The Pentax K1000 single-lens reflex camera is a workhorse that many people still use because of its simplicity and ruggedness. Introduced in 1976, it was the last Pentax made in the older, larger frame. Other SLR cameras at the time were becoming smaller and lighter, and many companies, including Pentax, began adding more electronics. The only electronic component in the K1000 is the light meter, and this is the only thing you need a battery for. The camera will operate without batteries. The K1000 is a great training camera because it can teach you use shutter speeds, aperture settings and manually focus.
Instructions
1. Take a lot of rolls of 35 mm film with you and get outdoors. Go some place you haven't been before and shoot a lot of photos quickly. You will go through film rapidly this way, but don't worry about the end result yet. Concentrate on the mechanics of being a photographer. Select your image, focus the lens, and use the meter to set your aperture and shutter speeds as quickly as possible. This will give you more confidence with the camera itself. It also will help you develop your image capturing judgment because after you have taken a lot of photos in different lighting circumstances, you will begin to remember approximately what the exposure should be. In other words, if you shoot a lot of outdoor photos in bright sunlight, you will discover you need a small aperture, meaning a higher F number on your lens, usually f/11 or f/22. You also will discover you need a fast shutter speed, usually 1/1000th of a second. When you shoot in less light you will learn to compensate by opening up the aperture and notching down the shutter speeds.
2. Experiment with various types of film. If you normally shoot with ISO 100 color film, try shooting with other speeds such as ISO 400, ISO 800 or ISO 1600. The higher the number, the faster the film, meaning it captures light more quickly. These higher speed films sometimes add grain to your images, but they will allow you to shoot with less light. So, you might get a better image in the dying sunlight of a sunset than you normally would. Try other film, too. Shoot in black and white. You can develop this yourself or have it processed at a photo lab. If you do not have a photo lab near you, several film companies manufacture film that produces black and white images but can be processed in color chemicals at your local drug store or department store. Black and white images often take a little more composition because, for example, if you are shooting a flower garden, the colors will appear in shades of gray. You still can compose dramatic images, but using black and white film helps you compose images with more thought.
3. Use different lenses. One of the advantages of using an SLR such as the Pentax K1000 is you can acquire wide-angle, telephoto and special-purpose lenses. Because most of these now are outdated by digital camera lenses, you often can get them at a low price. Use a wide-angle lens to capture more of the periphery of your image, but don't just stop there. Turn your K1000 vertically with a wide-angle lens for a different perspective. Use telephoto lenses to bring the action closer to you without the need to move. Get a macro-focus lens to take extreme close-ups of simple objects such as a flower or your own thumb. Try different things. Also, force yourself to compose and shoot images quickly, then change lenses quickly to capture different type images of the same subject. This will improve your mind's eye vision of your image composition as well as teach you shoot faster.
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