The K1000 had an incredibly long run, something around 25 years. It started off as more or less a Pentax Spotmatic with a bayonet mount, in the mid-70's. It had most of the innards of the Spotmatic, and a metal body.
Over the years, to keep costs down (it was an entry-level body, don't forget), Pentax did things like source it out to off-shore manufacturers, put more and more plastic bits inside it, and make the skin plastic as well.
The one that you have that says "asahi" on it is an earlier model. The other one, that only says Pentax, and is made in China, is later. Hard to say what years they were made in, but chances are that the newer one is a bit more plasticky both inside and out, than the earlier one.
What that means in terms of reliability is hard to say. The older one may last longer, but since the other one may be, say, 15 years newer, who knows? You may notice differences between the two bodies in terms of smoothness of film advance, more solid sound during shutter release, etc. OTOH, you don't know the history of these bodies; one may have been abused, the other not, and that would tend to skew everything in terms of longevity.
In terms of features, they're both the same, AFAIK.
I'm not familiar with the specific Sigma lenses that you mention. Optically, Sigmas are usually pretty good. They went through a period where their build quality was horrendous. Apparently it's now more acceptable, but chances are that your lenses aren't that new, if they came with K1000's. So build qualtiy may be an issue.
The Pentax M 2.0 50mm is a good all-purpose "standard" lens, as Marnie already said. It will likely be sharper than either of zoom, and is lots faster, too. You'll be able to use it for many more lower light situations than either zoom. Most, entry-level SLR's sold nowadays come with a consumer-grade zoom (meaning cheap and nasty). Used to be that most entry-level SLR's came with a 50mm prime (non-zoom). Your 50mm will blow those newer consumer-grade zooms out of the water in everything except the ability to change focal lengths. It's a good lens.
As far as the Albinar stuff goes, don't know. Their lenses don't have a great repuatation. My guess is that the body is sourced from someone like Cosina, who made it for the purposes of rebadging for other manufacturers. So, your body isn't necessarily a bad one, but is likely an entry-level generic platform for hanging lenses off of. Is it a k-mount (Pentax mount)?
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: Mike <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Newbie to list now posting K1000 questions Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 23:56:17 -0400
Hi all,
Thanks for your welcomes and comments.
I recently acquired two K1000's and need to know what differences, if any, of any sort there are between them.
One is marked "Asahi Opt. Co." on the back below the wind lever. Its s/n is 8403662.
The other is doesn't mention "Asahi" marked on the bottom "Made in China." Its s/n is 6018054.
Other than the obvious cosmetic differences are there any differences in quality or anything else?
I'd also appreciate comments on the follow lenses they came with:
I've never used Sigma's. Are they any good? Major flaws or drawbacks? Same for the Pentax lens.
Sigma Zoom Master MC 35-70/3.5-4.5
Sigma DL MC 35-80/4.0-5.6
Pentax-M MC 50/1.2
Lastly, the sell threw in an Albinar body and an Albinar 50 lens. Am I correct in assuming that these are essentially junk?
Many thanks in advance.
Mike
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