need info on sears/rikoh 35mm w/ extensive lens collection

[mtouchette]

hi all,

i'm going through stuff from my recently deceased father's estate and have what i know is a sears (ricoh/chinon/pentax?) camera. the nameplate is missing so i can't determine exactly which model it is, but it is outfitted with the following lenses: "topman" 35-70 zoom/c-macro , "auto sears macro" 55mm, "auto makinon" 80-200 zoom, an "auto sears" 28mm, a 2x converter and a couple of extension tubes.

i also have one of those 95-250 zoom lenses like the one discussed here:http://forum.mflenses.com/yow-t41751.html, but it doesn't *quite* seem to fit the camera. i can get it to fit, but it won't completely screw in.

truth be told, i want to keep this because photography was one of the interests we shared, but can't justify it since i already have a nikon 2020 i don't use due to the cost of film and processing. (i take a *lot* of pictures, and have fitted a whole collection of series six filters and other gizmos to use with my panasonic zs3 p&s.)

is there some way i can use the vintage lenses on a digicam (i'm pining for a sony nex) or on my 2020?

alternatively, how much might a lot like this be worth? perhaps i could sell it and purchase that much-desired nex in his honor?

thanks in advance for any info or insight you are willing to share...

michelle

[David]

Hi, Michelle,

Well, for the lens use on Nikon questions, if they're bayonette-mount then they're K mount lenses and, to the best of my knowledge, can't be adapted to a Nikon. If they're screw-on lenses, then there are Nikon adapters but they degrade image quality somewhat because they have a piece of glass to correct for flange focal distance differences.

As for value, they will probably have the most value to you as a memento.

[fuzzywuzzy]

Is this the Sears 55mm macro? Looks pretty decent if so...

http://forum.mflenses.com/auto-sears-55-2-8-macro-t7108,highlight,autosears.html

This link might have more info - http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-clubs/37525-sears-lens-club.html

There's not much dollar value here but the primes at least are probably decent performers. Definitely still worth using considering their history.

[luisalegria]

The Auto Sears 55mm macro is a rather nice lens of its type. If it has its dedicated extension tube it will get to 1:1 reproduction.

I sold mine (with the dedicated tube) for about $75 on ebay a few months ago. That seems to be the going rate.

The Auto Sears 28mm is probably a first generation Tokina similar to this -

http://forum.mflenses.com/sears-tokina-28-2-8-being-a-tourist-colombus-telegraph-t7658,highlight,%2Btokina.html

Rather nice but of little market value

The topman and makinon zooms similarly are not going to fetch more than a nominal price. I have no idea how good they are.

The 95-250 zoom is in fact an ancient Tamron preset type. These were made in T/T2 mount - the screw on the back is 42mm in diameter like the camera screw mount, but has a different screw pitch, hence it fails to fully screw in to the camera. They are meant to be used with a range of screw-in lens mount adapters so that they may be used on many different cameras. You may have one in that lot, it would look rather like a chunky extension tube. There are cheap T/T2 adapters available for Nikon, so of all your lenses in that lot, this may be the most usable on a Nikon DSLR.

An interesting lens for those few Tamron collectors like myself, and fairly uncommon in fact, but its also not going to fetch more than a nominal price.

The Nikon 2020 is a film camera though isn't it ?

[mtouchette]

yes, indeed, the nikon 2020 is a film camera; and i quite like it.

that is why i would prefer to adapt the lenses to the nikon rather than have two little-used film cameras. the other possibility i'm hoping for is that they can be used with the sony nex digital. someone on the above-referenced post about the tamron 95-250 indicated it might be somehow possible to adapt vintage lenses to the nex or the panasonic g-series.

i've sent him a direct message and am hoping the reply is what i want to hear.

thanks again... :-)

[luisalegria]

All of these lenses can easily be used on the Sony NEX series or Panasonic G series, and for that matter all other compact digitals with lens mounts.

There are readily available M42 adapters for all these cameras, and for that matter all of the common SLR lens mounts as well.

Compact cameras like these have no mirrors, so their native lens mount lies very close to the sensor, much closer than any old SLR lens was made to be. Hence its very easy to make an adapter for old SLR lenses.

Digital SLR's however still have mirrors, hence there are still issues with adapting old SLR lenses to them. Nikon DSLR's have the deepest mounts (longest distance from mount to sensor) just like the old film Nikons, hence adapting any old SLR lens to them, other than old Nikkors, is quite a problem.

[mtouchette]

thanks for the info.

so now i'm totally confused...it would seem more logical for the lenses to easily fit on a DSLR cameras because the film SLR cameras also had mirrors. why do the DSLR mirror cameras pose a problem when the TTL mirror-less ones do not?

[fuzzywuzzy]

[mtouchette]

it's more about the mount distance than the mirror; and the mirrorless work because they actually need something--e.g. the adapter--to add distance. right?

[luisalegria]

The mount distance requirement is due to the need for a mirror.
Different SLR camera series have different standard mount distances, but they are almost all require more than 40mm between the mount and the film plane/sensor.
Mirrorless cameras have much shorter required mount-sensor space. The Sony Nex just needs 18mm.

To put an SLR lens on a mirrorless camera you are going to need to have an extension tube anyway, so to make adapters that can handle the minor differences between a Konica (40.5mm) and Nikon (46.5mm) lens is just a matter of making a slightly longer or shorter tube.

A Nikon->Nex adapter would just be a Nikon female mount on one side, a Nex male mount on the other, and a 28.5mm (46.5-1 tube between them. A Konica adapter would have a 22.5mm tube. The same for all other SLR lens adapters for Nex.