Solo Street Photography with Leica CL: Finding Joy Shooting Alone (Not Following the Rules)

Leica M11 Digital Rangefinder Camera

Thanks for following along on my ramblings here. If you're feeling the same pressure I felt—to shoot a certain way, use specific focal lengths, or build a YouTube following—I hope this gives you permission to just grab your camera and go shoot for the joy of it.

Are you doing solo photowalks? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. What focal length do you prefer? Do you follow the "rules" or have you found your own path?

Want more honest photography content without the pressure? Subscribe to my photography blog for weekly posts about real creative journeys, not just gear reviews and pixel-peeping.

David Saylors 12/9/23 David Saylors 12/9/23

Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 Review: The Best $50 Vintage Lens for Leica SL2

What if one of the sharpest lenses you could put on your Leica SL2 cost less than $50 and was made in 1976? That's exactly what I discovered when I adapted a vintage Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 to my Leica SL2—and the results genuinely surprised me. This isn't just a macro lens review. It's the story of how a nearly 50-year-old Nikon F-mount lens became one of my favorite walkaround lenses on one of the best modern mirrorless cameras available.

Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 vintage Nikon F-mount lens adapted to Leica SL2 mirrorless camera — The Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 AI variant on the Leica SL2 via F-to-L adapter — an unlikely but exceptional pairing.

Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5: What Makes This Vintage Lens Special

I have found over the years that there are a couple of Nikkor lenses in this family that work really well for the task of general purpose photography and this is one of them. This particular copy is an AI variant made somewhere in the late 1976 to early 1977 time frame, so this lens is almost 50 years old—and just look at the image quality it produces. Lens manufacturers were on their A game at this point and Nikon was a force to be reckoned with in this area. This lens isn't even their best macro lens either, which is something that to this day surprises me a little.

What makes the Micro Nikkor special compared to other vintage 50mm lenses is that it was designed for exacting scientific and reproduction photography. That design intent required flat-field sharpness, minimal distortion, and consistent performance from close focus all the way out to infinity. Most vintage 50mm lenses were optimized for portrait distances and can get a little soft or lose contrast at other distances. The Micro Nikkor doesn't play that game—it's sharp everywhere.

It has an external aperture ring that is detented in whole stops, except the very first one where it goes from f/3.5 to f/4 for some reason. Who knows why Nikon did this, but they did, so it is there if you want to use it.

Adapting Nikon F-Mount Lenses to the Leica SL2

Before we get into performance, a quick word on adapting this lens. The Leica SL2 uses the L-mount, and to run Nikon F-mount glass on it you need an F-to-L adapter. I use the Urth version and it works well for fully manual lenses like this one—there's nothing electronic to pass through, so any mechanically precise adapter will do the job. If you want to get fancy, Novoflex makes precision German-engineered adapters that are the gold standard, but they cost considerably more than the budget options and for a manual vintage lens, the results are essentially identical.

What makes the Leica SL2 particularly great for adapted vintage glass is the combination of focus peaking and magnified live view in the EVF. You can dial in focus with real confidence even at close distances, and the IBIS works completely independently of the lens—the camera has no idea what glass is mounted and compensates for shake regardless. This makes lenses that might have been borderline usable in low light suddenly practical for handheld shooting. More on that in a moment.

Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 aperture ring and focus barrel showing AI variant markings — The external aperture ring with whole-stop detents — classic 1970s Nikon build quality.

Minimum focus distance is a surprising 9 1/2” from the image plane. So this is right at 4.25 inches in front of the lens when mounted on my Leica SL2 camera. This also gives you a reproduction ratio of 1:2 on the image sensor, that is to say that if you have an object that is 1 inch across in reality, it will be 1/2 inch across the sensor. To get to 1:1 reproduction ratio you need help… The PK-3 extension ring will get you half that distance and to the true 1:1 reproduction ratio at minimum focus distance. All of this is conveniently engraved on the lens barrel for you should you need to look it up in the field… Also notice in these two images that the lens “pumps” air which means it has external focus movement, the lens grows and shrinks when you adjust focus, it is common belief that this is where dust gets into the lens from, when you open the lens fully to minimum focus distance the lens intakes a full charge of air and doesn’t have dust seals to prevent dust from entering the lens mechanism, so you get a little internal dust…

Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 lens extended to minimum focus distance showing external focus movement — The lens 'pumps' air as it extends to close focus — a common trait of this era of optics.

One last thing to note about this focus mechanism is that the reason I like using these lenses for general purpose photography like travel and such is that as you can see in the above photo, the focus throw from infinity to less than 1 meter is short, so focus is fast with this lens. It also has a range focus scale, but since it is 55mm, the scale is rather small and not easy to use, it will give you rough numbers to work with but that is all.

Enough with all this tech talk, let’s take it for a spin and see what the photos look like on my Leica SL2 mirrorless camera since it has IBIS on the sensor and I can hand hold photos at unheard of shutter speeds with it.

First thing I notice when using this lens is how good it feels in the hand. The location and feel of the controls are literally in the perfect location.

Another thing I noticed was that it is sharp, like incredibly sharp. To this point, it makes sense that it would be this good due to the design intent of the lens but it has a really nice general purpose focus throw too. This lends itself to being a wonderful walk about lens. The following photos were shot on my Leica SL2 using this lens as a walkable lens. I have used another Nikon macro lens before in this same capacity, the 60mm Micro Nikkor once lived on my D810 as a general purpose lens. It works flawlessly in this capacity.

