Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4 (M42)
Ricoh · M42 · 1973
our own findingAlso known as: Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f1.4 · Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4 · Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4 · Rikenon EE 50mm F1.4 · Rikenon EE 50 1.4 · Ricoh Rikenon EE 50mm f1.4 · Ricoh Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4 · Auto Rikenon 50mm 1.4 EE · Auto Rikenon 50mm f/1.4 EE · Rikenon 50mm f1.4 EE · Rikenon 50mm 1:1.4 EE · Sears Auto EE 50mm f1.4 · Auto Sears EE 50mm f1.4 · Sears 50mm f/1.4 Auto EE · Sears 50mm f1.4 EE · Sears EE 50mm f/1.4 · Rikenon EE 1,4/50 · Rikenon EE 50 mm f/1.4 · Auto Sears EE 1:1.4 f=50mm · Auto Rikenon 50mm f1.4 M42 · Rikenon EE 1:1.4 50mm · Rikenon EE 1:1.4 f=50mm · Rikenon EE 50mm 1:1.4 · Auto Rikenon EE 1,4/50
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4 | M42 with Ricoh EE stop-down tab | 1976 | Low numbers only reported: one 2009 copy read as serial 37; the highest a 2022 forum poster had seen was in the 1600s, before he found a higher one in an eBay photo (MFlenses forum) | — |
| Sears Auto EE 50mm f/1.4 | M42 with Ricoh EE stop-down tab | 1973–1975 | 105674, a six-digit number on a Sears copy reported in 2022 (MFlenses forum) | — |
- The lens rests on thin sources. Ricoh's Auto TLS EE manual names no EE f/1.4 lens: its cover shows the Auto Rikenon EE 1:1.7 f=50mm, camera-wiki calls the f/1.7 the camera's standard lens, and the EE lenses tabulated on p.14 are the 28/2.8, 35/2.8, 135/2.8 and 200/3.5. Dr. Ricoh's M42 table lists an Auto EE 1.7/50 and no EE 1.4/50. What the lens stands on is the Sears manual's cover ("lens f:1.4") and its f/1.4 worked example, the MFlenses owners' thread, and dealer listings.
- The f/16 minimum aperture, six blades, 0.5 m closest focus and 52 mm filter are from the user-contributed allphotolenses database (Ricoh and Sears entries); the 1976 first year there is the same database's. No weight, dimensions or element count has been published.
- Dates conflict. Ricoh dates the Auto TLS EE to 1976; camera-wiki cites a Popular Photography advertisement of July 1973, and an owner's transcription of Sears catalogues lists the Black Auto/TLS from Spring/Summer 1973 ($246.00) to Spring/Summer 1975 ($249.00), with $279.00, $269.00 and $279.00 in the three catalogues between, and marks it discontinued in Fall/Winter 1975. Those are Sears catalogue prices for the camera outfit, and the transcription does not name the lens fitted, so no price is given for the lens alone. The 1973 family year follows the Sears dates; the 1976 Ricoh variant date follows Ricoh's.
- Who made it is unknown. A 2022 forum poster guessed Cosina, then said the curved rear element rules out a derivative of the Tomioka-attributed 55/1.4. Neither claim has a source.
- Yellowing and radioactivity rest on two MFlenses posts: one poster judged a copy radioactive from its yellowing in auction photos, and the owner of a Sears copy reports his as yellowed and radioactive, more strongly at the front. No measurement was published.
How to tell them apart
- EE in the name and a separate stop-down tab at the rear; no A/M switch. The tab is for the Auto TLS EE's shutter-priority automation and gets in the way of flanged M42 adapters
- 50mm, not 55mm: the earlier non-EE Auto Rikenon and Auto Sears f/1.4 lenses of the Singlex TLS are 55mm and carry an A/M switch
- Rear element strongly curved and protruding: one owner (of the Sears version) found it the curviest among his fast fifties, and another poster, working from eBay photos, judged that the later K-mount XR Rikenon 50/1.4's curved rear element does not protrude as far (MFlenses forum, 2022)
- 52 mm filter thread, six blades, closest focus 0.5 m (user-contributed lens databases)
Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4:
- Ricoh-branded, with EE in the name. The MFlenses thread calls it Auto Rikenon 50mm 1.4 EE; Unique Photo listed it as Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4
- A separate tab at the rear for the Auto TLS EE's automatic stop-down, and no A/M switch on the barrel (MFlenses forum, 2009)
- Metal construction; a 2009 forum poster says that, being metal, it is nothing like the later production Rikenons (MFlenses forum)
Sears Auto EE 50mm f/1.4:
- Sears name on the front ring in place of Rikenon: the cover drawing of the Sears Auto|TLS manual shows a lens ring reading SEARS AUTO … LENS MADE IN JAPAN, captioned 'lens f:1.4'
- Sold on the Sears Auto|TLS, the Sears badge of the Ricoh Auto TLS EE (camera-wiki); the body is marked AUTO|TLS and SEARS on its front
- Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4: The Ricoh-badged lens. It is known from owners' copies and dealer listings rather than from anything Ricoh published: the lens table in Ricoh's Auto TLS EE manual lists only the EE 28/2.8, 35/2.8, 135/2.8 and 200/3.5 as accessory EE lenses, and the manual's cover shows the camera with the Auto Rikenon EE 1:1.7 f=50mm. Allphotolenses' user-contributed database gives 1976 as its first year, matching Ricoh's date for the Auto TLS EE. Unique Photo has listed a used Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4 M42 at $69.95, a dealer asking price, now sold out.
