Why The Pentax K1000 Was So Damn Popular - Review & How To

[@ShutterKnack]

The best thing about the Pentax K1000 is that you can still use modern lenses like the 31mm, 43mm, and 77mm limited lenses. And the DSLRs are backwards compatible too.

[@lexlayabout5757]

The same goes for other Pentax film cameras. Pentax have always made back and forward compatibility a feature as far as possible, more than any other camera brand.

[@Gerard-hu6kp]

I have a K1000 it's sticks on 1 second It's a very common problem but can easily be fixed But works perfectly on other speeds It can take a lens adapter . It does need that problem of sticking sorted But can be done cheaply enough if sent away A Leica it would cost a lot

[@Wetknees]

“Backwards compatibility” Wasn’t this model pretty popular among Vietnam era combat correspondents?

[@Johnny_shade]

The best in my collection!! Still use it today, I run about 5-7 rolls of film through it a year. Received mine as a gift from my grandmother waayyyy back in 2000!!

[@primefocusphotography]

Always wanted one of these for the collection but simply could not justify the prices they were going for. Then one day I opened eBay and one popped up for $50. Cam looked great in the pics so I took a chance. When I received it the cam was in absolutely amazing shape, super clean, almost no dust in the viewfinder and all shutter speeds sound to be good, the meter is even responsive though I doubt I'll trust it lol. Moral of the story...patience can be a virtue, if you're patient enough. Cheers.

[@maxkent]

I’m loving all of these K1000 love stories

[@oHeihei]

I have a few classic film cameras. K1000 is the simplest, and by far the one I grab the most. And you're so right about the pentax lenses. They're fantastic.

[@dominicwroblewski5832]

The K1000 did everything right. Rugged, reliable, simple, good looking and those wonderful Pentax SMC lenses. I still have my K1000 that I bought in 1977 and it still works fine. That's 46 years of reliability. The simple, averaging metering taught you how to judge the exposure of a scene and the subject in that scene.

[@maxkent]

Such a good amount of time to keep one for! Yeah, I really think it’s the ultimate learners camera while still being a top quality camera overall.

[@v8isgross]

of all the photography youtube videos I've seen, you take the best shots. nice work, and excellent videos.

[@hvrijsse]

I still have mine and it's still in great shape. It just kept working in both tropical as well as arctic temperatures.

[@briandenzer]

I will forever regret the two of these that were stolen from me while traveling on different occasions. I since replaced them with digital Nikons, but the joy of using the K-1000 as a simple manual analog photo platform could not be replaced.

[@Sirbrownthebrave]

Pulled my dad’s old Pentax k1000 out of our closet and it works perfectly even though he hadn’t fired it in 22 years. Love that camera.

[@ato6703]

I learnt on a praktica super tl 1000 wich is really similar and the simpleness was my favorite part

[@lexlayabout5757]

Yes, there were quite a few cameras around that time that were similar. The Minolta SRT series for example.

[@brownwallet942]

I discovered your channel just now. A month ago because I bought my very first MFT camera and I thought I would want to practice with the 50mm focal length, but since I'm just a student, I searched for vintage lenses. I got a 50mm f1.2 Asahi Pentax from the Facebook marketplace for just 40 CAD. I didn't know I had to buy an adapter, and moreover, I did not know that the focal length is doubled in MFTs, making the lens effectively 100mm 😆. Now it's sleeping inside my box with silica gels

[@lexlayabout5757]

A 50mm F1.2 lens would be wasted on a MFT camera. OTOH it would fetch a high price if you sold it carefully, far more than 40 CAD. Are you sure it is not a F2, which is often engraved as "1:2" as opposed to "1:1.2" ? It confuses many people, and 40 CAD would be paying too much for an F2.

[@brownwallet942]

@@lexlayabout5757 it is f1. 2 so it led me to buy pentax k1000 just so I could use it on the right body

[@lexlayabout5757]

@@brownwallet942 That's good 🙂

[@e.moylan]

Used mine for the first time the other week, I lost the battery cover so had no light meter! Relied on the sunny 16 method and hopefully it looks good when developed

[@maxkent]

You can also get a light meter on your phone which is pretty handy!

