Pentax K1000
It’s hard to believe that the Pentax K1000 camera has been around for over twenty years. Its longetivity has made this camera a part of history. Did you know that while Pentax has newer digital camera models, the K1000 is still being used? The reason for Pentax K1000’s never-ending popularity is due to its cheap simplicity, both in design and in price. While not the top of the line during its time, the Pentax K1000 was a hardy workhorse, a perfect starter camera for budding photographers.

Unlike the digital models today that has a video camera feature, this Pentax K1000 regular 35 mm camera stuck to the basics. The body of the camera was all metal components, even the levers, springs and gears, something unheard of these days! This relatively cheap Pentax K1000 camera in review also featured manual exposure control and could function without the use of batteries! The only battery you needed was for the flash or light metering system.

When it came to the light metering system, you had to manually read the needle pointers and remember to use the lens cap when the camera was not in use. Since the light metering system had no off and on switch, closing the lens helped preserve the battery. The viewfinder contained a screen with a focusing mechanism called a microprism.

In regards to Pentax K1000 camera accessories, all lenses with the proper K bayonet mount could be used. These included the manual focus lenses and even later models that Pentax marketed. The Pentax K1000 camera for sale at the time also allowed for any hot shoe mount that was not a dedicated part. In fact, this camera even could use flash bulbs. There were very few other features in regards to what could be called bells and whistles of the day. Some of the other regular features though included an equipped shutter and film advance parts. There were no swappable focus screens, previews, self timers or even auto-exposure.

The Pentax K1000 camera case was a no frills affair that allowed room for extra lenses and even a flash. Overall, time has shown that this unique 35mm camera was impervious to censure because it did not claim to be something that it was not. It was made to be a workhorse and it made no bones about it. To buy the Pentax K1000 camera these days, you would likely have to find it on a secondary market. eBay and auctions have been known to have them.