Battery cover for Asahi Pentax k1000

[bighatphotography]

I bought a k1000 at a fleamarket for like $5 but it was missing the battery cover, and I cannot find one! Well I take that back, I can find one but there $20 and will take 3months to ship from taiwan. Which normally I would just be annoyed and wait the 3months, but I am going backpacking at the end of the summer and I want to play with the camera before I use it as my main camera for the trip.....

Is there a way I can jerryrig it maybe? Or find it for much cheaper and not have to wait 3months? Or am I asking to much.

 

[vintagesnaps]

3 months from Taiwain?? I don't know if you'd ever get it.

Try the Pittsburgh Camera Exchange, they did have two locations, one selling newer equipment and the other selling used/vintage. They seem to have every little odd thing you could imagine, maybe they'd have something that would work (from another similar camera of that era maybe?). I've bought a variety of odds & ends from them on ebay or thru their website.

If there is a camera swap in your area, sometimes dealers will have boxes of smaller items like lens caps, etc. It takes some scrounging thru boxes...

 

[vintagesnaps]

Or maybe you could find another nonworking K1000 being sold real cheap as a parts camera.

 

[Dave442]

I would just use it with a handheld meter. I expect your going with just one prime lens. Or if you have another camera along to pull readings from. Remember if you put on a colored filter (if shooting B&W) to adjust the external meter reading for the particular filter.

I would look for another camera before trying to find just the battery cover. To jerryrig something I would cut a piece of aluminum in a strip, snap it in and tape over it.

 

[Dave442]

And just in case you do activate the meter on that K1000 and need to adjust it:
http://www4.uwm.edu/psoa_er/manuals/cameras/K1000.pdf

 

[bighatphotography]

3 months from Taiwain?? I don't know if you'd ever get it.



Try the Pittsburgh Camera Exchange, they did have two locations, one selling newer equipment and the other selling used/vintage. They seem to have every little odd thing you could imagine, maybe they'd have something that would work (from another similar camera of that era maybe?). I've bought a variety of odds & ends from them on ebay or thru their website.

If there is a camera swap in your area, sometimes dealers will have boxes of smaller items like lens caps, etc. It takes some scrounging thru boxes...

I could take a look there. I know there is a small camera store near me, they might have one maybe.... Worth a try!

Or maybe you could find another nonworking K1000 being sold real cheap as a parts camera.

Hmm... will have to look around.

I would just use it with a handheld meter. I expect your going with just one prime lens. Or if you have another camera along to pull readings from. Remember if you put on a colored filter (if shooting B&W) to adjust the external meter reading for the particular filter.

I would look for another camera before trying to find just the battery cover. To jerryrig something I would cut a piece of aluminum in a strip, snap it in and tape over it.

Well I don't know quite what lense I want to go with. Its a backpacking trip, so I could be taking pictures of anything from bugs, to landscapes, to animals a few hundred feet away. So I haven't quite decided what I want to bring lense wise. But whatever I bring can't be too heavy/bulky.

And just in case you do activate the meter on that K1000 and need to adjust it:
http://www4.uwm.edu/psoa_er/manuals/cameras/K1000.pdf

 

[Dave442]

I had a Pentax ME Super that went on a lot of hikes and climbs. Always took the 40mm pancake lens, the light weight made up for the cramped space to focus and set aperture.

Never had much luck shooting wildlife with film, might take say ten rolls on a hike and not going to fire off two rolls of film of a deer in the woods in the evening to get one decent shot.

Probably spent more time trying to decide what type(s) of film to take over anything else. As I usually went with ASA 100 or slower film I also took along a small table-top style tripod and cable release for those morning and evening shots (something like the gorillapod) and throw in the CPL filter as well.

 

[bighatphotography]

I had a Pentax ME Super that went on a lot of hikes and climbs. Always took the 40mm pancake lens, the light weight made up for the cramped space to focus and set aperture.

Never had much luck shooting wildlife with film, might take say ten rolls on a hike and not going to fire off two rolls of film of a deer in the woods in the evening to get one decent shot.

Probably spent more time trying to decide what type(s) of film to take over anything else. As I usually went with ASA 100 or slower film I also took along a small table-top style tripod and cable release for those morning and evening shots (something like the gorillapod) and throw in the CPL filter as well.

Yea true. Thats the other thing. I love my 50mm but its so cramped!

I have come to terms that I might waste 61exposures for 1 that I am proud of.

Oh thanks for reminding me! I need to get a new cable release, I lost mine in a river...

 

[webestang64]

B covers for K1000 are on E-Bay for $12.

 

[bighatphotography]

B covers for K1000 are on E-Bay for $12.

The ones I was seeing on ebay were the wrong kind I believe... They were a lock-in type, and mine is a screw In it looks like.

 

[webestang64]

I forgot they changed it from a screw in to a lock in. I look around in the junk camera bins here at work, you never know there might be one in there.

 

[limr]

The only thing the battery runs is the meter, so no battery means you don't see the little needle move but everything else about the camera will still work (though it's still worth it to check light seals and shutter speeds.) It doesn't matter what lens you are using. Even if you have an auto lens, the auto function doesn't work on the K1000 because there's no auto focus. The camera will still operate perfectly with no battery.

I say forget about the battery and use a handheld meter (if you have a smart phone, there are plenty of light meter apps that are perfectly good for the purpose.) Or learn the Sunny 16 rule.

Seriously, the battery is not critical. Just tape some foil over the chamber if you're worried about it being exposed and start shooting!

 

[bighatphotography]

The only thing the battery runs is the meter, so no battery means you don't see the little needle move but everything else about the camera will still work (though it's still worth it to check light seals and shutter speeds.) It doesn't matter what lens you are using. Even if you have an auto lens, the auto function doesn't work on the K1000 because there's no auto focus. The camera will still operate perfectly with no battery.

I say forget about the battery and use a handheld meter (if you have a smart phone, there are plenty of light meter apps that are perfectly good for the purpose.) Or learn the Sunny 16 rule.

Seriously, the battery is not critical. Just tape some foil over the chamber if you're worried about it being exposed and start shooting!

Yea, thats why I bought the camera because its manual it makes you stop and think about the shot.

I would love to get a lightmeter but its not currently in the budget. And no I do not even own a cellphone.
(Poor student, and when I leave the house, I am with someone with a cellphone so haven't seen a purpose in spending the money)

 

[480sparky]

........... And no I do not even own a cellphone.
(Poor student, and when I leave the house, I am with someone with a cellphone so haven't seen a purpose in spending the money)

Ask around. It's fairly common for someone to upgrade and have their old phone just sitting around doing nothing. Maybe they'll gift it to you. It will still connect to a wifi and you can download an app and use it. It doesn't need cell phone service to do any of that.

 

[bighatphotography]

Ah true. Might be able to find one that someone has laying around.