| Author: | | Forum Member Registered: July, 2020 Posts: 77 | | Review Date: December 7, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Build, ease of use, sharpness, aperture clicks per stop | | Cons: | a bit boring | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-S2, K200D
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No doubt that this is a very sharp lens even within it's 50mm category.
Build quality is first rate (the metal build without "L" or "S" designation) and I like how the XR series handles. I much prefer full over half stop clicks on the aperture ring. It focusses easily and with max aperture of f2 there is reasonable sense of DOF in the viewfinder.
I got the lens in a bundle, it had a few strands of fungus but as I liked the performance of the lens I paid to get it removed. The cost quoted is really the cost of repair with a tiny bit extra for the initial purchase.
Wide open, it is slightly prone to purple fringing on the K-S2, not the K200d or my recently acquired K7. The DA 1.8 is actually much worse though.
The only problem with this lens is it's a bit boring. Once you are over the sharpness, I find it lacks a bit of character. The Pentacon 50mm 1.8 and even the Pentax M 50mm f2 are both capable of occasional magic, this Ricoh never surprises me which I guess could be seen as a positive - it is more reliable.
I find Ricoh provides a cooler palette than both the M series and Pentacon. For this reason and it's dependability I keep it but I don't feel particularly attached to it.
| | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: February, 2023 Posts: 38 | | Review Date: March 4, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | SHARPNESS, Economical, Durable | | Cons: | Full Aperture Stops Only, 0.6m Minimal Focusing Distance | | Sharpness: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax ME Super, Ricoh KR-5 Super
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This is the late version of XR Rikenon 50mm f2 and hence the letter "L" on its name. Construction is mostly plastic and the minimal focusing distance is 0.6m instead of 0.45m. However, the optical formula is the same as the early non-L version. This lens has a high reputation on its sharpness, on film and on digital alike. To enthusiasts in Japan, it is the "Japanese Summicron"! Here is an article from Japan about this lens: https://www.kitamura.jp/shasha/article/485506511-20220210/ . You can use the translating function of your browser to read it through.
This is a non-P Ricoh lens and thus has a standard fully mechanical Pentax-K mount which will fit on almost all Pentax bodies even the DSLRs. The only question would be whether your body can meter with the lens or not. The focusing mechanism is not as smooth as the SMC Pentax-A 50mm f2. It is smooth but there is not enough friction though this could be due to the age of the lens itself. My only complaint about this lens is that it does not have half-stop clicks on the aperture ring. Using on a body with aperture priority AE and a stepless electronic shutter, it is fine. However, on a fully mechanical body, one would sometimes need to settle with 1/2 stop over- or under-exposures.
Optically, this lens is pretty soft wide-open but when stopped-down, it outperforms the Pentax, at least from my own experience. For this reason, before I sold this lens along with my Ricoh KR-5 Super, I mostly had it on my Pentax ME Super instead of the SMC Pentax-A 50mm f2 (which was also sold later along with my Pentax K1000). Anyway, below is a sample image and its respective 100% crop of a 2400dpi film scan. It was taken with Ilford HP5+ exposed at ISO250.
 | | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2021 Posts: 15 | | Review Date: February 11, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $11.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness | | Cons: | Not the most beautiful colours | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: Sony A7iii
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Wow, I have to say I'm impressed by the sharpness of this lens stopped down! I was a bit sceptic at first, but after many postive reviews I decided to give it a go.
Wide open it isn't great, but once you stop it down to f8 it really is sharper than my Pentax-M 50 1.7 and Minolta MD 50 1.7
See this video for a comparison between those lenses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHpzm4MSerM | | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2022 Location: Ocala, FL Posts: 115 | | Review Date: August 12, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, lightweight, easy to focus | | Cons: | (relatively) cheaply made, but not bad | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K10D
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I got two of these lenses, one I got as a part of a lens lot and its a Sears F2.0 which is literally identical to the Ricoh Rikenon F2.0 - they are the SAME lens, I am 100% sure of this.
This is a very sharp, easy to focus, great, general purpose 50mm lens. I have had great experiences with it so far and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a low cost 50 which is relatively fast for the money.
One more reason I love the Pentaxverse - tons of great vintage glass.
| | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2019 Location: Beautiful British Columbia Posts: 70
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 26, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, nice boken, inexpensive | | Cons: | None I can see | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-S2
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I found a one of these lens in a pawn shop for $25.00 Cnd ($20 US) and was a bit skeptical at first, but so far it has exceed all my expectation. It has a good depth of field, and while not a macro lens, you can get pretty close to your subject and get a crisp focus. The lens does not seem to suffer from softening at any f-stop and creates a nice bokeh at more open apertures. The following were taken on a very overcast day and have not had more than 4 - 5 minutes of work put into them post processing:
f/2
 cone f2 by SSean O'Connell, on Flickr
f/2
 hip f2 by Sean O'Connell, on Flickr
f/4
 hip f4 by Sean O'Connell, on Flickr
f/2
 bird by Sean O'Connell, on Flickr
f/8
 tree by Sean O'Connell, on Flickr
f/8
 garden kid by Sean O'Connell, on Flickr
Overall very sharp with nice rendering of tones. If you can find one for a similar price, it's more than worth it.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: May, 2018 Posts: 34 | | Review Date: July 15, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | It's good but not as good as the FA 50mm f1.4 | | Cons: | Flare. Sharpness | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 8
Camera Used: Pentax K-1
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This is not a bad lense but, having just got an XR L f2 50mm used, it's not in the same league as the FA f1.4 50mm Pentax. Maybe I got a duff version and I DO like Ricoh gear. I have the GR analogue and digital, Ricoh 35mm film bodies and other 50mm Ricohs which I rate better than this XR so far. I'll kerp testing them but, so far, the FA 50mm 1.4 is outrageously good. Not cheap but brilliant
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2016 Posts: 5
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 3, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap and very sharp | | Cons: | Plastic, focusing and aperture ring | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-50
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Cheap and sharp, nothing more. Hard to focus and also hard to use aperture ring sometimes. I really like it because its sharpness.
  | | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2017 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: June 3, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp | | Cons: | Not particularly | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K3-2
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Sharp!
One of The famous Old lens for sharpness In Japan.
Please check the link destination.
100% Crop It can not express on the Web.
100% Crop
'Okayama castle'
https://flic.kr/p/S6E9TH
太刀
左兵衛尉恒次
黒漆塗鞘太刀拵
鎌倉時代後期
林原美術館
Japanese Bizen sword 'TACHI'. It is 'Sahyouenojou Tunetugu' works.
A 'TACHI' is a large size Japanese sword.
Black lacquered sheath.
The late 'Kamakura' period. About 700 years ago.
It is a real Japanese sword that Samurai actually used.
HAYASIBARA MUSEUM OF ART. Japan.
https://flic.kr/p/2etU8mp
太刀
伝包平
平安時代後期
林原美術館
Japanese Bizen sword 'TACHI'. It is believed that 'Kanehira' works.
A 'TACHI' is a large size Japanese sword.
The late 'Heian' period. About 1000 years ago.
It is a real Japanese sword that Samurai actually used.
HAYASIBARA MUSEUM OF ART. Japan.
https://flic.kr/p/S7jUze
 | | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2016 Posts: 3
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 18, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp as macro lenses - Single coating? I hadn't noticed it - One of my best lenses | | Cons: | Fully manual? | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-S1
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| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: March, 2015 Location: Warsaw Posts: 638
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 19, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Light, it is a very sharp lens if closed one step to 2.8 and more. | | Cons: | Cheap feel. Rubber push-on cap. | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30, K-r. K-50, K-3
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First of all-it's one of sharpest lenses I own- in this field in my opinion it beats recent DA 50/1.8, all Helios 44 variations, and Pentax M 50/2 on all apretures even full open. I got mine as bargain on some flea market in Warsaw around four years ago with a (as I found later) broken pentax film body, whole thing cost me 40 PLN(around 10 US dolars).
For that price-you can't get anything better. It looks and feels plastic and cheap-but its totaly awesome lens.
Done with my K-30:
 | | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2013 Location: Jakarta Posts: 2 | | Review Date: December 16, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | bokeh, sharpness, built quality | | Cons: | single coating | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: K5
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mine has all metal body, the lens has good performance even it's has single coating, i love the bokeh characters
here are the samples shot:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/roe_groho/sets/72157646763586163/
both all in available light capture
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2013 Posts: 128 | | Review Date: September 30, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | this one better than the pentax M 1:2 50mm | | Cons: | cheap feel | |
Hmm, compares well to Pentax M 1:2 50mm, which I picked up at about the same time. The Pentax has a much nicer build and is more compact, but the Ricoh has sharper focus and less light distortion at low light. I played with them both extensively. Picked up the Pentax first because the materials are so much more pleasing. Got better pictures with the Ricoh.
Read on here that this lens is inconsistent. This one was a find maybe.
| | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2013 Location: Södertälje Posts: 7 | | Review Date: August 16, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $23.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp from the edge to the center, lightweight, smooth m focus, cheap, vignetting, | | Cons: | Colours a bit to blue | |
A good lens with great sharpness, and good bokeh. CA a bit to high and colours seams to be a bit to "cold".
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2012 Location: Mission, B.C. Posts: 166
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 16, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Colours, sharpness, price | | Cons: | only f/2.0 | |
I got this lens in a thrift store package with a makinon 135mm f/2.8 which was utter crap, an old Ricoh film body, grip, a vivitar flash, and a hard case. I paid $40 for everything, but the only thing I still use is the Ricoh 50mm. (The 135mm became a set of DIY extension tubes, since I found that the image quality was better with no glass in it)
As much as I hate to say it, every time I reach for my Pentax M 50mm f/1.4 I find myself grabbing this lens instead. It's certainly slower, and the manual focus feels nowhere near as nice, but there's just something special about the images it produces. It's not, in my experience, necessarily sharper than any other 50mm I've used, but it does have some kind of esoteric, almost magical quality to it's colours 
 | | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2012 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: August 16, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $16.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Cheap, reasonably sharp, light | | Cons: | cheap feeling | |
A perfectly acceptable lens for the cost. Feels pretty cheap compared the pentax equivalent but the price it's not too bad at all. Sharper than many similarly aged zoom lenses.
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;)
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