Using the Micro Nikkor 55mm as a Walkaround Lens on Leica SL2

The following photos were shot on my Leica SL2 using this lens as a walkable lens. I have used another Nikon macro lens before in this same capacity—the 60mm Micro Nikkor once lived on my D810 as a general purpose lens and it works flawlessly in that role. The 55mm is similar in character.

For street photography and travel, the 55mm field of view on full frame is about as classic as it gets. You're not cramped like you can be with a 35mm in tight spaces, and you're not zooming in on subjects from far away like you would with 85mm or 105mm. It sits right in the middle of the world as you see it, which makes composition intuitive. The short focus throw means you can adjust focus quickly as subjects move, which is more important for this kind of use than it would be in a controlled macro environment.

Where it struggles a bit is in low light. The f/3.5 maximum aperture isn't going to win any awards for low-light capability compared to fast primes. But combined with the Leica SL2's excellent high-ISO performance and the IBIS, you can push it further than you'd expect—as you'll see in the next section.

Handheld 1/30 second exposure with Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 on Leica SL2 IBIS showing motion blur in water — Shot handheld at 1/30 second — the Leica SL2's IBIS makes this kind of exposure possible with a vintage manual focus lens.

In the above photo you can see what I love about a camera with stabilization in it. The camera sensor is rock steady so I can capture shutter speeds like in the photo above where I was running something like 1/30 second and some of my water blur shots were 1/4 second!!! Like the one below is a 1/4 second handheld exposure and if you will look, the rocks are crisp and the water has a really nice blur to it. This is at f32 as well so there will be some diffraction in the image from that but all in all, it looks really nice.

Leica SL2 sample image with adapted Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 showing sharpness and color rendering — Shot handheld at 1/30 second — the Leica SL2's IBIS makes this kind of exposure possible with a vintage manual focus lens.

100 percent crop from Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 on Leica SL2 showing spider web detail and sharpness — 1/4 second handheld at f/32 — diffraction softens things slightly but the IBIS still produces usable results.

Below is a crop from this image. As you can see, the spider webs are even visible and this is handheld no less! As long as you have some decent light this combination is really nice. When you move to a mirrorless camera body that has IBIS on the sensor, it unlocks so many possibilities with lens / camera combinations. I dont know why hobbyists dont see this sooner but a lot dont.

Leica SL2 IBIS + Vintage Glass: A Game-Changing Combination

In the above photo you can see what I love about a camera with stabilization in it. The camera sensor is rock steady so I can capture shutter speeds like in the photo above where I was running something like 1/30 second, and some of my water blur shots were at 1/4 second! The one below is a 1/4 second handheld exposure and if you look, the rocks are crisp and the water has a really nice blur to it. This is at f/32 as well, so there will be some diffraction in the image from that, but all in all it looks really nice.

I don't know why hobbyist photographers don't recognize this sooner, but when you move to a mirrorless camera body that has IBIS on the sensor, it unlocks so many possibilities with vintage lens combinations. You're essentially giving a 50-year-old lens a set of capabilities it was never designed to have. Nikon didn't design this lens to be hand-holdable at 1/4 second—but the Leica SL2 makes it so.

Think about what this means practically. That f/3.5 maximum aperture that looks modest on paper suddenly becomes much more workable. Instead of needing a tripod for anything in shade or indoors, you can hand-hold at much slower shutter speeds and let the IBIS do the work. In a museum, a church, a dimly lit market—anywhere a tripod isn't practical—this combination keeps you shooting. It's the kind of capability that used to require carrying a tripod and a fast prime. Now you can do it with a $50 vintage lens and good technique.

Image Quality: What to Expect from a 50-Year-Old Lens

Below is a crop from one of my sample images. As you can see, the spider webs are even visible and this was handheld. As long as you have some decent light, this combination is really nice.

Let me put some numbers to what you're seeing. The Leica SL2 has a 47 megapixel sensor—a genuinely demanding sensor that will expose any lens weakness. Lesser vintage glass can look acceptable at web resolution but fall apart when you pixel-peep on a sensor this resolute. The Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 doesn't fall apart. Center sharpness is exceptional at every aperture, and corner performance is very good stopped down. The color rendering has that warm, slightly organic character that vintage Nikon glass is known for, which pairs nicely with Leica's color science.

The one area where you see the lens's age is bokeh at close focus distances. When shooting macro-close, out-of-focus areas can look a bit busy—it's not the smooth, creamy blur you'd get from a modern lens optimized for portrait work. But for general photography at normal distances, the rendering is pleasant and natural, never clinical or harsh.

Who Should Buy the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 for Leica SL2?"

This lens is a fantastic choice for:

The budget-conscious Leica shooter. Leica glass is expensive—there's no way around that. The Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 gives you exceptional optical performance for a fraction of the cost of any L-mount prime. If you're building a kit and want quality glass that doesn't break the bank, vintage adapted lenses like this one are the answer.

Travel photographers who want a dual-purpose lens. One lens that handles landscapes, street photography, and close-up detail shots? That's what this is. Pack light and still have versatility.

