K1000 prices...

[peterm1]

Speaking personally I have owned both a K1000 and Spotmatics and I prefer the latter. Even though it is widely acknowledged that they are essentially identical except for the bayonet mount I guess I just love all those screwy old screw mount lenses) . But I have noticed over the past couple of years that all the BPs (beautiful peoples) and Trendoids have taken to film based photography using classic cameras like ducks take to water. At least till something else engages their attention.
I cant tell you how many young 20 somethings see me with a Leica M8 which they take to be a film camera and come over to talk to me about their classic camera aspirations. I guess they take me for an approachable old guy. Or George Clooney or something - nah maybe not). I wont knock them for taking film photography up without really knowing much- good on them and come to think of it when I started I did not know much either. But I would imagine, given the way they all go with word of mouth (or more correctly word of Twitter) someone told someone that the K1000 is the thing to get so that's what they now all aspire to get. So the price is simple supply and demand. People want it for no better reason that people want it.

 

[css9450]

"The introductory US list price for the K1000 body with SMC Pentax 55 mm f/2 lens was $299.50. In 1983, a K1000 with SMC Pentax-M 50 mm f/2 lens listed for $220; in 1988, the body only was $210, but $290 with SMC Pentax-A 50 mm f/2; in 1993, the body only was $263. The body was priced at $315 in 1994 and remained there until discontinued. Note that SLRs usually sold for 30 to 40 percent below list price."

Mine was from 1979. We probably got a good deal.... Knowing my dad, we probably went to every store in Chicago looking for whichever one which had it for two dollars cheaper. I needed it in a hurry because I was in H.S. and taking a photography class, and the 1961-vintage Minolta SR1 I was using jammed and was deemed to be unfixable.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

I saw Kylie Jenner on Jimmy Fallon sporting a late Contax rangefinder, and Jimmy questioned her about it, and she went all geek about it. Not just a pretty face...

 

[Timmyjoe]

I cant tell you how many young 20 somethings see me with a Leica M8 which they take to be a film camera and come over to talk to me about their classic camera aspirations.

Funny you mention that. Had a chrome M8 and young folks used to regularly say, "You're shooting an old film camera, that's so cool." and I'd just smile.

Best,
-Tim

PS: I remember in the mid-70's many of the folks I hung around with were going thru the photography phase, and there were half a dozen of us with Canon TX cameras and three friends with Pentax K1000 cameras. There was a bit of "My camera's better than yours" thing going on. But they all were pretty much the same.

 

[jsrockit]

I saw Kylie Jenner on Jimmy Fallon sporting a late Contax rangefinder, and Jimmy questioned her about it, and she went all geek about it. Not just a pretty face...

I believe it was a Contax T2, not a rangefinder.

 

[nikon_sam]

I passed on one the other day...found it at a thrift store, the price wasn't that bad, maybe $30-$40 bucks but I have no use for it and I have the MX if I want to shoot Pentax...
My Mother in Law had a K1000 and used it until it died...I thought of getting it for her but she's using a small digital something now...

 

[ChrisPlatt]

The Pentax KM is identical to the K1000 with the addition of DOF preview and self-timer.
Pentax deleted these features to economize and allow the K1000 to sell for a little less.

All KM bodies were made in Japan; most K1000's were assembled in Hong Kong and China.
Despite additional features the Pentax KM often sells for considerably less than the K1000.

Chris

 

[Contarama]

Wonder what the price of Pentax glass is doing?

 

[ZivcoPhoto]

I just bought a nice black Spotmatic SP for $60 on the auction site from one seller and a 50mm SMC Super Takumar F1.4 in very nice shape for another $60. It is said the glass is as nice as 50mm Summilux pre ASPH. One of my friends in high school 50 years ago had one which I always liked using...until I bought my first Nikon F the following year.

 

[css9450]

The Pentax KM is identical to the K1000 with the addition of DOF preview and self-timer.
Pentax deleted these features to economize and allow the K1000 to sell for a little less.

Ha ha! Evidently the KM lacks the "gotta have it" mojo or whatever it is that drives people to the K1000.

Interesting especially considering they made the K1000 for a very long time. I bet it outsold the KM by a wide margin. Triple? Ten-to-one? No idea...

 

[dmr]

most K1000's were assembled in Hong Kong and China.

Mine is definitely from Japan. I've seen some later ones and they do have a cheaper feel to them.

Mine is also a bit wonky, and I recently picked up both a working MX and MG for the proverbial song and dance so I'm holding off getting it serviced. It was my main camera for quite a few years.

 

[ZivcoPhoto]

Just realized after a little bit of research that the 50mm Super-Takumar i just purchased is the highly desired 8 element version. Always nice to find out you did well after the fact.

 

[Dwig]

Ha ha! Evidently the KM lacks the "gotta have it" mojo or whatever it is that drives people to the K1000.

Interesting especially considering they made the K1000 for a very long time. I bet it outsold the KM by a wide margin. Triple? Ten-to-one? No idea...

Asahi's Pentax K series was a marketing whoops; too little too late. The KM was an excellent version of the Spotmatic descending from the Spotmatic F, but was exactly what the market would have wanted 5 years earlier. The KM low price companion, the K1000, was a stripped down version just as the SP1000 was a stripped down Spotmatic.

It didn't take Asahi long to give birth to the M series, replacing the K-series with an up-to-date line that was both small and accepted the then popular "motor winder" type of motor drive. They left the entry level model a K-series model, the K1000, which became every more cheaply made over the years.

Hence, the much superior KM is rather rare and virtually unknown to the web pundants that talk up the K1000's "hipness".