Before repairing ASA set ring on pentax K2

[belgiumreporter]

With my third pentax K2 (DMD) i had the same problem as with the other two, the ASA ring wouldn't move.

Now this is a well known problem with K2's and i was very frustrated that all 3 of my K2's had that problem, i even took one apart to solve the problem (not something you do for fun) but to no avail.

I however was a fool by believing all K2's suffer from this problem and look no further. I then stumbled upon an explanation on how to set ASA speed by someone who apparantly was smarter than the pentax manual and then it all became clear to me.

The problem is by following the pentax manual i was led to believe i had to twist the exposure compensation ring while pushing the ASA scale release button. If doing so it feels like the ASA ring is stuck while in fact only the exposure compennsation ring is moving.

Now the ASA ring is the one closest to the mount and at first it looks like being an extended part of the mount, the next confusing thing is it is hard to get a grip on it and it looks like when pushing the release button, that button could be used as a hold on to move the ring, wich it dosn't.

To make a long story short, to change ASA speed, push with one hand(finger) the release button ( it feels rather flimsy) and use your other hand to try to get hold of the ASA ring, this isn't easy but if done correctly the asa ring can now be twisted to set the desired ASA speed.

By misinterpreting the pentax manual i thought that all my K2's were faulty, with the right explenation i was proven wrong and they were all OK !

Because of the perception of the K2 i tend to believe i'm not the only one making this mistake( or am i?)





the asa and exposure compensation are two seperate rings!



Don't forget to have exposure compensation at 1x

[SidW]

It's always satisfying when you find the right solution. In my other life I worked in linguistics, and I have a strong suspicion that manual had been translated by a computer program and not by a human being. It's also possible the original text was written by someone who lacked the ability to see it like the reader sees it.

[qsprocket]

Thank you !!! I have three old K2s and one K2dmd .... the rings are known to me -but the subtleties of setting the ring were confusing. As I shoot ASA 400 film, almost exclusively - when I bought a K2 recently, I had trouble with the ring. I too, thought I had a repair problem.

This explanation makes it a little more clear, and saved me some heartburn!!!