t get into the modern lenses offered for this camera too much here. Suffice to say, Lumix has a few, but nothing really compact enough to complement the small S9 body. When I got my S9, I also grabbed a Sigma Contemporary 45mm, and I do use it a lot when I need to nail focus without fail (aka family events like bdays, vacays, etc). The S9 and Sigma combo is almost too easy. I’m not complaining that the autofocus tracking is TOO good, but it can feel a bit surgical.
But for my daily carry, my S9 is almost always paired with my late-grandfather’s old Pentax lenses or a really fun Soviet Helios 44-2 58mm.
The Helios really deserves its own dispatch post!
I know a lot of the kids today shoot with a camera’s back screen, but I still prefer to use an EVF. I also used to own an old medium format Mamiya C330, and I loved shooting waist level, so that is how I usually shoot the EVF-less S9. I flip the back screen out and up and use focus peaking with my vintage manual focus lenses to shoot at waist level again! It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot of fun in most situations (especially when photographing my young kids). Shooting like this helps me feel more connected with the camera and photo-making process.
But it’s not just about the experience of shooting with vintage glass on the S9; it’s also about the results. Obvious results can vary depending on what lenses you are shooting with, and that is the same when it comes to old lenses, too. I have a Pentax SMC 35 and 50mm, as well as an 80-200mm, and the Helios.
Are these Leica-quality glasses? Certainly not, but they are good enough for me. I’ll post some sample images at the end of this post, but I use the Helios the most, with the Pentax 35mm the second most. I should also mention that I have adapted these lenses to my S9 with K&F Concept adaptors.
I’ll go into more about each lens as I shoot more with them, but I hope this article at least piques the interest of S9 users. There are a ton of vintage lenses to be found at great prices all over the internet. I encourage you to grab one and get shooting! I’m always available to talk to if you need any tips or want to share some of your own!
Lastly, I wanted to share a few shots I’ve gotten with my vintage setups and a few of my favorite S9 + vintage lens builds that I’ve found on Instagram!
Happy shooting!
Daniel
