GH4 Gx7 + 7$ lens

V

Vinyl Stax

Well-known member
Story of this little test clip.
This morning I left the house with my GX7 and a lens I had prepared for a b-roll shot I had been missing. It turned out that I forgot an adapter which made the lens unmountable. Too late and too far from home I decided to visit a photo store I knew was in vicinity of my shoot location. I did not wanna spend much so I told the guy to sell me the cheapest 50mm he currently has in store. He smiled and pulled out a beat up Rikenon 50mm 2.0 for M42 mount; a very tired 1960's lens. The rubber for pulling focus was missing, no front or back caps :). The price tag was 7$. I said "I WILL TAKE IT". Luckily I had my cheapo M42 adaptor with me so it all made sense ! I managed to get the shot I needed and while enjoying the lens so much I went shooting little more. The thing blew me away in terms of sharpness , contrast and color rendition. Later today I did some reading on this little gem. Some claim this lens to be the sharpest lens ever made for 35mm format. I take it with a big grain of salt but it kinda made me think. Anyways. Here are some shots from GX7 and a 7$ lens. Thanks for reading and watching.
AUDIO BY : Jessie Ware - Tough Love (Cyril Hahn Remix)

https://vimeo.com/100958195
 
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Vinyl Stax said:
Some claim this lens to be the sharpest lens ever made for 35mm format. I take it with a big grain of salt but it kinda made me think.
Click to expand...

You were right to take that statement with that great big grain of salt seeing as Riken was not one of the top tiers of Japanese optical gear makers, they were kind of a "bargain brand" maker. Just the same the Ricoh Singlex that was the first interchangeable lens SLR I could afford (in the late 1960's) came with a 50mm Rikenon F/1.4 lens that wasn't too bad, not quite sharp as the Takumar 50mm F/1.4 that came with the Pentax Spotmatic in those days but a fair performer as was. However most manufacturers 50mm F/2.0 "normal" lenses were very good performers in their own right and later on if I had my choice I would pick the f/2.0 version.

So it doesn't surprise me that your $7.00 lens did very well. Looks super as a matter of fact. You can order front and back caps on amazon and I would consider putting some kind of "grippy" rubber or something over the focusing ring. It's a "keeper".
 
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