Saturday, July 30, 2005, 12:35:39 AM, Shel wrote:
SB> No, not the mountain, the Pentax ;-))
SB> It might be nice to get a K2. Does anyone have experience using one,
SB> especially a K2-DMD. Problems to look for? Idiosyncrasies?
SB> Shel
It was the first Pentax I got.
It was their first professional camera, and it shows.
The viewfinder has very nice readout of exposure, similar to some
Nikons and LX (full range of speeds visible, two coloured needles -
one showing selected shutter, one showing metered shutter). Although
it doesn't have any backlight for it, so don't count on metering in
the dark... (major problem sometimes, with spotlit scenes e.g. in
theater).
Over the plain K2 it has AEL which is helpful and aperture readout
window (plus the big chunking motor which I never got).
Both LX and MX have a better viewfinder (brighter and contrastier
screen). Count on using fast primes only.
On mine, shutter magnets got probably dirty, so the (electronic)
shutter got quite erratic at times. Problem with all electronic
bodies.
It's build quite well, but not up to LX of course. But still quite
solid brass.
The worst feature is that the mechanisms (shutter, aperture actuator
and mirror) aren't damped well. If at all. Thus, it is very loud
(high-pitched metallic clunk), and it is not good for llonger shutter
speeds, either handheld or on tripod. I got sharper handheld photos
with LX and MX. The MLU feature is not good, because it just locks up
the mirror but doesn't disengage the internal mechanisms for mirror
and aperture (which still move!), plus the shutter itself is quite
vibrating.
Overall, I have got mixed feelings about it. It's much better than
other AE pentaxes like Super A and the later plastic wonders. But the
only AE pentax I felt was good enough is the LX.
Frantisek
Good light!
fra
