1959
The Heiland Pentax H2/Asahi Pentax S2 was introduced in 1959. The US importer was Honeywell. This camera was meant as an update for the Asahi Pentax K of 1958. The major improvement was that all available shutter speeds were now controlled by a single, top-mounted dial. The previous cameras in this lineage featured two dials – fast speeds on the top dial, slow speeds on a front-mounted one.
The H2/S2 also featured a reduction of the fastest shutter speed to 1/500 from the 1/1000 of the K. The camera still featured the 55mm f/2 semi-automatic lens. In the photos, my version sports the 135mm f/3.5 Auto-Takumar.
Technicals Specifications:
Original List Price (1959): $169.50
Price in 2020 Dollars: $1509.20
Manufacturer: Asahi
Model: Heiland H1/ Asahi Pentax S2
Year Introduced: 1959
Film Format: 35mm
Lens: Auto-Takumar 55mm f/2
Shutter: cloth focal plane
Self-timer: No
Shutter Speeds: 1-1/500, B
Shutter Release: on top
Built-in Meter: No
Film Speed/ASA Range: N/A
Flash Sync: PC-terminal, FP, X
Film Advance: rapid wind crank
Frame Counter: yes, manually reset
Exposure Modes: manual
Double-exposure capable: ?
Finder: fixed pentaprism
Focusing Screens: Fresnel, Micro-prism spot
Mirror: quick-return
Battery: N/A
Other points of note:
*Based on current information at
in2013dollars.com
All text and photographs on this website (other than found-photography and otherwise noted) are © 2014-2021 Steven Broome. All rights reserved.
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