First Roll From The K1000

I finished my first roll I shot with the K1000! Didn't think I would ever finish that roll.

I am really impressed. I just knew I was going to blow a bunch of images with over or under exposures. I also wasn't sure if the flash was going to work properly. It's compatible with the Pentax, but it is an old flash. I am happy to report that it works just fine! :-)

So here they are.

The first shot is of my son. He was sitting across the room from me, and I used the 80-200mm lens. 200mm, f4, with the flash. I was surprised it came out as well as it did.

Second shot is of my favorite subject. She was sitting in the sun, enjoying the warm weather as she read the mail. 80-200mm lens used here as well. F11 @ 1000th of a second. You know what? That sunny f16 rule really works! Not that I doubted it mind you... ;-)

Third shot is of the lovely Dawn sparring with Cinder Block. His name is Ken and he's the biggest guy in the Dojo. If you look closely, you'll see that Dawn has his foot and is pounding his head!

Fourth shot is Dawn again, this time sparring with a Black Belt. Same thing, she's caught his leg and is going in for the kill. That's my girl!!!!

The K1000 is a great camera! I purchased my first K1000 back in '95. I was thinking Nikon N8008 or something like that when I read a review of SLR's for prospective purchasers in one of the photography magazines. The last camera reviewed was the K1000 and the reviewer said, "Now if you really want to learn photography, this is the one you want to get." I bought mine from Service Merchandise with my brand new credit card and been happily shooting with it ever since. It's great looking, has fine optics, and a price that I could afford! Based upon my experience with the K1000, when I moved to medium format back in 2000, I went with the Pentax 67II which was described in a review as "the K1000 of medium format."

I do own a Nikon now (F3hp) which, truthfully, is a better camera than the K1000 (it has aperature priority and a more accurate shutter) and a Toyo-View 4x5 field camera. But it all started with the K1000!

Thomas

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Originally Posted by tgtaylor7

The K1000 is a great camera! I purchased my first K1000 back in '95. I was thinking Nikon N8008 or something like that when I read a review of SLR's for prospective purchasers in one of the photography magazines. The last camera reviewed was the K1000 and the reviewer said, "Now if you really want to learn photography, this is the one you want to get." I bought mine from Service Merchandise with my brand new credit card and been happily shooting with it ever since. It's great looking, has fine optics, and a price that I could afford! Based upon my experience with the K1000, when I moved to medium format back in 2000, I went with the Pentax 67II which was described in a review as "the K1000 of medium format."

I do own a Nikon now (F3hp) which, truthfully, is a better camera than the K1000 (it has aperature priority and a more accurate shutter) and a Toyo-View 4x5 field camera. But it all started with the K1000!

Thomas

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Welcome to PR! Seems nearly everyone has or had a K1000. And everyone has heard of it. Ironically, when I decided to go ahead and get a 35mm SLR, my wife told me "If you want to learn photography, get a K1000". That is a quote. I passed on it then because I knew what I wanted to do in photography, and I knew I would outgrow a K1000 fairly quickly. The N80 gave me everything I wanted, and I knew I wouldn't outgrow it.

In an ironic twist, astro-photography, one of the reasons I got the N80, is what made me decide to get the K1000. The shutter of the N80 is battery dependant, and wasn't suited for those looooong night exposures. So I got the K1000, and I've been very pleased with it.

While I'm a Nikon shooter, and it would have been nice to have a Nikon manual, the K1000 was more economical and practical. I haven't regretted it.

Thanks for the comments.

I always smile when I see images like this,,,with all the hoopla and endless debate about Nikon vs Canon, digital vs film, megapixels, blah,blah...people tend to forget that images EVERY BIT AS GOOD as those taken with the latest-greatest can be had with the mechanical, center-weighted gems like the K1000, FM2n, the Leicas, etc. Thanks for posting these. :-)

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Originally Posted by Charles Hess

I always smile when I see images like this,,,with all the hoopla and endless debate about Nikon vs Canon, digital vs film, megapixels, blah,blah...people tend to forget that images EVERY BIT AS GOOD as those taken with the latest-greatest can be had with the mechanical, center-weighted gems like the K1000, FM2n, the Leicas, etc. Thanks for posting these. :-)

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That first roll has made me smile too! I am very pleased with it.

I found out that it is much easier taking action shots with the N80. The K1000 has a fairly heavy shutter release, and you have to manually focus it. But it can be done! In fact, Dawn thought the sparring photo's taken with the K1000 were better than those I took with the N80! I don't know about that, but I am VERY pleased with how well they turned out.

If you haven't looked at it yet, all the shots I posted in "Photography Jeaporday Anyone" were taken with the K1000 as well.

I have definitely gained a new appreciation for the capabilities of a good manual camera. It definitely drives home the point that it is the person behind the camera that matters - much more so than the brand or model of camera! Thank for the comments. They are always appreciated!

Nice shots!

I'm really impressed with the sparring shots! I'm trying to remember the order of belts..green...about half way up the chain isn't it? She looks like aggressiveness isn't a problem! :) I laughed at the last picture, seeing how/where the black belt is defending himself!

You're definitely showing that it's the photographer, not the equipment!!

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Originally Posted by I_Fly

Nice shots!

I'm really impressed with the sparring shots! I'm trying to remember the order of belts..green...about half way up the chain isn't it? She looks like aggressiveness isn't a problem! :) I laughed at the last picture, seeing how/where the black belt is defending himself!

You're definitely showing that it's the photographer, not the equipment!!

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OK, stop it, you're going to make my head swell! :-O

Dawn is referred to as the "Queen Of Pain" in our Dojo! She loves self defense. Even the biggest guys in the class roll their eyes and make faces when they have to go up against her. They know it's going to hurt!

Yes, green is about half way there. In our system, it is White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, Red (the equivalent of Brown), and Black. We are going to Hampton Virginia on April 3rd for a tournament, and we have testing for our next belts on April 17th.

It was kinda funny watching them spar. Brian (the black belt) was taking it easy on her, but if she got a hold of his leg or foot, she usually took him down. Note to everyone here: Do Not Trifle With The Lovely And Gracious Dawn! :-)

As I mentioned, shooting action shots with a fully manual camera is more of a challenge, but it can be done.

Thanks for the comments my friend!