John,

I remember when I got my MX in around 1977, that the instruction manual referred to the tripod spacer ring being necessary to prevent over-long tripod screws puncturing the base of the mirror box, due to the short tripod socket that was employed because of the compact nature of the body. Don't know whether the same rationale was true for the LX; I suspect so.

Many thanks for the feedback. Looking forward to getting to grips with the K-5.

Just got a K-5, very impressed so far. Am I right in thinking that if I use A-series 35mm lenses (which I do), then when I turn the camera on and it asks for a focal length, I put in the nominal length plus 50% rather than the straight value, in the same way that my 50/1.7 turns into a 75mm on digital?

Thanks all.

Not sure how much use the AF would get; I'm currently running a trio of manual focus A lenses, 28/2.8, 50/1.7 and 70-210/4. (More interested in the dynamic range and noise performance over the AF.) Haven't used the original DS kit lens for quite a while as focussing manually on the DS is not hard, and after all these years is still fun. I occasionally take my SuperTak 50/1.4 out for a spin with a K adapter, and even my old pre-set Tak 135/3.5! I'm no sports photographer, so don't need lightning-reflex AF (whatever did sports photographers do before the invention of AF?!).

I'm convinced, I'm convinced! Thanks for your input, all!

;D

Thanks for the voice of sanity, Carl. That's pretty much confirmed what I thought. Yes indeed, there were naysayers on the MX way back when you could only get opinions from such august publications such as Amateur Photographer - but the little beauty served me faultlessly for more than 25 years until I got the DS, which has the same ergonomic charm that the MX still does.

Hi all,

The title says it, and I think that it would be a night-and-day upgrade. I've shot Pentax since the 1970s (KM, MX) and got the DS when it came out. I shoot RAW to get the most out of the camera, but the time has come to upgrade, and keep the DS as a second body.

So I want to go for the K-5, but having done some research around the web, I'm a little wary because of the many issues that seem to be out there with mirror-flop/phantom firing when any control is pressed. Is this a real mass issue?

Cheers for your feedback.

Martyn

Thanks, John - that's what I thought too. That makes what I paid for it (£45) an absolute bargain, especially considering its condition.

More and more interesting. Rooted out my old 'Pentax Way' by Herbert Keppler (9th ed, 1975) this morning, and it offers more information.

- H2 (aka original S2) introduced 1959, top speed 1/500, 55/2 AutoTak
- S3/S2/S1 all introduced 1961
S3: same as H2 by 1/1000 top speed, AutoTak 55/1.8
S2 (Super model - my brackets): modified version of original H2/S2, top speed 1/1000. Retained the AutoTak 55/2 even though 'some S2 bodies had fully automatic diaphragm mechanisms similar to S3'. (Japanese market only.)
S1: Essentially the original H2/S2 but with a cheaper lens, the AutoTak 55/2.2

The point about the diaphragm mechanism (and its development) sent me to my collection of early Pentaxes, and this is what came out.

ORIGINAL EARLY H2/S2 (this is my Heiland US variant):


The diaphragm mechanism in the early H2/S2s seen here is exactly the same as its predecessor, the K, where the actuator is not spring-released by the shutter, it is more primitive in that the shutter release is directly coupled to the actuator bar: pressing the release even when not wound on, causes the bar to move. (You can see the striker plate directly next to the screwhead on the matt black base of the mirror box). This gives the distinctive double-click when you press the shutter release on the K and early original H2/S2: the first click is the actuator stopping the semi-auto lens down, and the second is the shutter releasing.

ORIGINAL LATE H2/S2:


Later on in production, the now-curved actuator bar is spring-loaded as part of the shutter-release mechanism. This must have been around in approximately 1961 as my early S3 has exactly the same bar.

EARLY S2 'SUPER'?


In the S2 under discussion, the actuator is pivoted at its base, spring-loaded and activated by the shutter release mechanism. This is the same as on my short-lived S1 (1961-2) and very similar (but not identical to...

LATE S3:


A minor variant of the one above, which now sports 'wings' on the actuator, presumably to be kinder to the lens diaphragm activating pin.

Interestingly, from what I've just seen in my collection, the S2 Super/S1 actuator bar was carried on into the SV, whereas the S3 winged bar was carried on into the S1a. Maybe there was a parallel assessment of which design was better? If so, the winged version won out, because it it this that's also found in the Spotmatics from the original up to the SP2 in my collection.

What does all this mean for the 'S2 Super'? Well, the mechanisms of the S3/S2 Super/S1 were very similar, with only the 'wings' differentiating them, maybe for parallel assessment purposes. However, these are different in design to the actuators in the original H2/S2, so that the S2 under discussion is unlikely to be an original H2/S2 with a replaced shutter speed control, as the diaphragm actuation mechanism is different, aligning it with the S3, and with Keppler's statement about the diaphragm mechanisms.

Comments?

Thanks for the feedback, Kris and John,

I suspect that there's no easy answer to this! The shutter speed dial doesn't look as if it's been removed and replaced: there are no marks on the grub screws holding it on. Also there's that serial number. I've done some more digging and came up with this quote from www.shutterbug.com (http://www.shutterbug.com/content/classic-camerasbrjust-hold-pentax) that contradicts the quote above:

"The S2 (1959) got all the shutter speeds on one dial, and was sold as an S1 with cheaper lens options. Changing the camera name when it was fitted with a different lens was a fine Pentax trick: a Super S2 was an S3 with a 55mm f/2 Auto-Takumar as standard, instead of a 55mm f/1.8 Super-Takumar, and was produced only for the Japanese market."

This quote (which I've only just found) describes mine pretty well: AutoTak 55/2 lens and manual counter (all S3s had manual counters), so maybe at least some S2 Supers were re-badged S3s.

How fascinating!