From: Michel Carr?re-G?e
Seen on Ebay, this Pentax K1000: red markings on body and lens.
> A fake or a commemorative series?
> # 160303122400
This is visible:
* The top of the camera has 3 nice black plastic coverings.
* A''Made in Japan''label is on the back of the body.
* On top of the camera, there are engravings of
PENTAX'''',''ASAHI''''''''K1000 ASAHI OPT. CO.''And the Asahi Co.
Emblem. All of these engravings are red.
* The camera has an 55mm f2 RED Pentax SMC.
But it probably does not:
* The camera has a shutter low vibration and highly responsive light meter.
* The red SMC engraving is different from the white engraving because
the red has more coating layers.
Here is not certain:
* The camera has an additional double flash X terminal.
* He bought this camera at a show organized by Asahi Co. Ltd..
Michel
I suspect this is just a gussied up version of the K1000, perhaps one
prettied up for the Japanese home market to celebrate some anniversary.
Or not.
Looking at it the only differences I see from my own K1000 SE are:
*Red paint/ink in the K1000 and Asahi logo. That wouldn't be too hard to
reproduce ... or it may be original. The "K1000" looks pretty worn
though. Yet the metal looks extra polished. My K1000 has seen some hard
usage, but there's no wear in color filling the letters.
And why doesn't the red letter scheme follow through on the front of the
penta-prism? Looks like there's NO color fill at all in the "ASAHI PENTAX".
*Black leatherette instead of reddish-brown. From the original posting,
that's what I first thought the "Red" would refer to. The K1000 SE was
available with different colored leatherette, although the only two
colors I've ever seen are black and reddish-brown.
*Intact JCII label - located where the letters SE are engraved on mine.
That is a rarity. They wear off if you actually USE the camera.
That JCII looks like it might be engraved instead of a label, which
might account for it being so pristine. But again, if it is engraved,
why isn't it red lettered as well?
*Black paste-on panels on the penta-prism cover. Wallpaper/Contact Paper.
*Plastic cap over the X-terminal. There's no "additional double X flash
terminal" visible in the photos - every K1000 I've ever seen has that
X-terminal on the front, and all had a plastic cap when they came out of
the box.
*Mushroom head screw in the cable release socket atop the shutter button.
That screw could have been an accessory, or it might just be a screw
someone found would fit nicely in there. I think it might be a generic
after-market accessory like Stofen Omnibounce for flash.
Don't all cable release sockets use a standardized thread?
I'd say it's a genuine K1000, but it's not some ultra rare special edition.
Although I don't doubt the seller came into possession exactly as
described; i.e. he bought it second hand from a friend who told him the
story about it being a special model from an Asahi Ltd organized camera
show.
BUT, I DO HAVE ONE RANT RESULTING FROM THIS!
I looked at a lot of K1000s on eBay comparing to this one and mine and
one thing struck me.
If you're selling a camera on eBay, post photos of the camera that are
IN FOCUS for crying out loud!
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