[JACOBY]

Question Will the lenses from a Ricoh XR-P fit my k7 or do I have to worry about the dreaded pin I always hear about. Thank You And this site is great.

[OregonJim]

They will work on the K-7. You'll have to check whether or not they have the Ricoh pin, and either remove it or cut/grind it flush with the lens mount. Generally, if the aperture ring has a 'P' on it rather than (or in addition to) an 'A', then the pin will be present.

[Tanzer]

Question Will the lenses from a Ricoh XR-P fit my k7 or do I have to worry about the dreaded pin I always hear about. Thank You And this site is great.

It depends on how old the lens is. I believe most of the lenses that were released around the time the XR-P was sold had the rounded, "ball" shaped pin which is harmless. Of course, without seeing a picture, it is possible that some of your lenses predate the XR-P body.

The best way to tell is by direct inspection. If the little brass pin is rounded, like the tip of a ballpoint pen, you are safe. If it looks like a cylinder with a flat tip, you will have trouble.

There are some photos posted here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/54-pentax-lens-articles/87589-photos-k-m4...-k-mounts.html
The third picture down, of a Sigma 24mm f/2.8, shows an example of a safe Ricoh pin, about 180 degrees opposite to the red dot.

If you are still nervous, post photos of your lenses (the mount side of course) for comments.

[stevebrot]

A few clarifications and notes regarding the XR-P and the Rikenon-P lenses:

• The XR-P camera was Ricoh's offering in the multi-mode programmed exposure realm. At the time it was introduced in 1984, it had the richest feature set on the market and was designed as direct competition to the Pentax Super Program.
• The Rikenon-P series lenses were initially released along with the XR-P camera and feature a slightly modified K-mount variant (RK-mount) designed to interface with and support automatic aperture control by the camera body.
• Rikenon-P lenses are compatible with all non-AF K-mount bodies, regardless of brand
• All Rikenon-P (as well as third-party lenses in the Ricoh RK-mount) have some version of the dreaded "Ricoh Pin". How the pin is implemented varies but there are two main types:
  • A spring-loaded pin
  • A spring-loaded ball contact similar to the "A" contacts on A-series and later Pentax lenses
• Several years after Ricoh introduced their P-series lenses, Pentax developed their first AF bodies. Unfortunately the Pentax design featured a very nicely cut well capable of capturing the Ricoh Pin. If the pin drops into the well, removal of the lens is extremely difficult. Note that this problem was the result of design decisions by Pentax and was done despite a large number of incompatible lenses in circulation at the time.
• The combination of Pentax AF body and pin-type Ricoh Pin is almost guaranteed to cause problems
• The ball-type pin is less prone (almost never?) to jamming into the well and is considered safe by many users.*
• Age of lens is hard to determine and not a good predictor of pin type
• Rikenon-P lenses, despite having a bright green "P" position on the aperture ring, will not support automated aperture control by a Pentax camera body
• Many third-party lenses were sold with a combo mount having both the Pentax "A" contacts and the Ricoh Pin. Those will provide automated aperture control on bodies from both makers.
• Removal of the Ricoh Pin is a fairly simple surgical procedure for those having appropriate tools
• Auto-Rikenon, XR Rikenon, and plain vanilla Rikenon all lack the Ricoh Pin and are no cause for alarm

Steve

* I have a Rikenon-P 50/2 with ball-type pin that I have used without issue on both my K10D and K-3 cameras. YMMV, however.

[GibbyTheMole]

I've had a couple of Ricoh mount lenses that I used on Pentax DSLRs, and I just removed the pin. It's very easy and takes only a couple of minutes. I'd prefer removing it rather than grinding it down, since it's easier, and you don't run the risk of getting metal dust in your lens or camera. If you google around, you'll find a tutorial on how to do it.

[wombat2go]

'd prefer removing it rather than grinding it down, since it's easier,

I agree. The top image is the pin, along with its parts that I removed on a Samyang recently.
Even though this pin has a hemispherical head, part of the cylinder was projecting out too, so I class it as one of nasty types.

The lower photo is the Samyang mount which is a hybrid, and works on Pentax dlsr in Av etc, although initial tests show it is not completely accurate over a range of f stops