Why this Sigma fp photographer prefers film-era lenses on his digital cameras

Meet Travis Butler

Home base: Kansas, United States

Kansas-based photographer and frequent DPReview community member, Travis Butler, first became interested in cameras as mechanical gizmos, but an Olympus D-500L helped turn that curiosity into a lasting photographic pursuit.

Today, he uses a Sigma fp and Lumix S5 with a collection of adapted film-era lenses, favoring their color and tonal rendering. In this spotlight, Travis shares his two-kit approach, his much-used Minolta 35–70mm F3.5 Macro and why his favorite photographs sometimes come from the shots he least expected.

“I first got interested in cameras as a little kid. My dad refurbished his old Yashica SLR as a high school graduation present for me, but I couldn’t afford film/developing on a student budget. The Olympus D-500L was the first time I got serious about photography, and I’ve stayed involved since then.”

Our ‘What’s in your bag?’ community spotlight series features readers sharing their favorite gear and photography, including from past DPReview collaborators. See below for what today’s guest has to share.

What’s in Travis’s bag

Travis Butler’s camera bagTravis Butler

Favorite cameras(s): Lumix S5 and Sigma fp

Favorite lens(s): Minolta MD 35-70mm F3.5 Macro

“I’ve used this lens on multiple cameras and gotten amazing photos. Landscape. Architecture. Vehicles. Museums. It’s handled them all. It doesn’t do true 1:1 macro, but it can get very good close-ups. Great tonal rendering. About the only real flaws it has are the sometimes complex and distracting bokeh and the relatively slow F3.5 aperture.

I tend to collect lenses as well. Who’s heard of some of these?

• Minolta MC Rokkor 58mm F1.2 and 50mm F1.4
• Konica Hexanon AR 40mm F1.8, 28mm F3.5 and 65-135mm F4
• Pentax Super-Takumar 50mm F1.4
• Olympus OM Zuiko 24mm F2.8, 100mm F2.8, and 50mm F3.5 Macro and 50mm F2 Macro
• Vivitar Series 1 (Tokina) 90mm F2.5 Macro and (Kiron) 28mm F2.5

I really like having multiple manufacturers sharing a lens ecosystem, so that I can pick a large DSLR-style body or a very small rangefinder(ish) body while using the same lenses. My current favorite lenses are all adapted film-era lenses.

Favorite bag(s): “I like the old-style Tamrac camera bags, the era when they used Cordura fabric and suede handles. I’ve had the acid test, where one of them kept my gear dry through a 30-minute walk back to the car in pouring rain. And the older, worn-looking bags don’t stand out as containing expensive camera gear.”

Everyone has bag considerations. What are yours?

Library of Congress.

Sigma fp | Hexanon 40mm F1.8 | 1/2500 sec | ISO 100Travis Butler

“I have two main kits – the ‘big kit’ built around the Lumix S5 and larger zoom lenses, and the ‘small kit’ using the Sigma fp and small primes, with one smaller zoom lens. If I want more reach, I have the Kiron 80-200mm F4.5 Macro in a padded nylon sleeve that clips to my belt.

During COVID, I’d use a carabiner clip to hold a face mask. In better times, I’ve used the clip to carry a soft-sided water pouch, especially on long walks in hot weather (like Washington D.C. in the summer). And I always try to have a set of flat-folding nail clippers with me; the file can smooth rough edges, the pointed cleaner end can serve as a makeshift Phillips-head screwdriver or pry tool, and the clippers can trim threads.

Other than that, there’s a faceted effects filter that I carry sometimes. And of course, good lens hoods. Once in a while I’ll carry a mini-tripod, but about the only time I use a full-size tripod is when I’m doing astro shooting. Like I said, it’s full-size.”

Why shoot with film-era lenses?

Red Rock Road near Las Vegas, NV USA.

Sigma fp | MD 35-70mm F3.5 Macro | 1/1250 sec | ISO 100Travis Butler

“My composition is always improving. I think my technical skills have been getting more of a workout since I started heavily adapting manual film lenses about a decade ago; it forced me to pay more attention to aperture and precisely placing the focal plane. This is important for your photography.

The main reason I shoot with film-era lenses is that I feel like too many modern lenses have prioritized technical perfection at the expense of color and tonal rendering. Today’s premium lenses have a dozen or more elements and have eliminated virtually all optical aberrations, but they’re big, heavy, and expensive. Worse, they often lack the kind of vivid color and rich tonal rendering I see in my favorite film lenses. (Not just dynamic range, but the subtle range of tonal values rendered as distinct shades. The sort of thing that gives body to a complex mass of clouds, or the warm stone texture of a statue. See the picture of Lincoln at the top.)

I guess you could say color and tonality are my photographic obsessions. I suspect they are for many other photographers as well.”

From Kansas to Vegas, what’s special about these places?

Mackinac Lighthouse.

Sigma fp | MD 35-70mm F3.5 Macro | 1/160 sec | ISO 100Travis Butler

“I tend to shoot in cities a lot, for both the architecture and the museums. Kansas has a fair amount of prairie land, and there are some really nice stretches for shooting, like the Flint Hills Scenic Byway. My favorite subjects are vehicles (cars and planes, etc.), architecture, landscapes and museums.

For example, when I visited a friend in Las Vegas last year, the four big shooting excursions I took were Red Rock Canyon, the Desert Garden at Ethel M’s, and the Atomic Testing Museum. The Straits of Mackinac, the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, and the Henry Ford Museum were also highlights. And I enjoy taking walks down major city streets looking for interesting/amusing little bits to shoot, like a glass-holding mouse in front of a wine shop.

What makes all these places special is the sights I couldn’t see at home; the mountains at Red Rock, the waters at Mackinac, the skyscrapers in NYC and the monuments in DC.”

Are perfect situations all that important?

Mackinac Bridge.

Sigma fp | MD 35-70mm F3.5 Macro | 1/1250 sec | ISO 100Travis Butler

“I’m not too bad at recognizing a perfect situation; but all too often, what I thought was the perfect shot out in the field turned out disappointing, and my favorite turned out to be an offhand shot I took on a lark while I was working on the big shot.

So I try to experiment a lot with a given situation, shooting multiple angles and combos, and creating plenty of opportunities for a shot that really surprises me when I get home. That’s where your photography can really come together… when you least expect it.”

Travis really enjoyed participating in this spotlight article and would love to hear what you think of his photography and to answer any of your questions in the comments below.

You can check out Travis’s photography right here on DPReview in the community forums, or visit his flickr page.

Editor’s note: This article continues a series, ‘What’s in your bag?’, highlighting DPReview community members, their photography and the gear they depend on. Would you like your photography to be featured in a future installment? Tell us a bit about yourself by filling out this form.