[brettday]

I'm dreaming here. Still, I hope it's something we see one day. What would you want to see in such a camera?

https://photofocus.com/photography/a-digital-pentax-k1000-is-exactly-what-the-camera-market-needs/

[Not a Number]

This topic has been discussed at length in many threads. I can't find any at the moment but this will most likely be merged into one of them.

[reh321]

I'm dreaming here. Still, I hope it's something we see one day. What would you want to see in such a camera?

https://photofocus.com/photography/a-digital-pentax-k1000-is-exactly-what-the-camera-market-needs/

The K-1000 was a mostly mechanical {except for the light meter} camera.
I can’t even imagine what a ‘digital K-1000’ would consist of.

This topic has been discussed at length in many threads. I can't find any at the moment but this will most likely be merged into one of them.

Is it possible for Pentax to digitalised some vintage cameras? - PentaxForums.com

[ChristianRock]

Yeah it's been discussed a few times...

I have to say that a totally mechanical digital camera won't happen. Ever

But I think heads would turn if a manufacturer built a solid, metal frame camera with nothing but the shutter release button and the exposure triad (aperture in the lens, ISO (call it ASA for bonus vintage points!) and shutter speed in the body). Plus a light meter. Bonus points if it's a needle in the viewfinder No back screen and I wouldn't even have a winder (why??), just an indicator in the back of how many frames are left in the card. JPEG engine with an AUTO (green) mode that would just pick whatever settings it found right, or maybe a button where you could scroll through various film emulations and just pick the one you wanted (with an option to lock the ASA to match the film). 24x36mm sensor and viewfinder, of course... and if it's a Pentax, it has to be K-Mount

Might be a cool off-the-beaten-path product and wouldn't have to affect that manufacturer's regular product lines in any way.

[reh321]

Yeah it's been discussed a few times...

I have to say that a totally mechanical digital camera won't happen. Ever

But I think heads would turn if a manufacturer built a solid, metal frame camera with nothing but the shutter release button and the exposure triad (aperture in the lens, ISO (call it ASA for bonus vintage points!) and shutter speed in the body). Plus a light meter. Bonus points if it's a needle in the viewfinder No back screen and I wouldn't even have a winder (why??), just an indicator in the back of how many frames are left in the card. JPEG engine with an AUTO (green) mode that would just pick whatever settings it found right, or maybe a button where you could scroll through various film emulations and just pick the one you wanted (with an option to lock the ASA to match the film). 24x36mm sensor and viewfinder, of course... and if it's a Pentax, it has to be K-Mount

Might be a cool off-the-beaten-path product and wouldn't have to affect that manufacturer's regular product lines in any way.

To get the equivalent of ‘Av’ or ‘M’ mode in my “Super Program”, you would set aperture at the lens.
I would believe that sort of arrangement in the proposed product - that would truly be “vintage” products.
But once you talk about a ‘green’ mode or having the user set the aperture from the body, you are wandering away from “vintage”.
it would provide a good imitation of what we dealt with in the age of film.

[pschlute]

I'm dreaming here. Still, I hope it's something we see one day. What would you want to see in such a camera?

Really not sure what you are asking for here? Is it size only ?

Virtually every Pentax camera made in the last 60 years is capable of being operated in the same way as a K1000

[Fogel70]

I think it would be great with a simplyfied high quality camera, but not necessarily with retro styling. Instead with a modern interface. Maybe something like Hasselblad X1d, a camera with fewer buttons plus simple and intuitive touch screen interface.

A simple to use camera for peeple not needing highest speed and complex controls and customization.

[jlstrawman]

I'm dreaming here. Still, I hope it's something we see one day. What would you want to see in such a camera?

Sure thing. It's called the Sony a7 <grin>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_%CE%B17

[Sir Nameless]

A digital ME. Set the aperture on your lens. It has a feeler so it knows what you set it to. You set the ISO and comp, it sets the shutter speed. Split prism focusing screen, the whole nine yards.

I'd buy one. And yeah, I'll keep dreaming too.

[c.a.m]

Every once in a while, it's fun to let the mind wander and dream. The K1000 is certainly well known and has carved a nostalgic place in the history of photography as a simple, easy to use, and rugged camera.

It would be interesting to go through a first-level, back-of-the-envelope paper design and engineering exercise for a retro-styled K1000 D(igital). Set some basic design requirements such as body dimensions and volume, basic controls, display, autofocus or manual, etc. Select a sensor, exposure meter, basic processor, data storage, etc. Determine power requirements and battery options. And so on.

- Craig

[kypfer]

I "revert" to "manual-only" on a regular basis … one of the reasons I came over to Pentax in the first place, so my old lenses could continue to provide value for money
If it's the "angular look" you're after, the KP, with the small grip fitted, comes close … else on any Pentax DSLR, put the Mode dial to M, fit a (prime?) lens with an aperture ring, make friends with the 'magic' green button and go for it
Use a K-70 and you can even turn the screen to face the body so you've only got the viewfinder and lens settings to work with
Livin' the dream

[ChristianRock]

But once you talk about a ‘green’ mode or having the user set the aperture from the body, you are wandering away from “vintage”.

In the film days, most people loaded a film, took pictures and sent the film to a lab and saw the results. They didn't have a darkroom. They just hoped that the lab would develop the pictures the right way. A "green mode" (behind the scenes) would give them the best shot at having good pictures once they went back home and uploaded their card to a computer. Or, in my example, they could select a film stock or picture mode. I think that while not technically accurate as "vintage", it would give them the best "film experience" in the digital world, without the hassles and costs of buying and loading film and having it developed; and they wouldn't care how the JPEG is getting generated, as long as the pictures came out nice.

Of course there could be a setting for RAW as well, for people who developed in their own "darkroom" (the RAW developer...)

I'm sure there's as many views of how a "Digital K1000" could be done, as there are photographers... that was mine.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

I'm dreaming here. Still, I hope it's something we see one day. What would you want to see in such a camera?

https://photofocus.com/photography/a-digital-pentax-k1000-is-exactly-what-the-camera-market-needs/

It already exists and it is called Pentax KP! (K1000 is the perfect camera and the P stands for Perfect!)

[reh321]

In the film days, most people loaded a film, took pictures and sent the film to a lab and saw the results. They didn't have a darkroom. They just hoped that the lab would develop the pictures the right way. A "green mode" (behind the scenes) would give them the best shot at having good pictures once they went back home and uploaded their card to a computer. Or, in my example, they could select a film stock or picture mode. I think that while not technically accurate as "vintage", it would give them the best "film experience" in the digital world, without the hassles and costs of buying and loading film and having it developed; and they wouldn't care how the JPEG is getting generated, as long as the pictures came out nice.

Of course there could be a setting for RAW as well, for people who developed in their own "darkroom" (the RAW developer...)

I'm sure there's as many views of how a "Digital K1000" could be done, as there are photographers... that was mine.

The only thing a “green” mode would contribute is a continually varying ISO value.
In over seven years of using Pentax digital cameras, I have never used “auto” mode even once, but my results are still instantly available.
I personally don’t see any connection between “green” and speed, and I personally don’t see what how something that varies ISO could be viewed as “vintage”. You may have a “green” mode, but it would do zero for me. Personally, I shot slide film, mostly Kodachrome, so I typically use camera-created JPEG files, but I could easily make only ‘raw’ files, and use RawTherapy to generate JPEGs.