[BigMackCam]

I spent a perplexing but entertaining half hour playing with this lens today. I picked it up very cheaply on the 'bay, fascinated by the poor reports. I mean, how bad can it be, right?

It is - technically, at least - the worst lens I have ever come across. Really dreadful. Much worse than my plastic Holga and Diana. Not as sharp as them, even with the benefit of continuous, rather than zone, focusing. With close up subjects, neither my K3 / K5 or I can reliably decide when it is accurately focused (focus confirmation comes on at various points, but rarely when the best sharpness is achieved). What looks clear enough in the viewfinder can come out hazy with big halos, or near enough complete mush. With slightly more distant subjects (say, 6ft plus), focusing is a little easier and the results a little less shocking, but it doesn't get properly sharp until f11, and there's only one more stop after that (where things seem to get a bit worse again!).

And it does *crazy* things when there's strong sunlight from either side, or directly behind the subject. The halos get much stronger, and the bokeh starts tripping out, sometimes with Biotar-like swirling, often with pronounced ghost-like orbs wherever there are points of light!

And yet... I'm really enjoying playing with this lens. I get the feeling it might be great for soft, lo-fi black-and-white photography... maybe some moody portraits, dreamy abstracts and the like. I intend to take just this one lens out for an afternoon and see what can be done.

I can't believe Ricoh mass-produced this lens. It must have put a few people off photography all together, or at least had them questioning the reliability of their cameras. The funny thing is, I'm a huge fan of their 50mm F2... one of my favourite lenses, a great all-round performer. But this... this... Just weird! So bad, it's... good?

Anyone else have experience of it?

Some quick-and-dirty test shots - the first two, wide open; third at F11; fourth to show weird bokeh

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[Ontarian50]

Is that the one with the rotating front element for focusing?
That was indeed a budget Ricoh lens, but I don't think I ever bothered to test one. Those results are really lo-fi, indeed. Maybe there's something out of kilter with it.

[BigMackCam]

Is that the one with the rotating front element for focusing?
That was indeed a budget Ricoh lens, but I don't think I ever bothered to test one. Those results are really lo-fi, indeed. Maybe there's something out of kilter with it.

Yes, that's the one

Well, from what I've read elsewhere, with the exception of the bokeh (which I'm still researching), I'm getting the same effect as others - ridiculously soft wide open, and dreadful glowing that increases with proximity of subject. That said, I'm sure there's some sample-to-sample variation, and I *may* have a particularly bad one.

I should mention that the attached test shots are at 100%.

See another non-Pentaxian review here and take a look at his 100% crop of a Nikon camera lol

[Dlanor Sekao]

I played with one briefly.....Honestly it sure didn't look to bad but I was shooting stopped down to 5.6 or so.
Not pretending here...it looks pretty bad....but then again sometimes bad lenses create wonderful results....I say explore and have fun.
Ive shot with almost every Ricoh Rikenon lens made....most are just fine for many uses and general photography. This was for sure NOT one of my favorites as the standard Ricoh Rikenon 50mm 2.0 was and still is a great little lens for usually less than $15 bucks on Ebay.

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Last edited by Dlanor Sekao; 04-17-2015 at 03:33 PM.

[BigMackCam]

Thanks, Dlanor At f5.6 it's really not so bad, and the distance of the subject helps enormously. See attached, the top of a pine tree in our garden (focus area within the red rectangle), about 10 feet away, taken at f5.6 - no in-camera or PP sharpening...

I agree, it does look bad, lol. But I kind of like how bad it looks, if that makes sense. I feel sure I can get some interesting results out of it. And if not, it's fun to play around with

And, as I say, I absolutely love the Rikenon 50mm F2 - one of my favourite lenses. It seems to be worlds apart from this 55mm...

[boriscleto]

Convert everything to monochrome, or use an old film preset, and say it's Lomo...

[BigMackCam]

Convert everything to monochrome, or use an old film preset, and say it's Lomo...

That's definitely one of my up-coming experiments

[Dlanor Sekao]

I use an old sears lens for stuff like this....not that this is anything at all , but its the rendition I like. Paid $1 at Park and Swap for it and a wide angle attachment.
Have a set of nudes of an older photography friend with this lens and its a favorite. One of her nylon stockings on the lens added to the effect......think about it...A whole whopping $1.....lol.

[Na Horuk]

Btw, are you using a lens hood? A really tight hood (APSC equivalent) might help a little. It can make a big difference with lenses that have poor lens coatings

[jimr-pdx]

I tried the 55/2.2 briefly; not as bad as yours, but definitely the poorest lens I've owned.

[robthebloke]

Looks like a keeper

[foto guy]

Looks like a good lens to have fun with. Super sharp is not always the best way to go.

[Dlanor Sekao]

It almost reminds me of the Sears 135mm with Macro Zone ? Very similar in some ways.
That's a lens some love and some hate......its a strange rendering lens also

[BigMackCam]

Dlanor - I love the rendering of your $1 Sears lens + stocking

I won't get a chance to play cameras today, but hoping to muck about with the Riconar again tomorrow...

[Dlanor Sekao]

Dlanor - I love the rendering of your $1 Sears lens + stocking

I won't get a chance to play cameras today, but hoping to muck about with the Riconar again tomorrow...

I found that by stretching and contracting the nylon stocking also varies the effect to a huge degree. However the more stretch applied lightens/sharpens the image ....lines (grid) start to appear slightly.
Less stretching darkens/blurs/ages the image even more without lines (grid). I use small needlepoint/embroidery hoops with varying degrees of stretch and simply hold it in front of lens , or even hang it on the front. Direct overhead hard lighting and a weak sidelight seem to be the desired look for me with models and product images.