Designer by Day

Moonlighter by Night

My gear:

The K-1000 35mm SLR from venerable Pentax is built like a tank! The early Japanese models are the all metal one's. These are the K-1000's with "ASAHI" stamped above the Pentax name in front on the prism housing. The latter Chinese models included plastic body parts and don't say Asahi.

The K-1000 is totally manual; adjust the lens aperture, adjust shutter speed, make sure the light meter needle in the viewfinder is in the middle or close to it and fire away. The light meter battery is the common LR44 and will last years.

Lens choices include the famous Pentax "K" mount or "Bayonet" mount lenses. (and with the proper adapter even "M-42 Screwmount" lenses) Pentax "SMC" lenses were made for this camera. The "SMC" lenses feature excellent optics and are becoming more scarce to get. The "SMC" lenses are a bit larger at the outer ring than the more common "SMC-M" lenses. Match the K-1000 with the SMC-M 50mm F1.7 and you'll have no disappointments. A renowned lens...a fantastic combo!