Vintage lens enthusiasts. If you enjoy the tactile experience of manual focus and appreciate the history of classic glass, this lens is deeply satisfying to use. It's mechanically solid, beautifully made, and feels like a precision instrument.

Anyone curious about adapted lenses on the SL2. If you haven't explored the world of adapted vintage glass on your Leica SL2, this lens is an inexpensive, low-risk way to discover what IBIS + manual focus vintage glass can do. You might find, as I did, that you love it.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5

Is the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 good for general photography (not just macro)?

Yes — and this is the thing most people don't realize about this lens. While it was designed as a macro lens, the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 is an outstanding general-purpose walkaround lens. The focus throw from infinity to under one meter is short and smooth, making it fast to use in the field. The 55mm focal length gives you a classic "normal" field of view, and the sharpness holds up beautifully at all distances — not just close focus. I've used mine for street photography, travel, landscapes, and waterfall shots, and it handles all of them with ease. The f/3.5 maximum aperture is slower than dedicated portrait lenses, but for anything in decent light, this lens is genuinely excellent.

Can you adapt Nikon F-mount lenses to the Leica SL2?

Yes, and it works very well. The Leica SL2 uses the L-mount, and with an F-to-L mount adapter you can use almost any Nikon F-mount lens on the camera. Since the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 is a fully manual lens with an external aperture ring, you control the aperture on the lens itself and the camera handles exposure metering in aperture-priority mode. The Leica SL2's focus peaking and magnified live view make manual focusing accurate and enjoyable. There are no electronic connections needed for this vintage lens — it's a fully mechanical pairing that works remarkably well.

Does Leica SL2 IBIS work with adapted vintage lenses?

Yes, and it's one of the best reasons to use vintage glass on the Leica SL2. The 5-axis IBIS works independently of the lens — the camera compensates for camera shake regardless of whether the lens communicates electronically. With the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5, I've successfully hand-held shots at 1/30 second and even 1/4 second, which would be nearly impossible without stabilization. This opens up a whole new world for vintage lens shooters — lenses that were borderline impractical in low light suddenly become viable handheld options. The combination of Leica SL2 IBIS and vintage Nikon glass is genuinely one of my favorite pairings in photography.

What adapter do I need to use Nikon F lenses on the Leica SL2?

You need a Nikon F to Leica L-mount adapter (sometimes listed as "F to L" or "Nikon F to L-mount"). Several brands make these including Urth, K&F Concept, and Novoflex (premium option). For fully manual vintage lenses like the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5, an inexpensive adapter works perfectly well since there are no electronic connections to pass through — you just need a mechanically precise fit. Novoflex is the gold standard for precision, but budget options from Urth or K&F Concept work fine for manual glass.

How sharp is the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 on a modern mirrorless camera?

Extremely sharp — almost surprisingly so given the lens is nearly 50 years old. The Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 was designed for close-focus scientific and reproduction photography, which required exceptional flat-field sharpness and minimal distortion. Those same qualities make it outstanding on a modern high-resolution sensor like the Leica SL2's 47MP chip. At middle apertures (f/5.6 to f/11) this lens is genuinely difficult to fault. Wide open at f/3.5 it's already very good, and the sharpness only improves as you stop down. The one caveat is that at f/32 you'll see diffraction softening, but that applies to any lens at very small apertures.

What is the PK-3 extension ring for the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5?

The PK-3 extension ring is a Nikon accessory that mounts between the lens and camera body, moving the lens further from the sensor and allowing it to achieve true 1:1 macro magnification. Without the PK-3, the Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 reaches a 1:2 reproduction ratio at minimum focus — meaning a 1-inch subject appears as half an inch on the sensor. With the PK-3 ring, you get 1:1 reproduction, where a 1-inch subject fills 1 inch of sensor. If you need true life-size macro shots, the PK-3 is the answer. Without it, the lens is still excellent for general macro work like flowers, insects, and small objects — just not true 1:1.

Recommended Gear for Adapting Vintage Lenses to Leica SL2

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Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E ED Lens

Nikon FTZ II Mount Adapter

Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.4 II

Urth M adapter L

Leica SL2 Mirrorless Camera Body

So in conclusion...

The Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 is genuinely one of the best bang-for-buck vintage lenses you can adapt to the Leica SL2. For under $50 on the used market, you get a lens that handles macro work beautifully, doubles as a sharp general-purpose walkaround, and—paired with the SL2's IBIS—lets you hand-hold exposures that should be impossible.

Is it perfect? No. The f/3.5 maximum aperture limits your low-light shooting compared to faster primes, and you won't get smooth, creamy bokeh at close focus distances. But for sharpness, color rendering, close-focus capability, and sheer character? This nearly 50-year-old lens punches well above its weight class on a modern mirrorless body.

Get out there and grab one. You won't regret it.

Have you tried adapting vintage Nikon lenses to your mirrorless camera? Drop your experiences in the comments below—I'd love to hear what combinations you're running.

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David Saylors 12/8/23 David Saylors 12/8/23

It is the holiday season again!

