Why vintage?

Because vintage lenses look amazing.

In the ever improving land of digital cameras, we're faced with overcoming the 'digital look.' On lower level cameras this takes the shape of crushed blacks, poor highlight roll off, moire, and a bunch of other technical stuff. On the higher end of the digital spectrum, we're faced with the over polished content that looks too perfect.

Cardboard Robot Visuals has a style that is innately cinematic.  This is in part due to the lens selection. Anybody can look at an image and tell that it's cinematic, even if they're unable to articulate WHY it's cinematic. This is because a cinematic image is something we've come to subconsciously associate what we've seen at the theater. This includes things like shallow depth of field, widescreen, color, and camera movement. 

This translates to glass as well. The best looking films are still shot on, well, film. Here's where the lenses come in. Vintage lenses were used when film was the only available option. Shooting through old lenses gives a digital image a filmic feel from the time we press record. Vintage lenses bring a certain character to a piece. Whether that's how they flare, the bokeh they produce, or the contrast they create. This is not to say that all old lenses are good lenses; in fact, most old lenses are bad lenses. I've spent a lot of time researching and testing vintage lenses to find the ones that we prefer and the ones that compliment my style.