My Pentax K1000 experience.

[jgredline]

My Pentax K1000 experience.

For those of you who do not know, this is a 100% fully manual Camera?

I will tell you that this has been both frustrating, exciting and extremely

enjoyable?First,

I had my daughter put the film in?Easy right? Well, the next day I went out to

shoot a roll of film as I was anxious to see my results. I figured it would take

me all about an hour to do?Well, strangely, I found my self being extremely

picky about what I was going to shoot?I mean, I sat there and really thought

about my composition. After 4 days, I finally shot the roll?I took off to CVS

with great anticipation on seeing what I had?.Left the roll and for the one hour

service and took off?Well shortly afterward, I went back to pick up my photos

and the girl at the counter tells me???You brought me a blank roll?? I said

oh..OK, Well it turns out that my daughter did not install the roll right, so

NADA?I was bummed???sigh?? None the less, a friend of mine who shoots Canon

(??yuk??) loaded it up for me and this time everytime I went to advance the

film, I noticed the dial on the left turned also?Yea, it works?Well, Again it

took me another 4 days to shoot the roll and this time, when I went to rewind

the film, I heard something ??snap???

I opened up the cover and the film broke???AAARRRRGGGG?? Did not know that the

little button on the bottom releases the film???sigh???OK Third time has to be

the charm right? Well, another roll went in and this time I was going to shoot

sunsets and get it done in a day?(By the way, shooting film can get expensive)

All the while this was going on, I went on an EEEKKKBAY buying spree with Manual

focus prime lenses?

I have bought an 28mm F/2.0, 50mm F/2.0, 90mm F/2.8, and a few more on the

way?.By the way, they are so inexpensive?The most I have spent for a lens was 40

bucks and the lens is like new?Anyway, I finally got some photos???YEA?? and

while not perfect, I am more than happy with what I have?

 

The first is my son Daniel

The next two are sunsets. Surprisingly, I actually got the exposer almost right?

What are your thoughts on this nearly 40 year old camera..

[jgredline]

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[jgredline]

Here is a photo of my baby...It will be going with me when I go on my photo hunts along with a DSLR of course...By the way, Here are some images I took at roughly the same time as I took these sunsets with the K1000...Different...

 

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[xpiotiavos]

hey, that's a pretty good sunset shot.

 

i'm with you on the K1000. it's spring break in alabama (woo hoo!) and i borrowed my friend's K1000 for the week and I've had a BLAST shooting with this thing--but not before I ruined TWO rolls of Ilford HP5 film while trying to figure the stupid thing out. I did the same thing you did before i learned what the button on the bottom was for. while i'm learning to use this thing, i'm sticking with CHEAP fuji 100 film ($0.93 a roll, baby).<div></div>

[walter_degroot]

GOOD well somebody still believes in FILM.

the end result is prints, and with the way things are today

1) better film than even 10-15 years ago

2) inexpensive minbi-labs ( stick with a good one)

makes geting a stack of prints easier and with less fuss than ever

before. the digital-only folks will disagree, of course,

but think of all the options and "advantages" you DON'T have. Photoshop, a decent pc, rechargable batteries, inkjet printers,

YET the quality is better than a $5,000.oo digicam.

 

naa you want to buy that digicam and a few $600.00 lenses

and a lot of accesories, your photos won't look any better, but think of all that prestige, " I spent $4,000 so I can take a photo of my car"

 

enjoy the k1000. and your lenses, keep doing what youre are doing.

if it , heaven forbid, dies; just buy another similar camera.

My Ricok cost less that $25.00 with shipping and is similar to the k1000,

same lens mount.

[._._z]

<small><i><blockquote>

 

hey, that's a pretty good sunset shot.

 

</blockquote> </i> </small><p>

 

I think Dante would have put you in the sixth circle.

[cory_zerkee]

My wife had a K1000 and it has since been sold to her sister where it collects dust in her closet. I might borrow it one day and play with it a bit. I haven't really ever shot film, so it should be.........interesting.

