Category Archives: MIR

Buying Bargain Lenses! Which? Where? When?

Buying Bargain Lenses! Which? Where? When?

Foreword: This post is aimed at people who are just getting into vintage lenses, but maybe even a seasoned vintage lens user will find some useful info here. When it comes to buying lenses, things can get pretty confusing, especially at the start. There are so many brands, models, types, focal lengths, etc and there… Continue Reading

Using “Krasnogorsk” Lenses on BMPCC | In-depth Review

Using "Krasnogorsk" Lenses on BMPCC | In-depth Review

Krasnogorsk lens review has been a long time coming. I first discovered them in 2013 when I reviewed their little brothers, the Kiev-16U trio. At the time there were no adapters that would allow Krasnogorsk mount lenses to be used on any modern cameras, but shortly after I bought my set, RAFcamera released the Krasnogorsk… Continue Reading

Shooting “Milkshake” Web Series on Vintage Russian Lenses

Shooting “Milkshake” Web Series on Vintage Russian Lenses

  Recently one of VLFV readers, Phil Abatecola got in touch to share his experience using (mostly) Russian vintage lenses to shoot his feature length web series. There were loads of things Phil had to take into consideration when building up his “Kremlin Kit” for the series and I felt that it will definitely be a… Continue Reading

Vintage 20mm Shootout

Vintage 20mm Shootout

This shootout has been long time coming! I’ve collected quite a few vintage 20mm lenses in the last few years with Canon FD being my latest addition. I just sold my Pentax-A 20mm F2.8 and I decided that I have to do this shootout before I send it out to its new owner. It would… Continue Reading

4 Low Budget Lenses for Amazing Lens Flare

The 4 Best Lenses for Amazing Lens Flare

There are many reasons why I love vintage lenses. Their character is much more obvious than on most modern lenses with lens flare being one of the most distinctive characteristics of such lenses. In fact, one of the main reasons why Helios 44-2 is one of my favorite lenses is because the flares this lens… Continue Reading

Using KIEV-16U Lenses on BMPCC | Indepth Overview

Using KIEV-16U Lenses on BMPCC | Indepth Overview

Note: If you don’t use or don’t care about BMPCC you might want to skip this post as the lenses I will talk about below, (at the time of writing) can only be used with this camera. Everyone who knows me at lease a little bit will know that I absolutely love vintage Russian lenses,… Continue Reading

Using Vintage Russian Lenses for Commercial Work

Using Vintage Russian Lenses for Commercial Work

It’s very nice to see the vintage lenses I constantly talk about being use on serious commercial projects. The video above was shot by a twitter friend of mine, an awesome DP/Photographer & very informative blogger, Adam Roberts. I first met Adam when he won one of my Helios 44-2 lenses I was giving away… Continue Reading

Timur Civan on Vintage Lenses

Timur Civan on Vintage Lenses

This blog post is here thanks to a very talented and well known cinematographer Timur Civan who also happens to have a great blog where you can find some of his absolutely amazing reviews. Timur like myself is a big fan of vintage lenses and loves them for the very same reasons I do.  The… Continue Reading

MIR-1 37mm F/2.8 REVIEW + TEST FOOTAGE

MIR-1 37mm F/2.8 REVIEW + TEST FOOTAGE

There is a lot that can be said about Mir-1 37mm F2.8 Lens. Internet is filled with in depth information and reviews, but to save you guys time, I’ll fill you in on the background of this lens before we move on to its use in this day & age. The production of  this lens… Continue Reading