Everything You Need to Know About The Pentax K1000

The Pentax K1000 is perfect for beginner photographers.

More than 3 million were sold from 1976 to 1997. They are easy to find used.

It also helps that the K1000 is very durable. This is because of how few features the camera has.

It’s fully mechanical. The shutter will fire without a battery.

A SR44, AG13, or LR44 battery is needed to power the light meter.

It uses Pentax K-mount lenses and 35mm film.

Pentax K1000 Lens Compatibility

The K1000 uses K-mount lenses.

There are many affordable primes in good condition available. See the best Pentax K1000 lenses.

Earlier M42 screw mount lenses can be used with an adapter.

Battery

The Pentax K1000 needs a SR44, AG13, LR44 or equivalent battery to power the light meter. The shutter is mechanical, so no power is required for it to operate. Exposure can be estimated by using the sunny 16 rule.

No battery grip or power winder was made for the K1000.

Camera Version

The Pentax K1000 was manufactured in 3 different countries. This shows how popular the camera was for such a long period of time.

The first cameras were Made in Japan from 1975 - 1978.

Second type were Assembled in Hong Kong from 6/1978 - 1990.

The third type switch from metal to plastic housings. They were Assembled in China from 11/1990 - 1997.

Asahi Optical Historical Club

Comparable Cameras

The K1000 often comes up in discussions about film cameras for beginners. The most common comparison will be the Canon AE-1 vs Pentax K1000. This is because both cameras sold well and have similar price points on the used market.

Specs

Shutter

The K1000 uses a horizontal focal plane shutter. Shutter speeds range from 1 second to 1/1000 of a second. There is a bulb mode.

The flash sync speed (X-sync) is 1/60 of a second. The accessory shoe has a hot shoe that is compatible with flashes that use a center fire pin to trigger.

Film

The K1000 uses 35mm film. Both color or black and white film will work. Rolls of film can be purchased with 12, 24, or 36 exposures.

Exact film emulsions are difficult to recommend because what is locally available varies so much. I would recommend Kodak Tri-X 400, Ilford HP5+, or Kodak Portra 400.

Here are instructions on how to load film into the Pentax K1000 and how to rewind and remove film from the Pentax K1000.

Viewfinder

The K1000 uses a pentaprism with a 0.88x magnification. Neither the viewfinder or focusing screen can be changed. There is no diopter correction or depth-of-field preview.

Lightmeter

TTL center-weighted light meter using a CdS diode. Metering range of 3 - 18 EV. No exposure compensation.