This Pentax K1000 needs some disassembly to repair the light meter. This video is a good basic repair walk through showing how to remove the top and bottom covers.
Can't tell you how many things I have fixed just by taking them apart and finding something broken. One thing I was not able to fix was a dishwasher timer with 16 sets of points all stacked and crimped together. Happy to see you back.
Really enjoyed this video. Your channel has always been one of my favourites since you did the "Hack a week" project. I did enjoy the motorcycle builds. I particularly liked the electronics and arduino stuff. And the musical instrument restores and the loom ones. Well almost all of your videos really. Best wishes for the coming year. I did 6th grade in the US in 75-6 and I also have a Pentax K and an MX still up in the loft.
Wow, nice video. I got the cheap and easy fix by just taking off the bottom and soldering the broken lead back on & UV glue just to make sure. It was a 20 minute fix. thanks
Very helpful video, thank you. I do kind of wish you had checked the battery holder wires first, as that was my problem as well. Oh well, it was a learning experience. 🙂
Love this video. Went to my usual camera repair guy and told him the issue and he said there's no point in fixing the light meter. Which I was super deflated about. But my Pentax K1000 was given to me by my uncle when I was the same age as him when he started film photography when he bought the camera in the 80s. I wouldn't feel confident to take it apart like you have here but wondering how I can repair it so I can start using it again !
I just find the possibility of fixing it intriguing. I have my dad's k1000 and I don't mind using a light meter app with it. I occasionally use a few older manual cameras that don't have any built-in meters at all.
I have a k1000 and also a Kodak brownie camera that takes 620 film. Film Photography Project does actually sell respooled 120 film for 620 cameras and they also manufacture and their own 620 spools. The light meter needle in my Pentax moves but it's not accurate. I had severely underexposed roll of film and I did make sure the film speed selector matched the the film I was using.
Thanks for this video, the light meter on my KM isn’t working, I’ll start by opening the bottom, it looks less scary there. What camera, lens and microphone do you record your videos with? It’s all so clear!
Good fixing! I've seen that sort of camera damage before, corroded battery related. I have a classic 35mm Konica with a highly rated lens awaiting repair, in fact. So your former Air Force brother, did he take pictures while serving? Anything cool? Has he scanned any negatives, and made them available for viewing? I would be interested in seeing them. Especially 50's and 60's era. Here in SoCal where I live, I look for vintage negatives and slides at estate sales. Some finds from that era have been spectacular!
Most things my brother photographed were classified and he doesn't have that stuff. He photographed a lot of stuff from the belly of a C130. He also had the gruesome task of photographing crash sites and body parts. After his time in the Air Force he worked for Goodyear Aerospace for a while doing high speed film photography of chicken carcasses fired at cockpit windshields at mach 2! Fun stuff. :)
nice, I just picked up a K1000 for $30 and was hoping to fix the light meter. Funny that you're in Asheville, I lived there for 15 years. My buddy Micah Mackenzie is a photographer there, wonder if you know him. Take care
I have an Spotmatic SP too, it works well except the light meter, it only reads well at the bulb position, i can adjust the needle with the aperture ring, but when i change the speeds it goes down, any idea or sugestion? Thanks in advance.
I have one of these. The light meter is broken, and I can see a dead bug in the viewfinder. Shame you don't show the actual repair otherwise very informative, thanks
Well believe it and no, it's not scratched. I'm on a learning curve here. I realized a better way to remove it after this work. Sometimes that's how learning new things works. There's not a lot of documentation out there on these but since then I found this: pentax-manuals.com/manuals/service/servicemanuals.htm
The K1000, as you say, is a great workhorse. No frills or gimmicks. I have 3 of those, and my Pentax prime lenses are amongst the best I've used. Still a good bargain camera in 2023, but they're creeping up in price, soooo....................................
I will replace the battery and if it doesn't work, well, it will go into my historical camera archive. It worked before I changed the roll of film and then it sat for almost a year without use, so, I am hoping the battery died.