[@scrptwic]

I use my Minolta light meter on my Spotamatic SP11

[@nicweatherill]

I’ve been using the k1000 as my first film camera for about 6 months now, and to be honest it’s fantastic. Great build quality, simple manual controls that really encourage you to engage with the camera. I found it too easy on a DSLR to rely on automatic modes. Great video, would love to see a follow up on what cameras I might graduate to from the k1000, depending on what I’d be looking for in a more advanced camera!

[@lexlayabout5757]

You might like more info in the viewfinder, particularly to see the shutter speed. A self-timer is useful, not just for selfies, but for shake-free tripod shots. You need an off-switch for the meter which the K1000 sadly lacks. The Pentax KX is like the K1000 but superior, and the used market is starting to appreciate it more. The Pentax MX of the next generation was a very good all-manual camera, much smaller, but can be pricey today.

[@Chriscaf24]

Where did you buy yours?

[@chopinho65]

It was renowned at the time of its release and even won camera of the year I believe

[@JOESinthebox]

This was the first film camera I got while studying photography at college and god I miss it so much. I took it everywhere and have some many beautiful and nostalgic photos from that time in my life, and they all stopped it got stolen on a trip abroad. Couldn't afford to replace it back then, but your video might have inspired me to get a new one. Great vid, love the history, hearing your experience and seeing your photos! My main hesitation for picking up film again is how expensive film development is now, and how hard labs are to find! Would be great to see a video on your process and experience with film development; things to look out for/be wary of, do you post your film to a lab (any recommendations?), do you recommend just getting negatives and scanning at home? If so, any suggestions for a good negative scanner? It's a bit of a rabbit hole I'm eager to find the bottom of so I can start again.

[@numbersix8919]

It's what I learned on, that's why I will always use center focus. Much quicker than a joystick isn't it.

[@1973sonvis]

Great review! The Pentax KM has a few more features than the Pentax K1000 but is otherwise pretty much the same camera. But the KM is often cheaper to buy.

[@christianmayrhofer4178]

I always find these mystifications on the internet about the K1000 very funny. The camera was successful because it was cheap and from the end of the 70s onwards it was also cheaply produced in Hong Kong and later in China. In the later years the base and the upper part were made of plastic. The exposure metering was integral, not even centre-weighted, which was very primitive and in many situations often led to underexposure if you didn't correct it, which takes experience and practice. The camera does not have a button to close the aperture to control the depth of field, which is a big minus point, especially in creative photography.

[@lexlayabout5757]

The K1000 gets over-hyped, and is over-priced today. It is a solid camera, but most top brand cameras of that time were built to last. It was actually a Spotmatic (1960s design) with a make-over and a K bayonet mount. My main criticism is that the viewfinder does not show shutter speed, so after metering (through the viewfinder) you need to take it down from your eye to check what the settings are. Also the lack of an off-switch for the meter.

[@omkarvasala9924]

bro deserves atleast a mil fr😕

[@Victorylapjay]

What are your settings for outdoors

[@karlgreene2177]

It does have exposure compensation you just alter the film speed.

[@jozo9990]

The k1000 was my first real film camera. Probably had mine about 7 years, the thing is a tank.

[@DirtyVinylRecordsTV]

i have the Asahi Pentax SPII for BW and The (ESII from my Father) for color. and they work perfect.

[@scrptwic]

I just finished putting new light Seals in my Spotamatic SP11

[@GeekyGalore]

Wild photos!

[@maxkent]

Thanks!

[@chasington]

Question, what are you using to record the video? I love the film/grainy look and feel.

[@ozgurozavc5542]

Do you recommend this camera?

[@robertknight4672]

I have a k1000 belong to my father. I think he got it for Christmas a long time ago. I was often in front of the k1000's lens growing up.

[@JasonJaggersphtoography]

I have found the m.zuko lenses are among the sharpest ones I have.

