subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 21 September 2019 29
Dominik Vanyi
Instagram @dominikvanyi
Dominik Vanyi is a professional
photographer living and working in
Bali, Indonesia. Three years ago he
discovered the magic of vintage lenses
and since then he has shot almost
exclusively with vintage glass
‘I STARTED using vintage lenses in
- After shooting with Canon
DSLRs for ten years, I wanted to know
what mirrorless was all about, so
I bought a Sony Alpha 7R II.
‘I came across an online video of
someone using a manual-focus Mitakon
50mm f/0.95, also known as the
Zhongyi – and that was enough to catch
my attention. I bought a manual-focus
lens and fell in love. My first was the
Helios 44-2 – probably the most
common vintage lens. I now have many
more, including six Jupiter lenses, three
Canon FD lenses and both the Industar
50 - 50mm f/3.5 and Industar 69 -
28mm f/2.8 lenses. I use them over
two Sony A7R II bodies. I tend to find
my lenses on eBay and Taobao, which
is the Chinese equivalent of eBay.
‘One thing that surprised me was the
colour rendering of these lenses; you
get warmer tones and slightly different
colours. My Helios lenses have partially
swirly bokeh that I find appealing, and
while some people don’t like lens flare,
I love it as a style element in my
photography. But I would caution
anyone looking at the Jupiter 85mm
and 135mm lenses, as they might find
the flare a little too strong.
‘I like my vintage lenses because
of their flaws and shortcomings –
because they’re not technically
perfect and that’s what gives them
their character. I photograph a lot of
my travels with vintage lenses and
I also shoot weddings exclusively with
them, although if I were to get a
commercial assignment where
sharpness across the frame was
paramount, I wouldn’t use one.
‘By and large, any issues with these
lenses are minor. Manual focus could
be considered to be a challenge, but it
just slows me down, which means I can
think more about what I photograph
and how to photograph it. One thing
that caught me by surprise is that,
especially with the Helios and Jupiter
lenses, the minimum focusing distance
is much longer than usual. For portraits
with the 50mm, 85mm or 135mm
lenses, this is something that takes
getting used to, but it’s not something
I would call a real problem.’© DOMINIK VANYI
Dominik’s much-loved Helios 40-2