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08-01-2016, 04:21 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
I was alive and following the market when the mount first debuted and seem to remember that the bodies were named for the mount (just kidding ). It will take some searching, but I believe that @Nesster has scans on Flickr of early announcements, reviews, and ads from when the line came to market. I will look.


Steve

But keep in mind, Pentax used "K" to designate a camera long (LONG) before they introduced the bayonet mount, developed in collaboration with Zeiss, that is now known as the K-mount. So really the question is: why was the Asahi Pentax K so called? I have not found a definitive answer (=something from Asahi) but the speculation is "king" or maybe "kilo-" for the 1/1000 top shutter speed (first Pentax to offer that), although I also speculated, without any foundation, that it might also be connected with the Zeiss collaboration and a word such as "klicken" that would conveniently connect with "Asahi Pentax K." But I suspect "K" for the mount was a a consumer and aftermarket lens maker designation generated by the K2, the first Pentax body (SFAIK) with the bayonet mount. The bayonet mount could not be called a "Pentax mount" because that might refer to the M42 thread, and "Pentax bayonet mount" is too long. "Pentax K" is quick and easy, similar to "Nikon F" or "Leica M."


Last edited by WPRESTO; 08-01-2016 at 06:10 AM.
08-01-2016, 05:59 AM   #17
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Ke?

The record in the manuals clearly states that Pentax called it the "Pentax Bayonet Mount" for about 8years! It was only in 1983 where they changed the name of it and then refereed to it as the K-Mount.

It makes sense that regular punters would refer it as the K-mount before then, because it was in fact, the mount from the Pentax K :P

Clear as mud
08-01-2016, 07:52 AM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by tromboads Quote
So just for giggles. I went over the K2 manual.. it makes no reference to it being a "K mount".. It's actually called, "Pentax bayonet mount"
That's what I was going to say. I don't think it was ever officially called the "K mount". That's just what photographers called it, just as we often refer to the M42 mount as the "thread mount".
08-01-2016, 08:11 AM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by tromboads Quote
Ke?

The record in the manuals clearly states that Pentax called it the "Pentax Bayonet Mount" for about 8years! It was only in 1983 where they changed the name of it and then refereed to it as the K-Mount.

It makes sense that regular punters would refer it as the K-mount before then, because it was in fact, the mount from the Pentax K :P

Clear as mud
The earliest manuals also list the M42 adapter as the "Mount Adapter K". Similar nomenclature was extended to the bayonet mount bellows. With any luck, someone will do some sleuthing to find the earliest record of the term in the press or Pentax literature.


Steve

08-01-2016, 08:25 AM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
With any luck, someone will do some sleuthing to find the earliest record of the term in the press or Pentax literature.
FWIW...When Ricoh released its first XR-series cameras in 1977, the user manual and promotional materials referred to the mount as "K bayonet".


Steve
08-01-2016, 09:23 AM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
It will take some searching, but I believe that @Nesster has scans on Flickr of early announcements, reviews, and ads from when the line came to market.

I'm confident Herbert Keppler would have provided some such background information when the Pentax bayonet cameras and lenses debuted.

Chris
08-01-2016, 10:14 AM - 1 Like   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by ChrisPlatt Quote
I'm confident Herbert Keppler would have provided some such background information when the Pentax bayonet cameras and lenses debuted.Chris
Glad I'm not the only one who remembers Keppler.

08-02-2016, 09:59 AM   #23
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Early Pentax "K Series" brochures from 1975/76 that I have, refer to the new bayonet mount as "Pentax K Bayonet Mount" hence the abbreviation of K-Mount. Not sure if Pentax came up with the abbreviation or someone else.

Pentax created the three pronged bayonet mount in 1969 when it introduced the 6x7 system. However they called that mount the inner bayonet, as there was a dual system with also the outer bayonet mount. (Longer 6x7 telephoto lenses had the outer bayonet mount)

Phil.
08-02-2016, 02:45 PM   #24
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Do they know! well that is the spanner in the manuals I read over
08-03-2016, 12:10 AM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by Bob from Aus Quote
I thought K Mount the K stood for King
The Q mount the Q stood for queen
Mmmm

Why hasn't anyone commented That K mount stands for King and Q mount stands for Q

I think I answered the question. Its just that I can't find a reference to back me up. I've been using pentax for 45 years so I have lots of useless information such as K stands for the King of all mounts.

news break
Shock horror!!! I just found a reference to K is for King etc on Ricehigh website - So everyone will automatically thinks it isn't true

Quote Ricehigh "Jul 5, 2011 - As we all know, Pentax Q does not support any EVF (Electronic View-Finder) nor there .... It says that Pentax K mount is "King" and so because the new mount is smaller and lighter, they decide to call new mount Q for "Queen".

Quote https://www.pentaxuser.com/user/screwdriver-1154/activity/forum/comments
The K5 was (is) the game changer, lower noise, wide dynamic range, the difference will be visible. My K5 Flickr set. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris-judge/sets/72157634528924459/ If it follows Pentax model naming convention any FF DSLR will be an 'A...' model. 'K' = King 'Q' = Queen 'A' would be Ace Chris

Do you think the original question is answered or is this just someone's fiction

Last edited by Bob from Aus; 08-03-2016 at 12:24 AM.
08-03-2016, 04:09 AM - 1 Like   #26
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But, but, but. The Asahi Pentax K was introduced in 1958. Did "K" stand for "king" at that time? Speculation says yes, although it has also been suggested it stood for "kilo" because the 1958 Pentax K was the first to have a 1/1000 top speed (one of the features that distinguished it from the Asahi Pentax S). In any case, when the K2 and "Pentax K Bayonet Mount*" it was clearly a continuation of a letter designation for a Pentax camera body that had been in use 17 years, and the first Pentax with the mount was designated "K2" because the first Pentax K was the screw-mount model introduced in 1958. So "K" refers to the camera body, not to "king of all mounts." Was the 1958 Pentax the "king of cameras" or did it have a "kilo" shutter speed?

*These four words might be rewritten "the bayonet mount of the Pentax K," and IMHO it's clear that Pentax intended "K" to refer to the camera body rather than the mount. As noted above, I think the designation "K-mount" evolved from dealers and after-market lens makers who needed a shorter way to indicate the mount than "Pentax bayonet mount" just as they use "F-mount" rather than "Nikon F mount" and "Leica M" rather than "Leica M-series bayonet mount."

Last edited by WPRESTO; 08-03-2016 at 04:15 AM.
08-03-2016, 04:51 AM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by WPRESTO Quote
But, but, bu
Thanks WPRESTO for your insight
08-03-2016, 01:50 PM   #28
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Or maybe it stands for kumquat...

Chris
08-03-2016, 09:40 PM - 1 Like   #29
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The original company was called Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha and founded by Kumao Kajiwara.

Lots of letter "K" references to choose from!

Phil.
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