[mountainvisions]

Hmm, you broke the film....i mentioned the button on another thread "what film for my K1000" see below.

 

Too quote myself...

 

....

I haven't used a K1000 in a while as it was returned to my dad a few years ago. Push the tab on the bottom of the camera (just a very small button), you flip the rewind knob on the right side of your photo above, and turn it till resistance stops being felt. If you are careful you can leave a bit of leader out which the lab techs will love you for, and if you ever start processing your own, you will love yourself for.

 

 

....

Oh, and when loading film, to be sure it's flat, and that it's loaded properly, after advancing a few frames, turn the rewind crank till you feel tension. This will take up any slack. Off hand I don't remember if you have the press the bottom button for this or not, I'm pretty sure you don't, but you'll get the idea. The crank should turn each time the film is advanced if it's loaded properly, no turn, you don't have it spooled.

[dogbert]

This makes quite funny reading to those of us that started on film a few decades ago. Even a few years ago all the questions were from people switching from film asking questions on how to use their digital cameras. Now it appears there is a generation who have never experinced the joy/frustration of a fully manual film camera.

 

It reminds me of running into an old friend a couple of years ago at a flower exhibition where I was trying out an ME Super I had bought on ebay. I was bragging that I had picked up this great classic camera for only $40 on ebay with a fast 50/1.7 included (all of which meant nothing to her). She looked at the ME Super as if I were mad and said in horror "my god Geoff its not even digital!".

[jgredline]

Walter, Thank you for the incredibly encouraging e mail.. :-)...Adam.As Geoff said, we are finding the joy in film...It is an absolute blast...

Justin, Justin, Justin....As soon as I broke the film, your words ''a came back'' :-)...I was going to mention it in the OP, but was to embarrassed... Where is that Blushing smileycon...This weekend I will going up to Ventura down Pacific Coast HWY, And you bet I will have that OLE K1000 in tow....

[jgredline]

Cory...If you have never shot film, you have no idea the joy you are missing...

[david_barts2]

"... You brought me a blank roll ... the film broke ..."

 

Heh. Not to say "I told you so", but ... Oh, well, at least you won't make _those_ mistakes

anymore!

 

If it makes you feel any better, I ruined half the first roll of film I put through my MX by not

following the loading instructions in the manual faithfully enough.

[mountainvisions]

Ok Ok, you are forgiven...sounded like you picked up the issue with the rewind knob spinning to see if it was loaded properly.

 

So now you know and at least you are having fun with it. It's kinda funny, as Geoff said, it's bizare the film is fun for people, but I think we all knew it would pick up popularity again as people wondered what it was like to shoot film.

[dogbert]

Javier

 

put some Velvia or Kodak Echtachrome VS in it. Grab a tripod, find a nice spot and wait for some interesting late evening/early morning sun with warm light and not too much contrast and shoot away.

 

Once you view some slides on a light box through a loupe you will be convinced that you are a photographic genius!

[roseberry guitars]

You're correct Geoff, it is funny reading. But then I got my first digital camera (my Pentax K10D) just this last christmas so I'd better not laugh too loud or someone might dig through my old posts and expose me for the digital newbe that I am. And the last laugh will be on me...

 

It's good to see that you are having fun with your K1000, Javier. You'll catch on fast as it's not all that different from your digital. It's just a little harder to see the histogram in the dark.

 

I still love my film stuff (I've got over 40 different cameras, no Pentax though) and I hope film will be around for a long time. I see that there are more people who grew up on digital trying the old stuff and liking it. Both have a place in our photographic life, I think.

 

Your "nearly 40 year old" camera is a fine machine and will do great things in your hands. Don't worry about if it's good enough...just because a camera is not up-to-date, new and modern doesn't make it any less than the ones that are. Often it's better.

 

Here's a shot with one that was outdated before I was born (and I hope no-one minds me posting this photo but the camera was made well before Pentax was born). And that was a while ago. One can argue the quality of the subject or the quality of the photographer but the quality of the camera is right up at the top.<div></div>

[scot]

Keep in mind that with a K1000, the light meter is operating (and therefore the battery is in use) whenever the lens cap is off. The camera, will, however, work with a dead battery.

