[wetigers]

Hello all, i recently bought a pentax k1000 and have used one role of film so far and has not been developed. Do you guys and gals have any tips when using this particular camera when it comes to iso, shutter speed, and aperture, as well as other things? Even any tips in general would be very helpful as I learn more and more about film, and photography. Thank you all.

Michael

[mattt]

Understand sunny 16 rule, and you'll be able to approximate your exposures quickly. I'm shooting my K1000 all month in the Single In May Challenge i've posted the first couple of weeks worth of photos here.

PS: Welcome to the forum

[stevebrot]

The advantage of your K1000 and the reason why it has been the favorite of photography instructors for several decades is that it is both simple and complete. It has an accurate (center-weighted) TTL meter, decent viewfinder, fully manual controls, a good range of shutter speeds, and supports widely available interchangeable lenses. Most (all?) of the K1000's secrets are in the user manual.* Everything else (aperture, shutter speed, film choice, lens choice, composition, etc.) is basic photography and applies to all cameras, regardless of their sophistication.

Have fun and welcome to the Pentax Forums!


Steve

* Freely available for download (donation appreciated) at the Butkus site: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/pentax/pentax_k1000/pentax_k1000.htm

[Tako Kichi]

Do you guys and gals have any tips when using this particular camera when it comes to iso, shutter speed, and aperture, as well as other things?

Remember that it's not digital so ISO should be more correctly referred to as ASA and that is specified by the film speed not the camera. You can operate at different ASA ratings than that marked on the can but doing so requires that you inform the processor of your changes so that they can process accordingly. Basically you set your ASA when you load your film and leave it set for the duration. Mixing ASA speeds on the same roll of film is not a good idea!

[OregonJim]

The good ol' K1000 is what I learned on many years ago. One tip: wait for your first roll to come back and check the negatives or prints carefully for anything strange (fogging, streaks, etc.). With cameras of this vintage, there may be light leaks and the light seals may need to be replaced. If the prints look fine, then have a ball!

[Pioneer]

Though simple the K1000 meter is actually quite handy when you get used to it. Obviously, with the needle centered you have what the camera believes to be a "correct" exposure. But less known is the fact that if the needle is sitting on top of the black post at the bottom of the center opening you are one stop under exposed. If it sits at the top of the open notch, on the black post, it is one stop over exposed. Likewise, if it is at the top of the swing, yet still reading, it is about two stops over exposed. At the bottom it is two stops under exposed. If you understand how light works, and how your film is actually responding, you can make some very sophisticated exposure decisions based on this simple information. You can easily and quickly adjust for overly bright backgrounds, or overly dark ones.

Another tip that has served me well for many, many years of use. If you do not have a lens cap, buy one...and use it. The K1000 meter is always on and the only way to "shut it off" without removing the battery is to cap the lens. If you do that all the time, and get in the habit, your battery will last a very long time. If you don't it will be dead in 3 months...or less depending on where you leave it.

Normally K1000s are very forgiving of bad light seals, but if the mirror bumper starts to deteriorate and begin coming apart it will cause all sorts of trouble inside your camera that is very hard to diagnose.

But, in general, the K1000 is very, very reliable. I have owned mine since 1984, using it pretty much all the time, and it has never left me stranded. Even if the battery is dead you can usually get by with the Sunny 16 rule. Even nightime shots aren't that tough. I shoot Tri-X or Ilford HP5+ at F/2 and 1/60 on the street with typical street lights with decent results.

IMHO the K1000 is one of the best cameras ever built, though certainly not with the most features. And those Pentax K and M lenses are magnificent. You can literally do any type of photography you want with it. It does take some knowledge and some thought but it will reward you if you learn to use it. Enjoy.