simple and easy to use, good features, long lasting shutter, this camera is built like a tank.

fully manual

A simple beginner's camera yet also good enough for the serious amateur. This is a fully manual and fully reliable SLR. It's so basic yet to awesome.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax ME Super, Canon EOS 1N

fully mechanical (battery dies, keep on shooting) match needle metering (no LEDs. gives a much better feel for adjusting exposure) solid as a rock scads of lenses available

no depth of field preview

The K1000 is a great, basic, simple, camera. I don't know of any camera in it's genre that can top it.

Customer Service

never needed any

Similar Products Used:

other Pentax 35mm cameras

solid feel, there is weight to camera makes one think, rather than just snapping away. dependable simple

hmmmmmm, would have to say better remember to replace lense cap otherwise batteries will be kaput when you try to get reading from meter.

i had to try this camera after reading abouts how everyone enjoyed using it. well, i am a fan now also. :) pictures came out great on my first roll of film, clear and clean. i will not be selling this camera, its a keeper.

Customer Service

none needed still working like a charm

Similar Products Used:

nikon fe, nikon fg, nikon fm, pentax mef, pentax me and pentax super program

-Simplicity. -Toughness. -Reliability. -Availibility. -Lens Selection.

-?.

A tough camera that will take just about anything you throw at it, it's built like a brick. A great camera to learn on and also a pleasure to use. Can't say much more about it, it is simply brilliant.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Durability- I once fell into a dry creek bed and landed on it, causing no harm. One cleaning in 25 years, no problems

Difficult to focus in low light. film must be loaded carefully.

Has to be one of the best manual SLRs built. Easy to use, forgiving, durable. Accurate light meter. Bought it because most of the geologists I worked with in the early 70's swore by pentax spotmatics. The K100 is even better. Works well even at -25 C.

Customer Service

Other than the one cleaning, never had to use.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax ME, which has had to be overhauled twice for $100+ each time in 7 years, and now resides in my filing cabinet, broken again!

Though features vary by model, all of the K series bodies are sturdy, reliable picture-takers.

-Dim focus screen - K1000, KM & KX -KM and K1000 averaging pattern of meter is easily "fooled". More sophisticated KX has center-weighted silicon meter.

If you who have read this far you have probably already decided to buy a Pentax K1000. The K1000 has a well-earned reputation for being a reliable, no-nonsense body capable of producing images on par with any professional system camera. But Pentax also produced a couple of other models based on the same chassis, and you do yourself an injustice if you don't look at these too. I refer of course to the models KM and KX. The Pentax KM is the camera the K1000 is based on ie the K1000 is a stripped-down KM. The KM is basically a K1000 with self-timer and depth-of-field preview. The latter allows you to look through lens at shooting aperture, thereby allowing you to judge what part of the foreground and background will also be in focus. Many of us consider this an indispensible feature; indeed, I would not buy a camera without it. The Pentax KX adds self-timer, DOF preview, mirror lockup, a more sophisticated silicon metering system, and a full-information viewfinder. This model is a joy to use, and my personal favorite. Both KM and KX cameras feel and handle much the same as the K1000. Unlike the K1000, all KM and KX bodies were made in Japan. Despite having more useful features, the KM and KX often sell for far less than the K1000. This is because most have never heard of these models. Consider yourself enlightened...

Customer Service

I found a wonderful Pentax-trained repairman; email if you want contact information.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax K1000, KM, KX, K2DMD, MX, Ricoh XR-1s, XR-2s

-fully manual -durable -easy to use -perfect learning tool

none considering its a fully manual camera

If you want a camera where you are in total control and is very durable than the K 1000 is the only camera you should buy. This camera is one of the best cameras ever built. I've had mine since i was in high school when i took my first photography class and it still works just as good as it did back then. And it's taken quite a beating. Mine actually has quite an ugly dent where the prism sits but you cant tell by looking though it. When you conbine the K 1000 with pentax SMC lenses you will get perfectly clear images.

Customer Service

you dont need any

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olympus 700uz canon elan 7 pentax me canon d60

Build quality. Ease of use. Accuracy of light meter. Camera's good looks.

