[billy m]

I've got a K1000 also. I got mine new as a Christmas present from my parents back around 1983. Still works great, though I don't use it much anymore since I got my *istDS about 2 years ago. The K1000 is a fantastic camera, extremely rugged, and totally honest. It'll will give you exactly what you want as long as you are willing to invest the time to learn about exposure and composition. I've gotten some great shots with it, and I have no plans to ever get rid of it. It's a perfect camera for learning photography with. The dependability and ease of use of my K1000 are what led me to buy the *istDS, and that is a wonderful camera also.

Billy

[Dave21]

That's a great story

I got a K1000 in highschool in the 80's when I was working at a Photo shop. I spent most of my time running a Kodak photo processor. You learn a LOT about composition looking at THOUSANDS of amateur pictures a week.
Later, I met a girl in college that was also working in a photo shop and had a K1000 rig just like mine.
A decade later, that camera became "ours" as when I married her!
Both K1000's documented the honeymoon in Colorado.

I'll always consider the K1000 a VERY special camera.

[Olrocker]

Got mine in '78 as a wedding present from my first wife. Came with the 50/f2 normal lens. At the time I knew zero about photography but the K1000 got me into it. Added an M 80-200 zoom and an old M42 Lentar 28/f3 (freebee.) Still have all of it (plus the ME Super I got in '83.)

A great camera to learn on and nice images too!

[lithos]

I got mine from a guy I played semi-competitive Scrabble against. He mention he had some old camera from his granddad, now deceased.

The bastard was cheating at Scrabble (time games, took about ten minutes to choose a word when he was ahead) so I ripped it off him with a bunch of zooms, a flash and a case for $50AU.

"Man, it's old. You're gonna get maybe sixty bucks for the whole lot. None of these lenses are any good on any modern camera. See that 'Asahi' above the Pentax logo here? Means it's one of the cheap ones, mostly made in China. The meter doesn't work. I'll give you fifty now."

"Oh. Ok."

Don't screw me over in Scrabble.

[Stratman]

Lol Lithos, i like your attitude mate !!

[Eddie]

I just picked up this setup for $62.

Asahi K1000
Kit lens
2x TC
135mm f2.8
Achiever flash
and a decent camera bag with some odds/ends

[Top_Gun]

Started with the "ole faithfull K1000"

still have it actually, but had to retire it

[Donald]

this woman does

and has for a long time

[code4code5]

I have the K1000SE with the diagonal split screen in the viewfinder. Best focusing method ever. It was taking that one out and taking some B&W shots that got me passionate about photography again and brought me around to my K100D. Still using my old K mount lenses on the brand new camera. I love it.

[Pentax_dslr]

I have one still thats why I stuck with Pentax

The motor drive is a fake, actually an old spotmatic item with the innards removed. This is fine since the K1000 it is attached to is broken. The other two are another K1000 and a KX. I still have the broken K1000 as a display piece and the KX as an occasional used item.
Ira

[smokey]

I have one, my second one actually. My first was an SE. When I bought my ZX-50 I thought I'd never go back to manual, so I gave 'em my SE on consignment. A week later I decided I really liked that camera and went to go get it back. Already sold it. Picked up the K1000 I now have. Not as nice as the SE, but it still works. Thought about selling both the K1000 and ZX-50 before I bought my K10D, but local shop kinda laughed when asked if they were worth anything. Figured I'll keep em all.

Gonna have to break it out and get me a battery and shoot a few rolls for old times sake.

[bbpa103]

K1000 purchased in 78 - takes a licking but keeps on clicking - a buddy who had a Nikon convinced me to go for an SLR and I bought the K1000 - the university had a photo club made up of a handful of guys who taught me all the basics and we had free B&W film and paper and did almost all B&W in those early days. I can understand why photography courses are still looking at using the old K1000s to learn on. Purchased several manual lenses over the years and the K100D was a welcome addition with compatibilty with the old lenses. I love my K100D too for low light indoor use and the only question is which camera will I take canoeing/portaging next summer. Ken.

[roger33]

I have one. As well as an ME, 3 ME Super's, and an MX. I love the old Pentax cameras. They have all been refurbished and are in 100% working order.

[24X36NOW]

Guess I always had "shutterbug" in my blood. First camera was a plastic contraption I got from selling candy in grade school. My parents refused to get the film developed (I was crushed), insisting that the plastic thing couldn't possibly take a good picture (or ANY picture).

K-1000 was a 21st birthday present from my sister/brother-in-law. Came with the SMC-M 50 f 2.0 and a JC Penny 135 f 2.8 (that you kinda had to hold the aperture ring on, or it would spin all the way to wide open at will, lol pretty cheap lens but not bad optically). Came with a cheap flash and a bag too. Great camera, bright, easy to focus, solid. Meter sticks a bit sometimes, but generally works without any trouble. Only thing I didn't like about the trusty K-1000 was the inability to attach a winder (both for autowinding the film for action shots, and more to the point because my hands are pretty big and I like a little more meat to hold onto). I bought a 2nd K-1000 and shot with two bodies for a while, but still wanted that more extensive system camera. Gave the newer K-1000 to my niece along with a collection of my earlier lenses (and a new 50 f 2.0 A) as a high school graduation present, so it's still in the family. Later I got a used Super Program and one of those cheesy brand X winders, then once I had the nerve to make the investment, to an LX...and then another LX (once you shoot with an LX, you don't want to shoot with anything else!). Sold the Super Program to a friend who was using an A-3000 (ugh! no manual exposure control - I hated that thing). Still have the LXs, plus an *istD and a K10D.

Still waiting for my FF digital SLR to fill out my toolbox to my satisfaction.