In the above photo, I was attempting to capture blue hour in downtown with a 25mm and this shows what I am talking about a little better. The wider angle allows me to get more of a scene and tell more of a story that a tighter lens like the 50mm or 75mm would do. I would have to back up a lot more if I wanted to include all of this in a 50mm lens photo as the field of view is a great deal narrower. Another thing that comes with longer focal lengths is a phenomenon called “compression”. This is where things in the background tend to look closer together than they are in reality from the effect the lens has on the subject. The photo below shows what I am talking about with compression…

When you live in the United States, you get to celebrate certain holidays and they seem to come once a month… In the winters we have Halloween, then a month later you have November and with it comes Thanksgiving where everyone literally over eats on one day and then eats the same meal everyday for the next week at lunch. HaHa.

It also brings colder weather so the photography is different too. I have, of late, been using my 28mm more than anything else it seems. The wider angle giving me more of a ”scene” than a specific subject. It also gives me a lot more depth of field so getting focus is a lot easier too. You see, I tend to shoot these days with vintage manual focus lenses more often than not. I do love my modern lenses with their aftofucus and light weight construction producing wonderful images, but sometimes I just want to use something from a simpler time. I have also found the lenses that work best for me applications too. Mostly Nikkor and Asahi Optical(Pentax) lenses with a sprinkling of some others like Voigtlander and Leica just to name a few.

I will also use these lenses for things like photo walks as well as general photography.

Learning how to use these effects to your own personal advantage will open up so many possibilities for you. You couldn’t get this photo on a 20mm lens, it just wont work, you need the compression of a telephoto lens to be able to “stack” all those light displays together like that. This is why it is important to get out and shoot with different focal lengths at different times of day and also in different places, it is almost impossible to learn well without “doing”…

All this to say, the holidays as a wonderful time of the year to get out and practice your photography.

David Saylors 12/2/23 David Saylors 12/2/23

The Hanimex 28mm f2.8 lens is a really interesting little lens...

Sometimes I just throw the dice on a vintage lens and occasionally it comes out really good and sometimes it is a dud. The Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 I picked up for $20 at Ball Photo in Asheville? This time it's a winner.

I paid something like $20 for this lens at Ball Photo. Twenty bucks. For that price, even if it turned out to be terrible, who cares? You're not risking much. But when it turns out to be actually good — sharp, solid build, nice colors, usable on a modern camera — that's when you feel like you found a hidden gem sitting in a used lens bin.

This is why I love digging through vintage gear at camera shops. Most people walk right past this stuff looking for autofocus lenses or the latest Sigma Art prime or whatever. Meanwhile there's a perfectly good 28mm sitting there for the price of lunch. Sure, it's got quirks (the sun flare is real), but it's also got character and it actually works. Can't beat that value.

Hanimex 28mm f2.8 vintage M42 lens adapted to Leica SL2 mirrorless camera — The Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 on my Leica SL2 — not the prettiest combo, but it works.

Hunting for Glass at Ball Photo in Asheville

I went to Ashville NC on a small trip recently and on this trip I was doing photography. Well, when it is a photography trip I always make it a point to go to Ball Photo and just “go shopping” for something interesting. They have SO much vintage gear to choose from that it is almost overwhelming to be honest. It is not for the feint of heart to be honest about it. But today found me at Ball Photo and while there I started looking for some glass to pick out… Well I found some.

Hanimex 28mm f2.8 all-metal lens construction with silver accent rings and focus markings — All-metal construction with nice silver accent rings. Built like lenses used to be built.

We all know how much I love to shoot with vintage glass and I am always on the hunt for a new lens to play with. I have Leica glass for the Leica SL2 and use it quite often but I still really enjoy adapting some older lens to the camera and then seeing what I can get with this lens and camera combination when I go out with it. It is almost a challenge to see if I can come away with something good using this old lens… What generally happens is that I slowly build a collection of lenses that I REALLY love to use and I am starting to collect a full set of these lenses. Some examples would be the 28mm f3.5 Asahi Optical M42 mount lens that I keep in the camera bag, this lens is literally one of my favorite lenses of all time for some reason. I just love the results I get with it on the Leica SL2 camera. Well today finds me using a lens that is 2/3 of s top faster and a little bigger too.

What Makes the Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 Special

The Hanimex 28mm f2.8 is a well made lens with the whole thing made of metal (probably brass from the way it feels but it could be anodized aluminum too I really am not sure) and has some really nice accents like the little silver bands around the focus ring which also has a faux leather appearance but I am almost certain is rubber. The range focus scale is graduated for every aperture marked (sans f4 for some reason) on the aperture ring, which is a nice touch for street photography. The detent clicks on the aperture ring are nice and pronounced as well as solid, no mushy aperture detents on this lens! All in all, it is a great little lens by design engineering standards. It is even a well designed attachment scheme as well with the M42 mount as it is easily adapted to about all mirrorless cameras on the market.

M42 mount adapter with set screws for timing adjustment on Hanimex 28mm f2.8 lens — The M42 mount adapter — see those three tiny set screws? That's how you time the lens if you care about that kind of thing.

