K1000 survey

So, I take the 35mm forum off of 'ignore', and this is the first thread that pops up

I was told I had to buy a 35mm camera for a college photography course (I'd been using 4x5 exclusively for years), so I picked up a K1000 just because it was cheap...and it's still grinding out images 20 years later. It aint pretty, but it keeps on going no matter what I've done to it.

On a 6 month sea kayaking trip along BC's coast our "waterproof" 35mm automatic rangefinder camera died one week into the trip, but the K1000 kept going no matter what...the flash hot shoe is still rusted 15 years later. It's now the family colour snap shot camera and has been battery-less for years now, but it keeps going and going and going...

As an aside; at 4 years old our daughter could take pictures with it that had perfectly horizontal horizons

Murray

I started off with a hand-me-down K1000 from my mom. A few years later, before I really got into photography, I got a Canon SLR. Now my sister has the K1000, and primarily I use one of my 3 rangefinders.

I also drive an old VW Beetle.

I've never owned one, but I used to teach on university owned ones for years. A great camera for that role.

David.

Mine got swiped! It was a swell camera too! I eventually replaced it with a Nikon F-2

I was looking at those F2's when I acquired my Nikkormat FT3. It's actually a pretty nice camera for the money, but I like the K a little better cause of size.

I'm darkroom tech at a small college with a rental fleet of K1000s. I've five Spotties I use for knock about street shooters. Low light and aging eyes are the only flies in the ointment.