Pentax K2

The Pentax K2 was the flagship model of the camera trio Pentax introduced in 1975 featuring the new K lens mount developed for Zeiss in a joint venture never to really materialise. The two others were the KX and the KM. A year later the Pentax K1000 was added, the forever-popular mechanical camera. Taking full advantage of the new opportunities, they all have full aperture TTL exposure metering with a black indicator needle visible to the right in the finder. K2 features aperture priority automatic exposure, selected by the accordingly marked shutter speed dial position. The camera selects the proper shutter speed between 1/1000th and 8 seconds when the shutter release is depressed. Other notable features on the K2 are the mirror lockup, and that the shutter speeds from 1/125 sec. to 1/1000 sec. and 'B' works without battery power.

Despite its short production run, the K2 set the stage for fine Pentax cameras to follow. The Pentax K-family was the first step on the road, but smaller cameras was the trend, initiated by the Olympus OM-1, and the Pentax K-cameras were merely a continuation of the Spotmatic body, just as big and heavy. There is remarkably little variation among the family of four K-cameras apart from the K2 automatic mode; yet, they are quite differently arranged in detail, possibly testing alternative future design paths. Only a year later Pentax introduced the much smaller and competitive Pentax ME and Pentax MX.

However, setting the film speed on the K2 is not particularly convenient. While facing the front of the camera, locate the rings surrounding the base of the lensmount. Next depress the black lock button situated at 5 o'clock and rotate the chrome ring with the ASA scale by grabbing it at 5- and 11- o'clock to bring the desired ASA value opposite the small red index triangle labelled ASA in green at about two o’clock on the black ring. To set an exposure compensation value, grab the two black knurled tabs low on either side of the lens mount and rotate firmly to bring the desired multiplying factor on the black ring opposite the tiny red index dot at ten o’clock on the lens mount. Make sure the ASA setting has not been offset during the process.

K2 Feature:

Self-timer (5 to 9 sec.)

Depth-of-field preview

Auto exposure (aperture priority)

Exposure compensation (4x, 2x, 1x, 1/2x, 1/4x)

Shutter speeds down to 8 seconds, flash sync at 125th/sec

Manual Mechanical shutter: 1/125 to 1/1000 sec and B

The K-mount:

This lensmount was the result of the cooperation between Pentax and Zeiss Ikon from the late 1960s until 1972. Zeiss Ikon however, withdrew from camera production about 1975, while Pentax went on and introduced the K-mount to be a feature of all their subsequent cameras. They made the mount available for other camera manufacturers as well, hoping for a new industry standard. Some manufacturers adopted it, but due to different requirements regarding electrical contacts, no real universal mount has been obtained.