Not the most perfect glass in the camera biz. Dead-on razor sharp pictures isn't this camera. Problems spooling film while loading (quite frustrating sometimes)

In the early 80's I was ready to invest some money in a 35mm camera and asked a professional photographer in Las Vegas what camera I should purchase. The first question he asked me was what I would be using the camera for...(which was the right first question to ask). I told him I wanted to learn how to shoot with a 35mm in all sorts of situations and that I would probably purchase more than one lens. Without hesitation, the recommendation was the Pentax K-1000. That was 20 years ago. I still have my trusty K. This camera is still in perfect condition. I've never replaced the light meter battery. I still love placing the camera on the table and just admiring the build quality! It's taught me spades about 35mm photography with all my trials and errors (not to mention the expense of film and developing). I've long since moved to digital photography and had the K-1000 packed away, until just recently. We took off to the mountains this Labor Day weekend and my digital camera batteries were dead. I decided to take the K-1000 and what a joy it was, all over again, to shoot with an SLR 35mm. To see depth of field again, To feel the heaviness of the shutter 'click'. I look forward to the day when I can afford a Digital SLR. I owe all my camera expertise from action photography, framing, flash and fill flash, and exposure to the K-1000. I can hardly wait for the bulb exposures of the starry night sky up in the mountains. My K-1000 is a reminder of my 20's and 30's because anytime I took a picture during those wonderful years it was with the Pentax. Now, my 13 year old is learning the art of 35mm photography and I'm having a great time teaching him with the same Pentax K-1000 that taught me.

Customer Service

Professional cleaning once. I've never had a mechanical problem with my K-1000.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax ME (which I bought for my wife and a few years later broke)

It's not plastic!! This thing could probably take a bullet and still work. I've heard from many a person that the K-1000 is an extremely robust camera, which confirmed my own assumptions the first time I picked it up; in my hands it's weight felt very comforting, indicating good solid construction. I've also managed to take some very nice pics with it, too. It appears to be a very forgiving and easy to use piece of equipment. I haven't really gotten it dirty, or dropped it yet (and I hopefully never will), but I think it's safe to say that if the time comes it'll clean up with ease and still be working. I don't know how many owners it's had-quite a few I would say-but it functions like new. I also love the loudness of the shutter-after you've shot, it really feels like you've accomplished something.

None so far, other than they can be hard to come by.

The Pentax K-1000 is the first SLR camera I've owned. I have used the Nikon F-50 before, as well as several Canon and Pentax models owned by my brother, who has around ten years experience over myself. However, with little to no experience at the time, I felt a little guilty, almost as if I didn't deserve to be using such advanced cameras, given my knowledge; I almost felt I was wasting good film by using such excellent cameras to about 10% of their potential. I immediately fell in love with this hobby, and already being into birdwatching and amateur astronomy heightened this. Recently, a Pentax K-1000 fell into my custody, and after using it for awhile, I fell in love with it and I'm not letting it go. With this great camera, I don't feel at all intimidated or pressured to come up with world-class photos. It indicates to others that I am in the learning process, and that I also know how to choose the perfect tool to achieve my goals. Bottom line: if you are a beginner, this is the camera for you.

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I also own a Kodak DX-3900 digital, and a little Logitech. I know these cameras have practically no similarities with SLRs, serving a completely different purpose, niche and market. I have to say, sin

Seems to go on forever and mechanical shutter is very precise, as is manual CdS metering. It's hardly affected by jolts, outside humidity, dust buildup, heat and impacts. My first K1000 was with me for 9 years and only needed one professional cleaning job in all that time. I shoot about 1 1/2 rolls per week, much more when I travel.

Plastic on some outside controls - the rewind knob broke (but the cam's still usable)! It's also hot - my first one was stolen in mid '97 and I had to get another one I keep to this day. And, of course, the lack of a self timer (but it has a hot shoe and cable flash synch).

Definitely the best SLR film camera I've ever owned. Even if lacking in features, it makes up in being there when needed. I've got used to its bulk. With a 35-70 Pentax zoom I team it up with, it takes very good pics. Definitely for anyone who is on Pentax systems, no matter his/her level of proficiency. Knowledge of some photo theory and rules of thumb is convenient to maximize enjoyment of this mechanical SLR - I took a one-year photo elective course while in college, so I do understand it!

Customer Service

Relatively easy to service - local camera repair shops usually do not understand complex electonic-shutter rigs. Normally needs only occasional CLA.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax MX, ME Super, Super Program (none of these compare to it in reliability)