Adjusting M42 Adapters (If You Care About That Sort of Thing)

Many people also don’t realize that the M42 adapter can be adjusted to get the lens top dead center of the adapter too. There are three tiny set screws on the adapter that hold the threaded ring in place on the lens adapter to adjust this. To make this adjustment is simple, just screw the lens into the mount till it seats and snug it well so it wont work loose while in use. Next get the Allen key that came with the adapter and loosen the three set screws till the lens can spin in the mount and simply turn the lens till the center mark is top dead center of the adapter and then push in on the mount while tightening the set screws back down to make it hold the ring again and your done. It is that simple. Mine is slightly off center here and I have simple been too lazy to adjust it as it is close enough for me to be able to get out and shoot anyway. I don’t normally worry about it too much as once you set the adapter once, then all the lenses will time up and you don’t have to mess with it again. Installing lenses over the years on this adapter and tightening them has slipped the timing a little and this is why it is slightly off center. Once again, it is no big deal to me and i just go out and shoot…

Look, I know there are "better" lens mounts out there. But M42 is just so easy to adapt to basically anything. You can throw these lenses on Leica, Sony, Fuji, whatever — and they cost pennies compared to native glass. Plus there's something satisfying about the all-manual experience. No electronics, no autofocus hunting, just you and the glass trying to get the shot. It's photography the way it used to be, which sounds pretentious when I say it like that, but honestly it's just fun. There's a directness to it that I appreciate.

And here's the thing: M42 lenses were made by so many different manufacturers over the years that there are hundreds of options out there. Some are great, some are terrible, and part of the fun is just digging through used lens bins at places like Ball Photo to see what you find. It's like thrift shopping for camera gear.

Christmas decorations at Hamilton Place Mall Chattanooga shot with Hanimex 28mm f2.8 on Leica SL2 — First outing at Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga on Black Friday. The Hanimex handled it just fine.

Taking It to the Mall on Black Friday (Because Why Not)

So the first official outing with this lens was to go to the mall in Chattanooga TN with it and capture some Christmas spirit with it…on black Friday no less.

Well to be quite honest, it performed wonderfully. Now to be fair, the camera does have IBIS in it and this allows me to shoot at pretty slow shutter speeds without the need for a tripod. As long as you go into the camera settings and tell the camera it is a 28mm lens, the camera can compensate for movement really well allowing for incredibly slow shutter speeds like the last photo in this string from the mall where it was 1/10 of a second…hand held. Most of the other photos are shot at 1/250 second to freeze the people so that I can show the current clothing styles as well as the general appearance of the mall in 2023.

The Leica SL2's IBIS is genuinely a game-changer for vintage glass. Without it, that 1/10 second handheld shot at the mall would've been a blurry mess — the old "reciprocal rule" says you need at least 1/30 second for a 28mm lens, and that's being optimistic. But with IBIS doing its thing, I can get away with shutter speeds that should be impossible with a manual lens.

This is why I keep coming back to the SL2 for adapted lenses. It makes old glass way more usable than it has any right to be. You're essentially taking a lens from the 1960s or 70s and giving it capabilities it was never designed to have. Nikon didn't build this Hanimex thinking someone would hand-hold it at 1/10 second in a mall forty years later.

Black Friday shoppers at Hamilton Place Mall captured with vintage Hanimex 28mm lens — 1/250 second to freeze the people and capture 2023 fashion in all its glory.
The Christmas decorations at the mall — shot handheld at 1/10 second thanks to the SL2's IBIS.

Hamilton Place Mall interior Christmas display photographed with Hanimex 28mm f2.8 vintage lens — 1/250 second to freeze the people and capture 2023 fashion in all its glory.
The Christmas decorations at the mall — shot handheld at 1/10 second thanks to the SL2's IBIS.

Hamilton Place Mall Chattanooga holiday decorations shot with adapted vintage M42 lens — 1/250 second to freeze the people and capture 2023 fashion in all its glory.
The Christmas decorations at the mall — shot handheld at 1/10 second thanks to the SL2's IBIS.

Handheld 1/10 second exposure at Hamilton Place Mall using Leica SL2 IBIS with Hanimex 28mm — 1/250 second to freeze the people and capture 2023 fashion in all its glory.
The Christmas decorations at the mall — shot handheld at 1/10 second thanks to the SL2's IBIS.

All in all, the Hanimex performed extremely well in this role. The images are sharp and the colors are easily adjusted in post processing to give any look you want. It also doesn’t hurt to have that Leica “look” from the camera processing the colors before saving the RAW file too, Leica does something special with their processing to give the colors a look that is unique to Leica cameras. It is hard to explain, but it is a thing.

The Sun Flare Problem — Yeah, It's Bad

In the next photos I didn’t show all the images as they just reflect what it is like to shoot indoors where there is controlled light and no sun to deal with. The following photos show what happens when you have the sun shining on the front element.

Sittons Mill Dam Trenton Georgia shot with Hanimex 28mm f2.8 lens shaded from sun showing sharp results — Same shot as the next one but the lens is shaded from the sun — clean and sharp.

Above is the same photo as the one right under this text except that I shaded the lens from the sun. This lens cant handle the sun shining on it from any angle without showing you that it was happening with some sort of sun flare in the image. In the below image there is geometric artifacts as well as a overall glare from the sun.

Sun flare and geometric artifacts from Hanimex 28mm f2.8 vintage lens with direct sunlight — What happens when the sun hits the front element. Vintage lenses and coatings don't play nice with direct sunlight.

In the below photo you can also see the geometric glare in the center of frame, this could be used to your advantage in some applications like vintage style portraits where you position the subject to where the flare adds to the aesthetic of the image. Here the flare doesn’t do that though and is more of a nuisance that anything else. So this is something to keep in mind when using vintage glass, you will run into these kinds of problems from time to time like the older generation has to do…lol.

