Excellent focussing for creating a real depth of field. It produces incredibly sharp, finely detailed pictures, and although the light meter is often accused of tending towards under exposing pictures, ive not found this is a problem at all. In fact, it merely enhances the quality ;) And you can easily compensate by overexposing slightly. Colours are strong and rich and I've proved this isn't just down to the film used, because I've tested it on other cameras. Easy and incredibly cheap to maintain - batteries are inexpensive, readily available, and required infrequently. In this respect it's perfect for students, lightweight, and is highly durable (I've dropped mine on the floor several times and it's still yet to look any different ;)

Film loading is awkward. Some films haven't wound on properly and pictures have been exposed on top of one another.

Fantastic. Does what I want it to perfectly, and despite occasionally not winding on properly, some of the effects have looked quite artistic all the same!

Customer Service

What? It hasnt needed any, and I doubt it will.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax SP.
Canon EOS 500.
Canon Sureshot 80 Automatic.

Fully manual
Strong body

Heavy
The focusing screen is not enough bright to take pictures in dark places, cause its almost impossible to focus in dark conditions
The focusing screen is not removable to change it for a brighter one.

A great camera to start in the world of photography.

Customer Service

Never

Similar Products Used:

None

Indestructable, and simple. Can find used lenses CHEAP! As a beginner it is in my opinion the easiest to use versus some others i have tried.

As ya'll who own one know, the film takes patience to load, but it is not as bad as the Pentax ME Super.

I love this silver and black box. Popular and parts are plentiful. If you want a manual camera, then this is the one I recommend

Customer Service

None yet...

Similar Products Used:

Pentax ME Super (own), some Minoltas, some Nikons.

This camera teaches me to be careful with my photography. The 50mm f1.7 lens is super sharp. Absolute reliability.

One of the worlds hardest cameras to load (an exaggeration I know, but I have lost shots due to miss loaded film). Lack of a DOF preview. Dark viewfinder with very little information. Imagine one with the old motor drive like its KX fore runner.

I like all of my cameras, even my wife's Maxxum, but the K1000 has that feel of solid quality reserved for fine swiss watches. I was not impressed with the last variation of this camera, but both of mine were made in Japan. It is too bad that plastic and electronics are so much cheaper than metal and precision mechanicals. One last comment, remember the rangefinder Leica M series have most of the same limitations of the K1000 (except the noise) and we don't seem to mind at all.

Customer Service

Never had a K1000 problem (the company was swift and efficient with an MEII winder problem however). Unless you try can you break one?

Similar Products Used:

Own 2 K1000s and an ME Super (also a great camera). Minolta Maxxum 5000 (simple and more substantial feeling than the latest crop of AF cameras, but focus is slow)

Will not die. Parts are common as germs. Made for metal lovers.

No Depth-of-Field preview.

This camera will last longer than me. It's good because you have to make the picture, not the camera. Makes every shot count.

Customer Service

Never have, never will.

Similar Products Used:

Never needed any others.

Indistructable!!! The sort of tool that could be used to stop you car from rolling down a hill, and still work, to take the pic of the car crashing afterwards...

The view finder needs one to be found, very dark, plus with addition of a split prism focus, would have been nice. Would be better if to had option for motor wind, ttl flash's & a self timer. (Pentax must have thought that these were to much like "automatic" functions. Have not found the loading film to be problem (its in the way yu hold you mouth!!) how ever under exposing has been an issue... over come with an viewfinder sheild.
As for noise... not the sort of thing to take to church... but it is cool in that it has MAN sound about...!!!

Ideal collectors peice, (like my Carl Zeiss, Contessa) in a few years will be worth$$$
Very very good to learn with (I did) yes very suitable for many different applications.
I am proud to own one!!

Customer Service

Never need to have the product service, but I want a manual for it (The history thing...) and ask pentax via email for one & two months later, still no show.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta, Cannon, Ricoh,
The K1000 is easyer to use than these...they have to be relied!!

A'powerhouse'camera, a manual machine, indestructible, sturdy, and reliable. A 'dream' come through camera for me. It's GREAT. My pictures have been a pleasant surprise, and I am still learning with this "BEAST"

Loading the film is a "TRIP", but you just have to work with it a little patience PLEASE.But the trials are worth the finishing product.

GET ONE!!!!!, and you will see what you are missing. The K-1000, is exellent, from the construction, to it's all out great popularity, and most of all, it's MANUAL excellence. This is truly a great camera. A true "workhorse" for a beginner as well as a seasoned expert. It fits in any photographer's bag, and it fits well.

Customer Service

None at all.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 5005, Nikon Pronea 6i, APS SLR, a real marvel, a N70, in cognito. And the Olympus XA, aperature-priority marvel.

Built like a tank, cheap lenses available secondhand (plus wide choice). A 'Proper' camera - not like the modern 'plasticky' compacts. Can be dropped down a mountain and survives - don't try this, it was an accident!

A little heavy + bulky. Also a little odd to use if all your previous experience is of compacts

Design classic! Have taken this on school/college trips - mode of operation is very different to compacts, and it makes proper noises - no mysterious whirrings here. Potentially a bit of a shock if previously used to compacts - but once you get used to it you'll never want to go back. - I now find friend's compacts way too delicate and fiddly to operate. Advised for those with basic understanding of photography - this is not a 'point and shoot' machine, but if you learn to use it (takes about 10 mins) it is very worthwhile. Ability to operate without batteries is a good response to the 'flashy, all-automatic modern camera' brigade, as is solid build.

Customer Service

Never needed - only thing I've had to replace is the battery

Similar Products Used:

K2

It's the Sherman Tank of SLR's. The K1000 is the closest thing to indestructable as a camera can be. Mine has endured sand, snow, saltwater, rocks and 3 foot drops onto concrete without skipping a beat.

Pentax optics are second to none; they're highly underrated and easily equal or exceed their Cannon/Nikon bretheren.

The light meter runs the battery dead if the lens cap is knocked off by accident.

I saved my allowance and grass cutting cash and bought mine in 1986; I am so glad I did my homework when I was looking. My K1000 is the closest thing to an old friend as a machine can be.

In the catagory of "basic SLR", there is none finer than the K1000; it truely is one of the greatest cameras ever made. In fact, with a little practice, the K has the best exposure computer ever devised; the human brain.

For what it was designed for, the K1000 truely stands above all others.

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

Various plasic wonder-duds (EOS, Rebel, Etc) borrowed from family and friends.

My K is the perfect compliment to my Rolleicord and Mamiya C330.

Lightwight, compact. Feels robust and solid. Second-hand Pentax lenses aren't hard to get and are inexpensive and good.

Completely manual so a little slow for snapshots and street photography. Not the most quiet or refined camera around. No matrix metering, so one has to use judgment as well as the readings of the camera. Some may consider this an advantage, however.

Has a nice, solid feel and is easy to use (I used the older version). Not as smooth as the Olympus OM, the mirror is pretty loud and the aperture ring is a bit "rattly." It's quite a nice little camera, if you like fully manual control.

My advice is to get a fixed focal length lens, a 35 or 50mm for example, not a zoom. As you change the focal length of a zoom, the aperture value changes too. With a manual camera this makes for some very slow work, although it can be done (I've done it myself with good results).

If you get bored with having only the 35 or 50mm, get a couple of extra fixed focal length Pentax lenses : They're inexpensive and good.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta SRT, Nikon FM, Nikon FA, Pentax ME Super, Olympus OM.