Cinematography | For the Love of Vintage Lenses

Almost 2 months ago, I wrote a piece for this blog on Phantom Thread’s uniquely dirty, textured cinematography. Ever since, I have been thinking about a series of companion articles I could write that would discuss ideas of aesthetics both in modern and classic cinema. Considering the analogue techniques Anderson used in Phantom Thread and the classical approach he took to the cinematography, it only made sense to follow up that discussion with an article on what has become almost a modern phenomena in modern cinematography - vintage lensing. 

It is hard to tell when this trend started but in this increasingly digital age, many cinematographers are turning to vintage optics to give their images increased character, texture and personality. Whether this be characterful anamorphics, cinematic classics like Canon’s K35 primes or the ever popular Helios 44-2 (we’ve all seen the beautiful swirled bokeh these lenses produce) cinematographers are looking for lenses that give an imperfect look, clarity no longer being their key concern. Perhaps the cinematographer best known for his use of vintage glass is Greig Frasier, the visionary DP behind The Batman, both Dune films and perhaps most influentially the creation of the LED Volume. For The Batman’s iconic Penguin chase scene Frasier used 2 modified vintage lenses, both Russian glass from the mid-70’s: the aforementioned Helios 44-2 and a set of Jupiter 9 lenses. The world created in The Batman is dirty and atmospheric, smog and rain pollute the frame and the focus often falls off around the edges of the frame (a result of the vintage glass but also modern lenses Frasier claims he ‘broke’). The Penguin chase is shot tightly, there’s a sense of immersion and authenticity created in the scene’s presentation and these lenses are massively important in communicating the dirt and grit of the chase. 

Frasier's use of vintage lenses continued through to his next collaboration, the monumental Dune: Part 2. For this film Frasier had an entire fleet of vintage lenses rehoused (the process of adapting or modifying the optics [glass elements] of an older lens into a new, modern cine lens body) by IronGlass, a company known for their reworking of classic soviet lenses. The lenses used on the film again included the Helios 44-2 and Jupiter 9 lenses but Frasier also added mir lenses to his arsenal. Though both films were shot digitally (though both Dune films were scanned onto Kodak Vision 3 stock later in post-production) the vintage lenses give the images a texture they wouldn’t have otherwise had, it makes the worlds feel tactile and lived in. Extreme technical perfection is not natural to the human eye: it’s odd, it's otherworldly, humanity is imperfect and thus the technically perfect feels cold. 

Vintage Glass is becoming increasingly popular online, photography and filmmaking channels on Youtube are rife with discussion on the topic with everyone looking for the craziest, most beautiful lens types and modifications. People's primary fixation seems to be on the beautiful swirled bokeh that can be achieved with lenses like the Helios 44-2 or the classic Lomography Petzval 58mm and 85mm lenses that were used on Poor Things. The Helios 44-2 is a popular lens on second hand sights like eBay and, with its use in Dune and The Batman it has become a celebrity lens with everyone that holds interest in cameras wanting to try out its swirled bokeh and yet, the world of vintage lensing is still so vast. The Helios 44-2 is the most showy example of vintage character, there are so many out there that provide unique and exciting looks, with photographers and cinematographers alike trying out all kinds of combinations of camera and glass, looking in the end for a beautiful, characterful look. People like Mathieu Stern with his Weird Lenses Museum are experimenting constantly with the possibilities of weird and vintage glass, fitting everything from vintage anamorphic projector glass (like the Kipronar 105mm) to 1880’s large format lenses to his camera. 

In a world where films are becoming less and less visually distinct it is refreshing to see that there are still cinematographers out there willing to make bold choices when it comes to their lensing, finding beauty in the imperfections of the vintage and embracing that look wholeheartedly. Lenses can really shape the feel of a film - if cameras are, as cinematographer Steve Yedlin says, just ‘data collection devices’ then the lens is the artist's first chance to affect the sensor's perception of that data, the first chance to artistically shape the image.    

Written by Jonah Prisk | IG: @jonahprisk