Geometric lens flare pattern in center of frame from vintage Hanimex 28mm f2.8 uncoated optics — That geometric glare in the center? Classic vintage lens behavior. Could be useful for portraits if you position it right.

Can You Shoot Portraits with a 28mm? Actually, Yes

Lastly, can you make portraits with the 28mm lens? The answer is yes, you can as long as you are careful with the composition and keep the subject centered like I did here. The 28mm lens can distort toward the edges so it is imperative to keep the person in the center of the photo as much as humanly possible if you want the image to turn out like anything you want at all. Maria was gracious and allowed me to make her portrait at the mall using one of the advertising lights as a “studio light” to give us nice diffused side light and I think the image turned out really well for a 60 year old lens with improvised lighting.

Portrait shot with Hanimex 28mm f2.8 vintage lens using improvised mall lighting at Hamilton Place — Maria at the mall using an advertising light as improvised diffused side lighting. Not bad for a 60-year-old lens.

Now, shooting portraits with a 28mm isn't what most people would recommend. The conventional wisdom is 50mm or 85mm for portraits, and there's good reason for that — longer focal lengths are more flattering and don't distort faces. But if you keep your subject centered and don't get too close, a 28mm can work. The key is composition and knowing the lens's limitations.

Maria's portrait here is proof that it's doable. I kept her in the center of the frame where distortion is minimal, used the advertising light for nice diffused side lighting, and shot from a reasonable distance. If I'd moved her to the edge of the frame or gotten right up in her face, it would've looked weird. But treated carefully, a 28mm can give you a portrait with some environmental context in the background, which can be a nice look.

Just know what you're getting into. This isn't a portrait lens. But it can make portraits if you're intentional about it.

As well as this blog post, I also have a video sharing some of these points and showing more of the old Sitton’s mill location should you want to go check that out at the link below.

Thanks and if you are into vintage glass, this is a keeper in my book — and for pennies too. Twenty bucks for a solid 28mm that actually performs? I'll take that deal every time. Sure it doesn't like the sun and you probably won't shoot portraits with it every day, but as a walkaround lens for street photography or just messing around? It's great.

So with that, get your camera out and go take a picture with it. Maybe even throw the dice on some weird vintage lens you've never heard of. You might just find a winner.

Questions People Ask About the Hanimex 28mm f/2.8

Is the Hanimex 28mm f/2.8 any good?

Yeah, it's actually pretty good for the price. Sharp in the center, solid build quality, and it handles well on modern mirrorless cameras with IBIS. The biggest issue is sun flare — this lens does NOT like having the sun anywhere near the front element. You'll get geometric artifacts and overall loss of contrast if you're shooting with the sun in or near the frame. But for $20-30, it's absolutely worth picking up if you see one. I mean, at that price, even if it's just okay, who cares? But when it turns out to be actually good, you feel like you found a hidden gem.

What mount is the Hanimex 28mm f/2.8?

M42 screw mount, which is great because you can adapt it to basically any mirrorless camera. I use it on my Leica SL2 with an M42-to-L adapter, but it works just as well on Sony E-mount, Fuji X-mount, Canon RF, whatever you've got. M42 is one of those universal old-school mounts that just adapts to everything. Plus the adapters are cheap and plentiful, so you're not spending a fortune to use these lenses on modern cameras.

Can you use vintage lenses on the Leica SL2?

Absolutely. The Leica SL2's IBIS makes vintage glass way more usable than it used to be. You can hand-hold at slower shutter speeds that would normally require a tripod, and the camera's focus peaking makes manual focusing pretty straightforward once you get used to it. Plus the L-mount has a short flange distance so you can adapt almost anything — M42, Nikon F, Canon FD, Leica M, you name it. I actually prefer shooting with adapted vintage lenses on the SL2 sometimes because it's just more fun than using modern autofocus glass.

How do you deal with sun flare on vintage lenses?

Use a lens hood or just shade the lens with your hand when the sun is hitting the front element. Vintage lens coatings from the 60s and 70s aren't anywhere near as good as modern multi-coatings, so direct sunlight will give you all kinds of flare, ghost images, and loss of contrast. If you're shooting into the sun or with bright light hitting the lens at an angle, expect problems. It's just how old glass behaves. Sometimes you can use it creatively for that vintage look, but most of the time it's just annoying. I literally had to shade the lens with my hand at Sitton's Mill to get clean shots.

Is 28mm good for street photography?

It's a little wider than the classic 35mm or 50mm focal lengths most people use for street, but yeah, it works. You get more context in the frame, which is good for environmental portraits or showing a whole scene instead of isolating subjects. The trade-off is that 28mm has more distortion at the edges, so you need to be careful about composition. Keep important stuff — especially people's faces — toward the center of the frame. I shot a portrait of Maria at the mall with this lens and it turned out great, but I made sure to keep her centered. If I'd put her at the edge of the frame, her face would've looked stretched and weird.

Where can I buy a Hanimex 28mm f/2.8?

