[Yael]

Im a fine arts student and this summer I will be taking my first photography class... My school is exclusively film in the fine arts program. I will need a camera for this course, however I already have a couple of Pentax bodies and I am curious which camera to go with... I will have some money to invest in additional lenses if needed before the start of my course.

First up I have a SP1000 with a 3x Teleconverter, a Chinon 55mm 1:1.7 lens, and a Sankyo 300mm 1:5 lens. I also have a K1000 body, but no lenses for it.

Part of me is thinking I might as well use the SP1000 because I already have lenses for it and sell the K1000, however another part of me is thinking the glass I have for the SP1000 isnt very good, so I could sell off that camera and buy some K-mount lenses for the K1000 as I hear they are good cameras.

Anyone have any insight?

[VoiceOfReason]

I'd go K1000, but some lenses for it, and then reuse those with a Pentax DSLR!

[Jamey777]

If you pick up an SMC k or m 50mm 1.7 for $20 or so you could do the entire class with it :-) Don't bother with any zooms, most of the manual focus zooms are lacking.

[6BQ5]

I don't have any experience with the lenses you have but I would guess the Chinon will serve you well. Do a quick search for that lens and see if you can find any reviews done based on its use on a DSLR. The 50mm designs are well established and have had plenty of time to evolve. Don't worry too much about coatings. I have both coated and uncoated lenses. Each has a special flavor. Not one is "bad" and not one is "good".... although I adore my FA 50mm f/1.7!

Why not keep both bodies? You can get very nice SMC coated 50mm primes for $20-$50 on eBay in both M42 and K-mount. Run 200 film in one and 400 film in the other.... or get a 35mm prime in one mount (or the other) and you'll have a wide-ish angle lens on one body with a normal view lens on the other. Possibilities!

[johnha]

You could get an M42 adapter and use your lenses on the K1000 as well, although a K mount 50mm f/2 would probably cost less. I'd keep both cameras (the Chinon lens will be more than adequate to start with) and you can run different speeds or mono & colour in the two bodies.

[PPPPPP42]

For collectibility and fun its cool to have an M42 body around, for pure practicality the K mount would be the way to go.

If you want a cheap lens for the K1000 get an A50mm F1.7, you won't use the A setting on the K1000, but when you inevitably get a Pentax DSLR the lens will meter normally without all the green button BS. The 1.7 is the best mix of speed and cost though I prefer the 1.4 that I have (8 bladed aperture among other things).

If you want one lens that will do everything you need on your 35mm K1000, get an A35-105 F3.5. It has good quality, a good range of zoom, good speed and a macro shift ability that allows super close focusing all through the zoom range. The A24-50 F4 and A70-210 F4 are the other 2 zooms worth owning in the A series.

There are many good primes, but a good set of good prime lenses costs a good deal of money which is not so good. Commit yourself to a path if you start hunting good primes down.

Either way figure out where you are going with photography ahead of time and skip the cheap crap, lenses stay with you a long time and its nice if they are both compatible and worth using quality wise with where you will be in the future be it digital or film.
Make use of our lens review section for seeing whats all out there.

[Jonathan Mac]

I prefer my SP1000 to my K1000, though they're essentially the same camera apart from the mount.

You could sell the K1000 and any poor K-mount lenses and get good M42 lenses. SMC Takumars 35/3.5, 55/1.8 and 105/2.8 would be all you'd need and they're all pretty cheap and easy to find.

[Nesster]

I also prefer the SP1000, as does my daughter. However when she took her SP1000 to school for photography, the battery was dead, and I didn't have a replacement... so I gave her a MX with SMC-M 50/1.7 lens... the end result is she's keeping it. Says the meter is excellent and she's using it in preference to anything else.

[ChrisPlatt]

The SP1000 requires stop-down metering and therefore offers depth of field preview.
The K1000 offers full-aperture metering with Pentax K lenses, but no DOF preview.

Chris