Nysa through a vintage Minolta Rokkor 85mm F1.7 lens

I’ve been watching eBay for about a year in order to score a Minolta Rokkor 85mm F1.7 lens in good condition AND a good price for use with my GFX50R. A couple of months ago, the stars aligned and I found a copy which is a good as new without breaking the bank. These are some of the first test shots I did.

Nysa is a family friend AND in the running to become Miss Belgium. We shot some images for her sponsors and after that she kindly agreed to let me try out the new old lens that I had just acquired.

My first impressions of the lens:

• The sharpness and resolution doesn’t even come close to the native GF-lenses but that’s exactly what I expected. The reason why I use vintage glass on the GFX is to combine the character of these old lenses with the dynamic range of the GFX-sensor. That said, when stopped down a little, there’s definitely nothing wrong with the sharpness.

• There is very little vignetting, even wide open. Nothing that can’t be fixed in post.

• The build quality of this lens is impressive. Focusing is smooth and perfectly doable with some practice. The lens feels well balanced with my GFX50R and the Smallrig L-bracket/grip. It looks a bit funky with all those different shapes, fonts and colours from the camera, the lens and the adapter. But to be honest, I kinda like the Frankencamera look.

• The 85mm focal length gives a very pleasing look, maybe even a bit TOO pleasing and dreamy for me. Somehow it feels almost too easy to make pictures with this lens. You know I’m a big fan of 50mm equivalent lenses. In GFX-speak that would mean a 63mm. Even though 85mm isn’t that much longer it’s noticeable.

• Time will tell, if this is a keeper for me or not.