[@sputumtube]

Agreed. I have a number of Olympus manual lenses. They're also certainly not flimsy - mountaineer Chris Bonnington took some up Mt. Everest FFS!!!

[@jackthompson8377]

Pentax would do well to include this one in their reissue plans.

[@maxkent]

I agree to a degree but they did such a good job that it’d kind of be difficult for them to sell reissued ones at a high price (cos we can still easily get old ones). I think the Pentax ME Super would be a good reissue because it’s pretty unreliable now and it could be a great camera

[@scrptwic]

That's why I put new light Seals in my Spotamatic SP11 I wanted Pentax to give us a full frame interchangeable lens instead of the Pentax 17 half frame camera

[@SomiaMostafa-r4y]

Lenses name please ?

[@Latif28]

Nice camera, but great shots from you 👏

[@kv8441]

woah sweet vid man! now I have to ask tho, which camera did you use to film this whole video itself? lol. Sorry its just that I can't get over how clear & crisp your video footage quality is. I suppose that means ur using a camera that's well...expensive & for advanced photographers 😅 If I ever decided to make videos similar to urs, like vlogging or cool video essays. May I ask what cameras you'd recommend that best replicate the video quality you have? and also perhaps fit my tight budget of $500-600? thanks!

[@zhongyao-sc1lj]

which is better compare with NIKKON FM?

[@Ashu-x5l]

which camera are you using to shoot yourself in this video??

[@maxkent]

Sony A7IV, there should be a link to it in my description 👍

[@thelemon5069]

I have it's big brother the super program. Excellent camera.

[@chrisssergio]

New to k1000, but when I adjust the aperture I don’t see the blades moving, they stay at the widest stop, but when I unscrew the lens off the camera, the blades move to whichever stop I choose, whys that and how do I know if I’ll be shooting the right f stop when I go and shoot

[@maxkent]

Hey! A good way to check is to change the aperture to f22. Open the back of the camera. Reduce your shutter speed down to 1 second and shoot. You’ll be able to see through the shutter and see whether your aperture has changed in that instance. If not then I’m not too sure why it’s different on and off camera!

[@chrisssergio]

@@maxkent thank you! I’ll try that and see how it goes

[@chrisssergio]

Blades work haha sorry just a beginner with the K

[@brentsummers7377]

Great review! Wonderful camera, you could give the camera to a total non photographer, show them how to focus and change aperture to get the needle 'in the middle' & 90% of the time they would take usable photos! Apart from focus only three things to set iso, aperture, shutter speed. These days I take photos with an iphone and when I do use a dslr often it is set to full green auto mode😂 Even Ken Rockwell says cameras got too damned complicated!

[@nastyachulakova9722]

incredible photos!!💔

[@Snoigel]

This dude must only shoot in portrait damn lmao. I love it tho

[@RobertBergan]

Bought mine in 1981, still got it. Dont trust the meter tho.

[@maxkent]

Very basic meter! I use my phone meter!

[@chopinho65]

I’ve always loved the meter and simply ensured it was on the plus side for most shots. That said mine has stopped working recently. But love the fact that the camera works still without a battery

[@robertknight4672]

@@chopinho65 am I no longer gives it gives you an accurate reading anymore either even if the needle overexposed by several stops. Show me the sunny 16 rule or light meter app for works very well for me.

[@TheVFXbyArt]

1:50 Christ, could you have thrown any less light into these scene? Film chamber is black and black!

[@lexlayabout5757]

All-manual cameras were common in the 1960s and 70s, so nothing special about the K1000 there. It was popular because it undercut the prices of the equivalent bottom-of-the-range cameras of the other quality brands, and art schools recommended it to their students (because of that). It was really an old Spotmatic design stripped of features and given a K mount. Pentax themselves made better all-manual cameras at the time, but they cost more : the KX and MX.

[@ibanez456189]

I don’t believe you

[@lexlayabout5757]

@@ibanez456189 Which part of what I wrote don't you believe?

[@apistosig4173]

fab camera - unless you're an idiot you can't take a bad image - I prefer the MX - awesome glass available for both