K'' type bayonet lens mount on a digital camera?

July 28, 2013 6:10 AM

My husband has several lenses from his Ricoh KR-5 Super 35mm camera. These use a lens mount: "K'' type bayonet with 65 rotating angle. Can these be used on a digital camera? If so, which camera(s). More info on the Ricoh camera and lens can be found here: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/ricoh/kr-5_super/kr-5_super.htm
posted by hrhcc to Grab Bag (7 answers total)

Short answer: yes. The K-mount is Pentax's standard. Any digital camera that will accept Pentax lenses should work.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 6:36 AM on July 28, 2013

Fully manual Ricoh lenses will work fine on a Pentax DSLR, he'll just have to read the camera manual to figure out how to get a meter reading. The newer Ricoh lenses with electronic contacts may have issues because Pentax and Ricoh had different autofocus and contact systems.
posted by selfnoise at 6:52 AM on July 28, 2013

There's more detail on the issues with newer lenses here. IIRC, the pin that needs to be removed is in the same position at the Pentax autofocus screwdrive, which could cause some damage to the camera body if the two were to intersect. Or maybe they just won't go on at all, I can't remember.

That said, it looks like the KR-5 lenses and camera were prior to this system of electronics, and like I said, if the lenses are full manual they should work fine. On my (admittedly quite out of date) Pentax K100D, you change a setting or two in the camera menu, then set it to manual exposure. After mounting a manual lens, you pull the power switch to the DOF preview position and it shows a meter reading in the viewfinder.

I hope your husband has fun! I have some old M42 screwmount lenses (even older than your husband's) which I use with an adapter, and they are really satisfying to tinker with.
posted by selfnoise at 7:07 AM on July 28, 2013

There are adapters available to use most types of SLR lenses on a Sony Nex. Here's a thread discussing use of a pentax k lens with an adapter. I've had good results on my Nex 5n with old Canon lenses.
posted by JonB at 8:00 AM on July 28, 2013

Pentax makes a couple of nice DSLRs. The current top-of-the line is the K-5 II. They are built like tanks.

Among other features, Pentax shake reduction is implemented in the sensor, not the lens, so it works with old lenses. Also, the body is remarkably water-resistant.
posted by mr vino at 8:15 AM on July 28, 2013

I have a Pentax K200D DSLR body and a rubble of old lenses, mostly K-mount.
Works fine, if you are OK with pressing the "green button" to measure light. In short it's a semi-manual experience. I like it fine, but it's not at all an automatic experience.
This is pretty much what you'll get with old K-mounts and a modern DSLR.
Also, Pentax only makes APS-C sensor cameras, no full-frames. So crop-factor is something to consider.
posted by Thug at 11:31 AM on July 28, 2013

Response by poster: Thank you so much to everyone for their help! You guys are the best!!
posted by hrhcc at 1:30 PM on July 28, 2013