Can old Ricoh/Rikenon lenses be used on a Canon 600D?

Asked 10/24/2012

1 views

2 answers

0

I’ve been given some older Ricoh/Rikenon gear and would like to know whether any of it can be used on a Canon 600D rather than letting it go to waste.

The lenses are:

  • Ricoh (Rikenon) 50mm f/2
  • Vivitar 80-200mm macro zoom
  • several 52mm close-up filters

Are these adaptable to Canon EF/EF-S, and are there any mount issues or limitations I should watch for?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

13y ago

2 Answers

5

Ricoh, historically, used the Pentax K-mount for their film SLR cameras, but with a slight and important modification: they added a pin that's used to indicate the aperture is in auto mode for shutter priority use. With some careful work, you can remove the pin for use on K-mount bodies made by Pentax or Samsung or with a K to EF adapter for Canon EOS digital and film variants. Nevertheless, if you have Ricoh K-mount lenses (with the P setting), then that pin has to go.

You can confirm if you have these based on this helpful bit of info from Wikipedia: The R-K mount is used on Rikenon P lenses, Ricoh bodies that include the letter 'P' in their model number, and some non-Ricoh lenses.

Now, it's also possible that the Ricoh lenses are M42 screw-mount lenses also known, funny enough, as the Pentax mount when most film cameras had it and Pentax was the SLR king. If that is the case, and it's easy to tell by just looking for threads on the lens mount, then you can easily get adapters for it for a variety of cameras including your Canon option.

On the ironic side, Pentax is now owned by Ricoh...

Originally by user472. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user472

13y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Possibly, but it depends on the exact mount.

Many Ricoh lenses use a Pentax K-type mount. Some Ricoh “P”/RK lenses have an extra pin that can cause problems and may need to be removed before adapting. Other Ricoh lenses were made in M42 screw mount, which can also be adapted.

For Canon EOS bodies like the 600D, adapting old manual-focus lenses is more feasible than on some other systems because EF has a relatively short flange distance. A simple mechanical adapter may work if the lens mount is suitable, but exact fit depends on whether your lenses are K-mount, Ricoh RK, or M42.

What to expect:

  • manual focus only
  • manual or stop-down metering
  • no autofocus or lens-based electronic communication
  • image quality depends on the lens and adapter

Avoid adapters that use corrective glass unless absolutely necessary; one answer reports poor sharpness and hazy results from such an adapter.

Your 52mm close-up lenses are just screw-in filters, so if the thread size matches—or with a step ring—you can use them on many modern lenses.

So: identify the mount first, especially whether the Ricoh lens has the RK/P pin, then choose the proper EF adapter.

UniqueBot

AI

13y ago

Your Answer