C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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slr-35mm
The Asahi Pentax K is a 35mm SLR introduced in 1958 by Asahi Optical Co. of Japan. It is an evolutionary refinement of the original Asahi Pentax (1957) and the Asahi Pentax S (1957-58), retaining the M42 screw mount and the pentaprism eye-level finder that gave the brand its name, while incorporating a revised focal-plane shutter mechanism with improved reliability and speed consistency. There is no built-in meter; exposure is set fully manually. The K sits in the first generation of Asahi SLRs, predating the metered Spotmatic line by several years.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
The 1958 refinement of the original Asahi Pentax - a cleaner shutter, same M42 mount.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | M42 (Pentax / Praktica screw) |
| Year | 1958 |
| Shutter | 1s – 1/500s, mechanical horizontal cloth |
| Flash sync | ~1/50s (X and M sync) |
| Meter | None |
| Modes | Manual |
| Weight | ~620 g |
| Battery | None required |
Asahi Optical released the original Asahi Pentax in 1957, the first Japanese-made pentaprism SLR. It was rapidly iterated: the Asahi Pentax S appeared within the same year with minor refinements. The K followed in 1958, principally addressing the shutter - the horizontal cloth focal-plane mechanism was revised to improve speed accuracy and consistency, and the sync terminal arrangement was updated. The K was a short-production model, giving way to the H series (H2, H3) which expanded the speed range and added self-timer features. All of these early bodies share the M42 lens mount, ensuring that lenses made for the original Pentax work on every subsequent M42-mount Pentax body.
The K is part of the founding chapter of the Pentax story and the broader story of the Japanese SLR industry. Asahi's pentaprism SLRs of the late 1950s demonstrated that Japanese manufacturers could produce eye-level reflex cameras competitive with German alternatives (Contax, Exakta, Alpa) at lower prices. The M42 mount chosen by Asahi became one of the most widely adopted screw-thread mounts in the world, used by Pentax, Praktica, Zenit, Fujica, and many others through the 1970s.
The K itself is a minor variant - its refinements are incremental - but it represents the moment when Asahi was iterating rapidly toward the more developed H-series and then the landmark Spotmatic. Collectors interested in early Asahi history typically pursue the original Asahi Pentax or the S alongside the K as a set. Functionally, the bodies are very similar and all-mechanical; any working example can be loaded with film and shot today.
M42 screw mount (42mm x 1mm thread pitch), fully manual. Auto-Takumar lenses (the early M42 Asahi lenses of the late 1950s) are the period-correct match - these have an automatic diaphragm mechanism that stops down on shutter release. Common early Auto-Takumar focal lengths include 55/2.2, 55/1.8 (later), and various medium telephotos. Any M42 lens from any manufacturer (Zeiss Jena, Helios, Meyer Optik, Super-Takumar) will mount, though metering requires external or handheld meter use given the absence of a TTL system. An external exposure meter, such as a Weston or Sekonic clip-on or handheld selenium unit, is the period-correct accessory.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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