Info about K2?

Most valuable / rare seems to be the K2DMD although I believe there's little chance to get a winder for it. A friend of mine had one and it took pictures. After my dissapointing LX I firmly believe in bigger is better (-pro). On the other hand most camera trouble I ever had was with electric or electronic parts. The K2 has some automatic mode, and some stop down lever if I'm right, but well its a electronic camera built in the 70s - I wouldn't rely on it. - Who knows if it stands one year of service? Who'd be to fix it? I'd forget it but would accept it as a gift. I wouldn't risk more than 20 Euro/$ on it. I'm a K1000, KX, MX user.

Can't you download a manual for it on Pentax.com?

Please have a look here Manfred

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/bodies/K/index.html

I dont know to enter URLs

Manfred

In fact the K2 is the Top of the Line body before the LX, and got everything you might want, independent Mirror lock, DOF Preview, ISO setting from 6 to 6400, SPD metering cell. Aperture AE with compensation at 1/4X to 4X.

Actually the Electronic part of these relatively early, but not so early ones are very stable. They have not acquire the more complicated electronics like the ME/ME Super but yet are already awat from earlier generation of electronics like the ES.

On top of that, this body is build like a Tank, and last. I have one for years and all I need to do is replace the battery every year ( routine work )

You can hop over to Bojidar Dimitrov Web site or the AOHC site for some more information.

The K2 is kind of peculiar (to my mind) in that the film speed and exposure compensation are set by a pair of narrow rings that surround the lens mount. On mine the film speed ring is difficult to adjust, and requires that I put pressure on that ring while I rotate the pair of rings together from side to side to jiggle it from one ASA setting to the next. Also, the mirror lock-up lever doesn't have much leverage, so if I use it 20 or 30 times in a row I usually end up with a sore thumb. I like the lock-up on the KX a lot better.

But other than those quirks of my particular body, it is very nice.

I have been using a K2 for a little while now and have no reservations. It hasn't let me down and I love using it. I have read a lot of comments about the difficult ASA ring, and admittedly it is difficult to figure out but when used properly it's no problem. The trick is not to try to move both rings at the same time, it won't do this and you have to wiggle it back and forth like the comments above describe. But if you make sure the exposure compensation dial (black ring) is at the "1x" position, then push down on the ASA dial release button and turn *only the silver ring* by the grooves in it, it is easy to turn the dial from one end to the other.

Thanks for the info everyone. I did read the K2 specs on the bdimitrov.de site but couldn't find much info about useability or mechanical/electrical problems with the camera. It seems like it is a "forgotten" camera as there isn't much out there - no one has an "I love the K2" or "Tough like the mountain" page, or a FAQ or anything.

I'm still undecided about the camera so any other feedback is welcome

JK

About a decade or so ago, I purchased a Pentax K2 for a now former girlfriend along with the 50mm F/1.4 lens. Since my Leica M-4 was accidentally dropped from tripod height along with the 135mm Hektor F/4.5 lens mounted on the Bellows II which was mounted on a Visoflex III, which was mounted on the camera body - there was a lot of kinetic energy/weight when the tripod accidentally fell to the concrete sidewalk.

Being a relatively poor former Graduate Student at the time, (I had just graduated with a degree in Library Science), I didn't have the funds available for the repair of my beloved Leica M-4 body.

So I "borrowed" the camera and the lens back and have been slowly adding to my Pentax K2 collection since. Currently, I am only "missing" a 35mm F/2.0 lens, which I will one day add. I believe this lens is somewhat rarer than the K2 body. Although my former girlfriend and I separated, but still remain friends, this camera and its wide array of Pentax lenses will be inherited by my daughter sometime in the near future.

In my decade plus years of experience, I have found that the K2 is worth more than it's weight in gold, has been extremely reliable and will produce quite excellent images - in short, I believe that it is a good and wise investment for many people who want to practice good 35mm photography with more than decent photographic equipment. By the way, I have always thought that the ME series and subsequent models were "tinnier" than the K2, etc. models.

Having said that, I must also point out that the quality of Pentax cameras and lenses, along with many other camera manufacturers, do not come near the image and mechanical quality of Leica cameras, lenses, projectors, and enlargers! Period!

If you wish to obtain more information about the K2 model, I would suggest that you read and/or obtain a copy of The (Honeywell) Pentax Way by Herbert Keppler. You'll have to find the edition which includes this and the other K models i.e. K2, KX and KM. At search at or through your public library and/or a search at either abe.com or alibris.com should prove fruitful. Probably, you'll end up looking at an early 1980's edition.

If you are fortunate to live near a larger city or do some traveling now and then, you might explore camera shops in the neigborhood and see might be available.

If you come across a used K2 body, open up the back and smell the back end of the camera. Smell? Yep, it will give you an indication as to whether there might be mildew and/or rust present; run the shutter speeds through a range of speeds while holding the camera up to your ear as it will give you an indication as to whether some CLA (Cleaning, Lubrication, and Adjustment) needs to be done. Listen to the gears when you advance the film as it will give the same indication, etc.

If you make a purchase through Ebay, make certain that the camera is in excellent to near mint or mint minus condition and see if the camera is under some kind of guarantee. When the camera arrives, check it out through the above method and then make your decision.

I suspect that all cameras of this vintage would be in need of a basic CLA to better insure that you will be using it for the next many years to be prepared to spend a little extra money to maintain the camera.

Hope this is useful.

Bill