I got mine at Ball Photo in Asheville, North Carolina for about $20. They have an absolutely overwhelming amount of vintage gear if you're ever in the area. Otherwise, check eBay, KEH Camera, or local camera shops that carry used gear. These lenses aren't rare or collectible, so they're usually pretty cheap when you find them. Don't overpay — if someone's asking more than $30-40 for one, keep looking. There are plenty of them out there.

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K&F Concept Lens Mount Adapter M42-L Manual Focus

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Have you shot with the Hanimex 28mm or other obscure vintage glass? Drop a comment below — I'd love to hear what hidden gems you've found digging through used lens bins.

David Saylors 11/26/23 David Saylors 11/26/23

Chattanooga Photowalk: Leica SL2 + Yashica 28mm Street Photography

Chattanooga's Rossville Avenue is one of those streets most people drive past without a second thought. But stop and look closer—you'll find pre-WWII architecture, a century-old cafe that's about to close forever, and urban decay that looks like a movie set. That's exactly what I did with my Leica SL2 and a vintage Yashica 28mm f/2.8 lens: parked for one hour of street photography and came away with something worth sharing.

Hamilton Parts Distributors: Pre-War Architecture in Chattanooga

Today we find me in Chattanooga yet again and this time I am setup on a side street off of Main street called Rossville Avenue and this road has some really neat old buildings on it, some of which I have photographed in the past but I like to get photos of them as I go along to show how they change with time. I get parked and pay for one hour of parking so I have to make it count. Putting a little pressure on myself to come away with SOMETHING of value in this time allotment.,,

Rossville Avenue Chattanooga street photography with Leica SL2 and Yashica 28mm vintage lens — Rossville Avenue in Chattanooga—one of those streets you drive past but never really see. Time to change that.

My first stop is the Hamilton Parts Distributors building that has been NOT a parts distributor for quite some time as of this point…2023. The building is really starting to show its age too with numerous windows bricked up on the sides as well as the front giving it a sort of dystopian imbalanced look. This could be a set right out of a movie or something. I took several photos from different angles today and some look better than others. I really like the front door and the corner that I get today for some reason… Here they are, what do you think?

I love how the building still has remnants of the signage that was painted on it some time in the past. Also look at the foundation material—today it's all either poured concrete or cement blocks and has been for many decades. So I'm going to speculate this is pre-war construction, meaning before World War II, based on these limestone foundation stones.

These stones look like they were repurposed from another construction site that existed before this building did. I've seen evidence of these cut stones going back to the mid-19th century in Chattanooga, so I know these are probably something left over either from a fire or were just cast off when another building was demolished. The people who built this building saw a chance to save a few dollars on this part of the construction.

Also notice that they didn't think these stones were very appealing—they hid them behind a mortar stucco finish as you can see in the front door photo. Practical, but not pretty.

What I really love about locations like this is that they tell stories about how Chattanooga was built. This isn't some sterile modern construction—this is history you can see and photograph. The bricked-up windows, the deteriorating facade, the repurposed foundation stones—it all adds up to a building that looks like it could be a set piece in a dystopian film. And it's just sitting here on Rossville Avenue where most people never even glance at it.

Hamilton Parts Distributors building entrance with limestone foundation and bricked windows in Chattanooga — The corner angle showing all those bricked-up windows. Dystopian and unbalanced—looks like a movie set.

Hamilton Parts Distributors corner view showing bricked up windows and deteriorating facade Chattanooga Tennessee — The front entrance of the old Hamilton Parts Distributors building. Notice the limestone foundation stones—likely pre-WWII construction repurposed from an earlier building.

Zarzours Cafe: 100 Years of Chattanooga History (Closing Soon)

My next stop was right next door at Zarzours Cafe.

Zarzours Cafe historic Chattanooga restaurant closing after 100 years in business — Zarzours Cafe—over 100 years in business and closing in less than a month. I'll be eating there before they close. How could I not?

This cafe has been in business for over 100 years. Yeah, you read that right—a century, as you can see on their sign. And it's closing in less than a month from when I took these photos.

I'd never eaten there before this photowalk, which honestly is a little embarrassing considering how long they've been around. But I made a promise to myself right then: I'm going to sit at their cafe and enjoy the fine cuisine they've been serving for a century before they close their doors for good. How could I let that slide? A business that survives 100 years in Chattanooga—through the Great Depression, World War II, economic changes, everything—deserves to be experienced and remembered.

This is what urban photography is really about for me. Sure, you can go shoot pretty buildings and interesting light, and that's fine. But when you're documenting places like Zarzours that are about to disappear, you're preserving Chattanooga history. These photos matter in a way that just "pretty pictures" don't. In ten years, twenty years, someone's going to search for Zarzours Cafe and these images will be part of the record of what it looked like before it closed.

Back to the walk at hand. I took a couple of photos of the restaurant and parking area and headed on down the street.

Zarzours Cafe parking area and exterior Chattanooga historic restaurant photography — Another angle of Zarzours. A century of Chattanooga history about to become just a memory.

Koch Foods and Lookout Mountain: Iconic Chattanooga Skyline

The next stop was at the Koch Foods Processing plant. This is one of two processing plants inside the city that I am aware of. These have been here for decades too so they are pretty much fixtures of the city at this point. One is on Broad street and the other is here on Rossville Ave. It being such an iconic location coupled with the skyline containing Lookout Mtn as well makes for a cool photo to me.

