Originally posted by Tom in Delaware Jeez, guys, you are pretty much talking me out of a K1000. I was going to pick one up to try it out. Seems like it is pretty much a Spotmatic F with a K mount. Is that a wrong assumption? No wait, I just got done looking at the K1000 entry in "Japanese 35mm SLR Cameras, A Comprehensive Data Guide," and th eK1000 doesn't appear to have a self-timer or a DOF preview. Wow, that's a really basic camera.
By all means if you want one, get a K1000, but . .
Consider a KX or KM instead, get it CLA'ed by Eric and you are good for 20 years.
2001 Survey of PDML Members - The "Best" Pentax Cameras - See the last entry
K1000 is considered one of the BEST, but . . .
1) A KX is superior in feature set to a K1000, and every bit as much a learning tool. It just cost more in the 70's.
2) The K1000 was a really basic camera for 29 years that schools could purchase and students could knock around a bit. My daughter's Yearbook had 10 of them and they replaced 2 each year, until they converted to digital to save processing expense.
She bought one of the discards (actually an SE) but eventually started using my KX when an assignment required a self-timer to take a self-portrait. She then took to it college and on a 6 week Winter Term photography camp/class at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, NM - where Ansel Adams once shot.
She swears it is the best 35mm camera ever made for black and white landscape.
Everything Pentax being good, relative to each other, the KX is my favorite - the K1000 is less appealing to me.