Asahi Pentax K1000 Film Camera Review

Asahi Pentax K1000 is one of the most popular vintage film SLRs ever made. Known for its reliability and minimal, no-frills design that works well in all settings, this camera is still used in classrooms today with its numerous K-mount lens options.

Below, we’ll examine why this camera is so beloved by photography nerds everywhere and its place in the 2024 world that has just got a brand new film camera from Pentax.

In this review: A brief history of Asahi Pentax K1000 film cameras. Technical specifications. Build quality. Design and ergonomics. SMC Pentax-A 𝒇1.7 50mm lens. Pentax K-Mount lenses. How much does a K1000 cost, and where to find one. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

A brief history of Asahi Pentax K1000 film cameras.

For Pentax, K1000 was an unexpected hit. It was introduced in 1976 as a no-frills SLR that sold with a kit 55mm SMC Pentax 𝒇2.0 lens for $299 (which in today’s dollars would be $1,650). It was a midrange/lower-end alternative to the more complete Pentax KM that sold for $395 (would be $2,180 in 2024).

However, the KM’s self-timer, DOF preview, and a slightly higher viewfinder coverage aren’t what the Pentax’ customers wanted. Instead, they latched on to K1000’s simple, rugged, and relatively compact design that worked with all the new lenses — and didn’t let go until 1997. That’s 21 years in production — with over three million copies sold!

Few cameras got to be so popular for so long. The only ones that come to mind are the Canon AE-1 and Canon AE-1 Program, the most popular film SLRs ever made.

Of course, the continued K1000 popularity had to be sustained with something to last this long. For Pentax that meant dropping the price every couple of years. In 1983, those cameras sold for $220 — a huge discount compared to the $299 at launch. In 1988, they sold for $290 with the faster 50mm 𝒇1.7 SMC Pentax-A lens (the version reviewed in this article) — which is $769 in today’s dollars — nearly half of what the K1000 kit cost at launch.

To keep the prices low, Pentax shifted the production of their cameras from Japan first to Hong Kong in 1978 and then to China in 1990. While the original K1000s were mostly made from brass and aluminum (including the gear and internal components), the Chinese-made versions had plastic top and bottom plates as well as downgraded internals. You could tell that the Pentax team was a little embarrassed by these changes as they removed the “ASAHI” text from the face of the downgraded cameras in an attempt to de-emphasize their involvement.

If you’re looking for the early Japanese-made K1000, look for “Asahi Opt. Co. Japan” engraved on the back of the top cover. For this review, I’m testing the Hong Kong version, which still features all-metal construction.

✪ Note: Asahi Optical Corporation (旭光学工業株式会社), found in 1919, is the original name for the brand known today as Pentax. They changed their name to reflect the popularity of their SLR cameras (which used a pentaprism with a single-lens reflex system). Today, Pentax is a part of Ricoh Imaging.

Technical specifications.

As its name implies, Pentax K1000’s top shutter speed is 1/1000s; the slowest is 1s + bulb. It uses a horizontal travel, rubberized silk cloth focal-plane shutter mechanism. When cocked, a tiny orange mark in the small circle next to the film winder indicates its readiness.

K1000 needs no batteries to work at all shutter speeds. But if you want a galvanometer needle inside the viewfinder to help guide your exposures (simply change your shutter/aperture settings until it’s centred vertically), you’ll need a single LR44 “button” battery. The battery should last you a few months; its power will be drawn at all times until you place a lens cap on.

The built-in through-the-lens light meter averages the entire scene and is coupled to the lens aperture.

The viewfinder on this camera has a 0.88x magnification factor with a 50mm lens and 91% coverage. This means that with a kit lens, the scene will appear a little smaller, while the final image will be slightly wider than what you see in the finder.

K1000 weighs 620g/22oz (720g with kit lens) and measures 91mm × 143mm × 48mm (3.6” × 5.6” × 1.9”).

For flash use, there’s hot shoe and PCI flash sync port. The flash sync speeds on K1000 are 1/60s and slower.

Build quality.

K1000 is a tank. This camera is incredibly sturdy, as you’d expect from a gadget made almost entirely out of metal. The only non-metal parts on this SLR that I noticed are the black spacer below the hot shoe, the plastic grip on the winder lever, and the leatherette.

An all-metal body doesn’t necessarily imply quality. Many Soviet film cameras, like FED-5, are notorious for badly machined and sloppily-assembled components. That isn’t the case with K-1000. This Japanese SLR is made well, on par with other minimalist camera icons like the Olympus OM-1.

At the same time, the K1000 is not a premium design jewel like the Voightländer Vitessa A. It’s practical, but it likely won’t turn heads or feel in hands like a Leica.

Design and ergonomics.

