First a friendly reminder: At the time of writing it’s 2019. It’s not 1999. In the twenty years between something pretty dramatic happened in the world of photography. Digital happened. Photography was democratised. Film photographers abandoned their kit and its price plummeted.

A Pentax K1000 is no longer a cheap film SLR. It’s one of dozens and dozens of cheap film SLRs. Many of those are better cameras in every conceivable way. But a K1000 would still be a fantastic option if it wasn’t for the fact that people recommending it has made it overpriced even compared to much better cameras.

But wait, you say. A beginner will really benefit from an all-mechanical, no frills camera in order to understand the fundamentals of photography. So a K1000 is perfect, isn’t it? Well it was. When it was the cheapest, best camera of that type. But it isn’t anymore. There are at least two cameras that are cheaper and better mechanical SLRs than the K1000. The Olympus OM1 and the Pentax MX. These are not the only two the meet the requirements, but they are both common, well-known, and inexpensive.

Let’s start with the latter, with which I’m most familiar. The MX was introduced as a full professional system by Pentax in 1976. It has all of the identical mechanical controls of the K1000. Like the K1000, it requires batteries only to operate the light meter. But, apart from the generally lower price in 2019, it has some other advantages. Firstly it’s small. It’s very, very small.

The MX is a better camera despite being much smaller. Note also the handy shutter button lock missing on the K1000. img src: James Butler on flickr.com

Why is this even an advantage? A small camera encourages you to take it out with you because it’s no burden. The light weight and easy management with one hand make you less likely to leave it at home and have to rely on your cell-phone.

But that’s not the only advantage the MX has. It also has likely the largest viewfinder of any SLR ever made. It magnifies 97% of the frame 0.95 times. What that means is that you have a huge image through the eyepiece and, with a 50mm lens mounted, the magnification you see through the finder is almost the same as that of your own eyes. This means that you can shoot a 50mm lens with both eyes open – which can be great for anticipating a scene, especially in street photography.

It also has a more sensitive LED lightmeter that is far more visible in low light and allows you to see the shutter speed and aperture (via a tiny window in the front of the prism housing) through the viewfinder. Interchangeable focusing screens also allow you to customise your viewfinder to some extent.

Apart from that great viewfinder, it has a better loading mechanism than about any mechanical SLR and, oh yes, a self-timer too. img src: Aaron Oxborrow on flickr.com

Built for professional use, the camera is rugged as hell. I’ve been using mine since ’93 and my dad had it for ten years before that. Most of what I’ve said about the MX is also true of the Olympus OM1 – the first small-form SLR, built for professional use. The only real downside to the OM1 is that it uses an older light-meter with a match needle indicator which is more sensitive to battery type and less visible in low light. As a plus for some though, it has the shutter-speed dial readily accessible on the lens mount – so you control shutter speed, aperture, and focus along the length of the lens instead of awkwardly reaching for the shutter-speed dial on top of the camera as you do with more typical SLRs.

The Olympus OM1 is another low-priced, magic jewel of Japanese engineering. Note the shutter speed dial on the lens mount – a plus for some. img src: paul on flickr.com

So beginners, save your money and get a better camera. Old hands: things have changed since the ’90s and, instead of being a cheap reliable option, the K1000 is now overvalued and the later Chinese models at least are less reliable than many better-made, better-designed, and cheaper cameras. None of this is to say that K1000 is a bad camera in any way. It is just not the best option for beginners now that it so obviously was 20 years ago. You can do better for less money.

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