Hi, Jez,
I think that somewhere along the line, the K1000 got the reputation as the
"ideal students' camera", most likely since it was fully manual, so it forced
the student to be aware of settings, and therefore what the camera was doing
(or more to the point, what the student was doing to the camera). It was
cheap, sturdy, simple, and had an incredibly long run. It (unlike my beloved
Spotmatic) took bayonet lenses, so new lenses were easy to come by.
Unfortunately, over the years, in order to keep the price competitive, both the
body and the innards started to be made of plastic, compromising (imho)
quality. In addition, it was, by the end of it's run, made in non-Pentax
factories in such places as Hong Kong and China.
But it maintained that reputation as the ideal students' camera. I'm always
amazed when I see a group of students from the Photog Course at Ryerson
Polytechnical here in Toronto galavanting about town, to see that about 1/2 of
them have K1000's around their necks.
I guess that the fact that so many of them were made, as opposed to products
such as the KM and KX means that there is a ready supply of them on the used
market, ensuring that the used prices will remain high. Personally, I think
they tend to be overpriced, compared to the above-mentioned bodies, or even
Spotmatics (a K1000 is really a bayonet-mount Spottie F without self timer or
dof switch).
But, reputations being what they are...
regards,
frank
jez wrote:
> Hi
> Having returned to serious photography after a good few years out.
>
> I am amazed at the prices people are paying for the K1000 and the like.
>
> The K1000 was my first serious camera 20 years ago. Were they really that
> good ?
>
> I always thought they were pretty basic. I had mine a couple of years and
> changed to an OM2 and thought this was a huge leap forward in terms of
> metering lens quality handling etc.
>
> I am currently using an ME which I probably think is superior, although I
> have not picked up a K1000 for many years.
>
> The real question is do I need to call up my mate who bought it off me for
> 20 quid 15 years ago and remind him it was just a long term loan and he can
> have his 20 quid back :-)
>
> regards Jez
>
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fears it is true." -J. Robert
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