At 620g, K1000 is on a heavy side when it comes to 35mm bodies. Mid-century SLRs could certainly get heavier; still, you’ll notice this camera’s heft whether you carry it on your shoulder, neck, or with a wrist strap.

Being a basic SLR, it won’t keep the film winder away from the body for quicker operation like the Canon’s AE-series or Bessa L — which doubles that feature as a power switch.

K1000 won’t hold your hand or automate anything other than give you some guidance for exposures. It’s simple, practical, and all you really need to make good photos in any setting. In fact, I didn’t make much use of the meter with mine — instead, I relied on the Sunny 16 rule to make accurate exposures.

K1000’s viewfinder is reasonably sized and welcoming — but it may be a little small if you’re shooting with glasses on. It’s reasonably bright with the kit 𝒇1.7 lens — but there’s no DOF preview. This means that you’ll see the scene through the lens’ aperture wide-open at all times and there’s no way to see how a smaller aperture will affect background separation. Well, almost:

A little-known K1000 DOF preview hack is to press the release button next to the lens and twist it a couple of degrees as if you’re about to remove it. The lens will disconnect from the camera’s mechanical coupling, and you’ll be able to preview the background separation effects for your aperture. Don’t forget to lock the lens back after you’re done!

The kit lens comes with a DOF calculator — helpful when zone focusing and, perhaps, a more practical way to figure out where the background separation may happen.

Focusing with K1000 isn’t hard. Despite not having an additional aid around the split-prism circle, it works like most SLRs; I’d argue the simplified viewfinder view makes the task a little simpler.

The shutter button is well-balanced, and so is the shutter curtain. I was able to shoot this camera at 1/30s with minimal or no motion blur (via the 50mm lens). It also accepts a remote/bulb trigger, which I used to take macro shots, and Aurora borealis, which unexpectedly showed up near Vancouver (where I live).

Loading film into K1000 is difficult. The leader tends to pop out of the spool unless you carefully advance it one or two frames with the back open before closing and advancing two more frames. This is the only part of the camera I wish Pentax had improved.

SMC Pentax-A 𝒇1.7 50mm lens.

SMC Pentax-A is a kit lens that comes with my version of the Pentax K1000, and it is indeed quite good (optically). It’s sharp, renders medium-contrast, and well-corrected for chromatic aberrations, and shows almost no barrel distortion.

It can focus as close as 45cm/1.6” and has an aperture range of 𝒇1.7-22.

I’ve noticed some flaring with Pentax-A when shooting against the sun, which I’d say is expected with the vast majority of photographic glass.

You may find an “A” mark on yours, which is engaged by pressing the tiny black button and rotating the aperture ring. Not useful with K1000, but other Pentax cameras with exposure automation can use that.

Another handy bit with the lens is an infrared focus mark. Whereas the main red pointer is for regular film, a smaller red mark to the left of it should be used for monochrome (not colour) infrared film.

Unfortunately, the build quality of this lens doesn’t match the K1000’s. Pentax-A’s are notorious for sticky plastic aperture rings that feel brittle and cheap. Mine makes rotating past 𝒇8 very difficult.

The bottom line is that this lens, while optically good, is lacking in the same area that K1000s excel: reliability. I’m glad the camera comes with one, but I wouldn’t recommend buying the lens by itself.

Pentax K-Mount lenses.

Thankfully, there are hundreds of options when it comes to K1000 glass. You can even get an adapter for earlier m42 lenses, although that means you’ll have to use stop-down metering (i.e., for your viewfinder to be bright, you’ll need to focus at your lens’ max aperture and then stop it down to make an accurate exposure).

Indeed, the choice is overwhelming. If you’re looking for a K1000 lens, I recommend deciding what focal length you want and the max aperture you need — and then narrowing down by your budget.

I used my K1000 for a lot of product photography on this website and elsewhere, which called for a macro. I picked a 100mm SMC Pentax-M with a max aperture of 𝒇4.0 and a 1:1 magnification factor. The build quality of this lens is significantly better than the kit Pentax-A 𝒇1.7. I’ll talk more about it in the future review, as I think it deserves it. Subscribe if you’d like a reminder once I publish it.

How much does a K1000 cost, and where to find one.

Pentax K1000 cameras currently sell for $100-300, depending on condition and seller. The cheapest copy isn’t always the best option, even if this camera is considered reliable. You can feel safer picking something from the mid-range around $200 or paying a little extra for tested cameras with a good return policy. Better yet, check out The Vintage Film Camera Buying Guide before you commit to a purchase.

❤ By the way: Please consider making your Asahi Pentax K1000 Film Camera purchase using this link so that this website may get a small percentage of that sale — at no extra charge for you — thanks!