Koch Foods processing plant with Lookout Mountain skyline Chattanooga Tennessee urban photography — Koch Foods processing plant with Lookout Mountain in the background—an iconic Chattanooga skyline view that's been here for decades.

Main Street Chattanooga: Urban Photography in Action

After the chicken plant, I made my way over to Main street and did a little photography on Main as well. Main usually has something really colorful as well as interesting too, this is why I usually always make my way over and look around for a little while at a minimum…

Main Street Chattanooga construction scene urban street photography with Yashica 28mm adapted lens — Same spot, faster shutter speed to freeze the construction scene. Main Street always has something interesting going on.

Leica SL2 + Yashica 28mm: Why This Combo Works for Street Photography

These two photos just go to show what all can be found on Main street even when it is not having some sort of special event. All it takes is a little creativity and time of your part to come away with some interesting photos. Now you might be thinking these are not interesting photos, and you will be right as the photo interest rate will vary from person to person, but I found that these to be quite interesting so I am sharing them with you…lol. The difference between the two photo primarily is the shutter speed as one is really slow to blur the truck and the other is faster so it will capture the whole construction scene with out any motion blur on my part.

Main Street Chattanooga slow shutter speed motion blur street photography with Leica SL2 IBIS — Main Street with a slow shutter to blur the truck. The Leica SL2's IBIS makes this kind of handheld shot possible.

Leica SL2 + Yashica 28mm: Why This Combo Works for Street Photography

The Yashica 28mm f/2.8 is one of those vintage lenses that just works. It's not fancy, it's not expensive, and it doesn't have modern coatings or any electronic connections. But for street and urban photography like this Chattanooga photowalk, it's exactly what I need.

The 28mm focal length gives you enough width to capture environmental context—like the whole Hamilton Parts building facade or the Koch Foods plant with Lookout Mountain in the background—without getting into ultra-wide territory where everything starts looking distorted. It's the kind of focal length where you can work close to your subject or step back and get the whole scene, and either way, the composition feels natural.

Paired with the Leica SL2, this combination is almost perfect for what I'm doing. The SL2's IBIS (in-body image stabilization) means I can hand-hold at slower shutter speeds than I could with any other camera. That Main Street shot where I blurred the truck? That's 1/15 second or slower, handheld, with a manual focus lens. Without IBIS, that would be a blurry mess. With the SL2 compensating for camera shake, it's clean and usable.

The focus peaking on the SL2 makes manual focusing with the Yashica fast and accurate. I set focus peaking to show me exactly where sharp focus is, and between that and the bright EVF, I can nail focus even in challenging light. It's honestly more enjoyable to shoot with than autofocus sometimes—you're more engaged with the process, more intentional about what you're focusing on.

And here's the best part: the Yashica 28mm cost me a fraction of what a native L-mount lens would cost. I get great image quality, I enjoy the process, and I'm not worried about damaging an expensive modern lens while walking around industrial areas of Chattanooga photographing old buildings. It's the perfect urban photography setup.

IBIS and Adapted Lenses: Technical Advantages of the Leica SL2

One thing I want to emphasize about shooting adapted vintage lenses on the Leica SL2 is how much the IBIS changes what's possible. In-body image stabilization isn't just a convenience feature—it fundamentally changes how you can use manual focus lenses in real-world shooting.

With older cameras, the rule of thumb was that your minimum handheld shutter speed should be roughly 1/focal length. For a 28mm lens, that means 1/30 second or faster. Slower than that and you'd get camera shake blur unless you had very steady hands or were bracing against something.

The SL2's IBIS throws that old rule out the window. I regularly shoot at 1/15 second, 1/8 second, sometimes even slower if I'm careful. The sensor is compensating for my hand movement in real-time, which means I can use lower ISOs for better image quality, or shoot in lower light conditions without needing a tripod.

For street and urban photography where you're often in shaded areas or shooting late in the day, this is huge. The Yashica 28mm has a maximum aperture of f/2.8, which is good but not super fast. In dimmer light, without IBIS, I'd be pushing ISO up to 1600 or 3200 to maintain usable shutter speeds. With IBIS, I can stay at ISO 400 or 800 and let the shutter speed drop, knowing the stabilization will keep things sharp.

It's one of those features that doesn't seem like a big deal until you actually use it in the field, and then you wonder how you ever shot without it. Vintage glass on a modern mirrorless body with IBIS is genuinely the best of both worlds.

Some are asking…

Best Time to Shoot Rossville Avenue: Morning light is good for the Hamilton Parts building facade. Late afternoon gives you nice side light on Zarzours and the other buildings along the street. Main Street is active all day, but I prefer shooting there in the afternoon or early evening when the light gets more interesting.

Parking and Logistics: Like I mentioned, metered parking is available right on Rossville Avenue. One hour was enough time for me to hit Hamilton Parts, Zarzours, Koch Foods, and make my way to Main Street. If you want to spend more time, pay for two hours to give yourself breathing room.

Safety: This isn't the touristy part of Chattanooga (it is more for the local crowd in this area) so just be aware of your surroundings. It borders an industrial area, not dangerous, but use common sense. Don't leave gear visible in your car, keep your camera bag close, and stay alert. I've never had any issues, but it's always smart to be aware when you're photographing in less-traveled parts of town.

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