 

Enjoy. The K1000 is the VW Bug of cameras, and is fun (And I mean the old, air-cooled, cheap Bug...).

 

Scot

[mountainvisions]

"Once you view some slides on a light box through a loupe you will be convinced that you are a photographic genius!"

 

This has always been my feeling.

 

A roll of Provia on a light box simply blows away chimping on a 2.5in LCD. And if you can locate a projector, damn you'll be in for a real treat.

[a few images]

Looking good Javier!! My K1000 gets more use than my K10D lately. I keep in my truck so it's always with me. It takes a few weeks to go through the film but, that's OK. I like the results!

[anthony_r]

Get a 135mm and you'll be in serious love. The K1000 is still my all time favorite camera

even though mine has seen better days.

[andrewg_ny]

Also for what it's worth, your K1000 is probably not 40 years old--it would be between 11 and 32 years (produced 1976-1997), and yours doesn't look like one of the older ones with Asahi engraved on the pentaprism housing. It is safe to say that even if produced in 1992 the technology in it is not terribly different (if anything, simpler) than the other K-series cameras that became available in 1975.

 

Long weekend coming up. Perhaps I should break out one of my film-consuming K-mount boxes.

[jchristianoneill]

I've been there too- I have the K100d, a ZX-7 (all-auto film), and an old K1000 with the Asahi on the prism cover. Love that metal body.

 

Anyway, I did the same thing with film when I first started using it- I'd used many film cameras before, but for some reason I had the film going the wrong way around the spool in the K1000! Embarassing to get 1/2 your shots back blank because the damn thing never advanced, and completely my fault. Will never do that again, or forget to puch the rewind-release button.

 

That first shot is great- such depth in the scene, and of course, beautiful color. Lately I've been shooting only B&W film- love the look I get with a sharp A-prime. I use the ZX-7 cause it's easier, but that K1000 is on the shelf, ready to roll in case these modern electronic fiddly cams die out- it's comforting in its durability and simplicity!

 

-JC

[darlene_taylor]

Hmm, makes me want to pick up a K1000. I saw one on craigslist for $35 recently.

[jgredline]

Folks..Thanks so much for all the comments..Andrew, You are right. The camera is NOT nearly 40. For some reason, I thought the k1000 was made pre Vietnam war...Anyway, My bad...But there is more to the story...I actually did end up with 2 K1000's...The first one I ordered, was one of the real old ones. I bought it for $40.00 with Lens, but when it never arrived, I thought I got stiffed..Turns out it was lost in the mail...All the while, I ordered another one for a tad more...Well when it was all said and done, I ended up with two of them. The real old one though, looks the sensor is really dirty, so I will spend some time cleaning it when I get time....In looking at all the images I got out of the K1000 it seems to me and correct me if I am wrong...But it seems to me like the Film is capturing what the ''EYE'' sees and the the DSLR seems to capture what the camera sees ?.?...I look at those sunsets I posted above and they look like they where taken an hour apart, but they where taken minutes apart...

 

Darlene...If you get the K1000, you will not regret it...It is not only fun, I believe it will make all of ''us'' digital people better photographers because we will likely be more selective in what we shoot and composition will also be better...Just look at Justin's Photos in the share your pics for the week thread...

 

Scott T....That is a wonderful image and my next roll after I am done with the current one, will be Black and white...I have noticed that when ever I convert a color to black and white, it NEVER looks as good as a photo that was shot in black and white...But maybe that to is just me....

 

 

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[andrewg_ny]

Bear in mind that when your film is processed, the processor may be applying some degree of exposure correction when printing. With digital, that's up to you. You could always shoot slides and then you'd have a better idea how the film camera captures what the "EYE" sees.

 

The other factor might be differences between how the digital multi-segment matrix metering 'sees' your particular scene vs. the film camera's center-weighted metering.

[jgredline]

Andrew. Shoot slides? I do not follow?