- Sears Auto EE 50mm f/1.4: The Sears version, for the Auto|TLS that Sears, Roebuck sold. The cover of the Sears manual (Sears no. 3 7365) advertises the camera with a "lens f:1.4", and its instructions use an f/1.4 Auto EE lens as the example for setting the Lens Selection Dial; the engraving in the cover drawing is too small to show the EE marking itself. The one owner's report, on the MFlenses thread in 2022, calls the lens a Sears EE 50 f/1.4, yellowed and radioactive, with a six-digit serial. The years are those of the Auto/TLS in Sears catalogues, Spring/Summer 1973 to Spring/Summer 1975, as one owner's blog transcribes them.
Specifications
- Aperture range
- f/1.4–f/16
- Diaphragm blades
- 6
- Min. focus
- 0.5 m
- Filter
- 52 mm
- Country
- Japan
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4 is the fast standard lens for Ricoh’s export-only Auto TLS EE, one of its last M42 reflexes, and for its Sears twin, the Auto|TLS. “EE” (electric eye) marks the lenses that work the camera’s shutter-priority automation: you set the speed, and the body closes the diaphragm to the aperture its meter picks, through a separate tab at the rear of the lens. Ricoh calls the Auto TLS EE the first AE camera on an M42 mount. That is not right as history: Asahi’s aperture-priority Pentax ES (Electro Spotmatic), also an M42 camera, was announced in 1971 according to camera-wiki, before either date given for the Ricoh. The EE lenses are what made Ricoh’s automation work on a screw mount with no aperture linkage. The maximum aperture still has to be dialled into the body by hand on the Lens Selection Dial; the Sears manual’s example sets it at 1.4.
This lens is poorly documented. Ricoh’s manual for the Auto TLS EE shows the camera with the EE 50mm f/1.7, and its table of EE lenses lists only a 28, 35, 135 and 200. Dr. Ricoh’s lens table has an EE 50/1.7 and no EE 50/1.4. The Sears manual is the evidence from the period: its cover sells the Auto|TLS with a “lens f:1.4”, and its instructions use an f/1.4 Auto EE lens as the example. The rest comes from the lenses themselves: owners’ copies on the MFlenses forum and a few dealer listings, Ricoh-badged as Rikenon EE and Sears-badged as Sears Auto. It is a different lens from the 55mm f/1.4 Auto Rikenon of the Singlex TLS. It is 50mm, it has no A/M switch, and the owner of a Sears copy calls its rear element the curviest of all his fast fifties. One poster guessed Cosina as the maker, then took the rear element as a sign it is not derived from the Tomioka-attributed 55; no maker has been documented. Ricoh moved to the K mount in 1977, so the lens had a short life. The Ricoh copies reported have very low serial numbers, one read as 37 and the highest one poster had seen in the 1600s before a higher one turned up on eBay. The one Sears copy reported carries a six-digit number.
The lens fits every M42 body. On the Auto TLS EE and the Sears Auto|TLS it gives shutter-priority automation with the ring at EE. On the Singlex TLS, TLS 401, SLX 500 and Singlex II it should work as an ordinary automatic-diaphragm screw-mount lens on its marked stops; with no A/M switch, it closes to the set aperture only when the body’s plunger presses its pin. No Ricoh document describes that use. The EE tab fouls flanged M42 adapters, and owners adapting the lens to digital cameras have bent the auto pin in or talked of cutting the lever off. That makes a lens easier to adapt but leaves it no longer original. Ricoh’s Nikon F-mount Singlex of 1962 and the K-mount XR bodies take none of these lenses, and the XR Rikenon 50mm f/1.4 is a separate K-mount design.
When buying, check the EE tab and the auto pin for bending and see that the diaphragm springs open freely. Look for yellowed glass: one owner reports yellowing and radioactivity in his Sears copy, and another poster saw the same yellowing in auction photos. Make sure an “Auto TLS EE with 50mm” kit really holds the f/1.4 and not the more common EE f/1.7. On a Sears outfit, read the front ring for 1:1.4 and 50mm before taking the badge on trust.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
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Sample photo wanted — shot with a Auto Rikenon EE 50mm f/1.4 (M42)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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