My first SLR camera…

[Nhien Lao]

Here is what I found two days ago in a junk shop. It is a Pentax SLR SP1000 with a 55mm lens in beautiful condition. It is no rarity. Nor is it expensive; and yet to me it is truly a beautiful piece of equipment when holding and beholding. Until I was old enough to be given the chance to use my parent’s camera, this kind of camera was already left gathering dust on the shelf. So, my experience with film camera, and in this case a SLR one, is very limited. I have been using mostly point-and-shoot digital cameras and recently upgrading to DSLR (cheers if you are also a Nikon fan)

I would like to ask a few questions. Please apologize if they are too basic and silly, but honestly I have no knowledge about them. What is the SW button on the side of the camera for? What do the letters “FP” and “X” on the same side with the SW button mean? Also, I have tried to fire the shutter up to 36 to test it, how can I reset it to 0 again? Do I have to get a roll of film to set it back to 0? Please see some attached pictures so that you can know the position of the button and letters I am asking. Thanks.

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[Paul Lange]

Welcome to RPF Nhien.

Other than saying that when you open the back the film counter resets to zero I can't help much. Will say that the photos of the camera are nicely done, well lit too. I imagine that someone else will be able to help with the other questions. It does look like FP and X are something to do with either external flash or metering.

It's not enforced but it is customary to introduce yourself at some point early on. Tell us a bit more about yourself Nhien and what sort of photography you are in to. I for one would like to see some more of your photographs.

 

[Pete Askew]

Welcome to RPF Nhien. Don't worry about asking about asking silly questions, there will always be someone who can help I'm sure. And, as you will find, RPF is a friendly place. I'm sure you'll enjoy it here.

And what a lovely find. You will find a manual for the camera here - Pentax SP1000 instruction manual, user manual, free PFD camera manuals. I had a quick look as I don't know this camera really and the SW switch turns the light meter on. They recommend to turn it on before taking a picture, using the meter, and then turning it off again after (I guess it is OK to leave it on for a while but not so long that it exhausts the battery). The X and FB sockets are for connecting an electronic flash or a flash bulb to. You would probably be using electronic flash and so would use the X socket. The reason that there are two is that electronic flash is essentially instantaneous and so you want to fire the flash when the shutter is fully open (you can use a maximum shutter speed of 1/60s when using electronic flash with this camera). In contrast, a flash bulb takes time to reach maximum intensity and so you 'ignite' them when the shutter is just opening such that they reach maximum brightness during the time that the shutter is open.

As for the frame counter, this will reset to zero when you open the back of the camera. You might need to press the little film release button on the underside of the camera as well though. The normal procedure once you have finished a film is to press that button and then use the rewind crank on the top left side of the camera to wind the film back into its canister (ie when the rewind action becomes more slack). You then lift the rewind crank up to open the back. The frame counter should now reset to below 1.

Thanks for posting such nice shots of this interesting camera and good luck with it. I look forward to seeing the results!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Welcome, Nhien. Nice shots of a nice camera. I have an Asahi Pentax K1000, which similar but even more manual. I managed to get a couple of good shots out of it before moving over to digital, if only because developing, printing and scanning proved so expensive for me. But lately I've been thinking more about film, and will be doing some reels again.

You'll find lots of help and advice here, and encouragement too. I look forward to seeing some of your shots.

 

[Brian Moore]

Pete answered it all.

Nhien,...sorry if you know this already, but I thought Id mention the following just in case: you need to adjust the ASA setting for the film you are using. You're first photo shows a nice shot of the shutter speed dial with ASA setting at 400. You adjust it by pulling the knurled ring up and then turning it. (If you don't pull the knurled ring up you'll simply be changing the shutter speed.) Also, note the "x" next to the "60" on the shutter speed dial. That is a prompt for when you use x flash as Pete mentioned above.

Welcome to RPF.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Nhien, welcome!
lovely find!
that lens is a cracker... I have one, its a keeper!!

 

[David Mitchell]

I like that its like a cleaner version of the K1000, you will have a lot of fun with that I think, you have all the settings you will ever really need unlike the massive number of settings on a modern DSLR. I would check out some guides on youtube (like 'theartofphotography's channel) for some basic looks into film photography. My mate has recently got into film cameras, ive just lent him my Fujica ST605n, which is along the same vein as your camera in that its fully manual with an inbuilt light meter.

I would take the camera out somewhere and simply look through the viewfinder and change some of the lens and shutter speed settings and see what it does with the exposure, my mate learnt quite a bit with just playing with the settings to find out what does what and how the exposure changes.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

What a super looking camera - welcome on board Nhien

 

[Nhien Lao]

Welcome to RPF Nhien.

Other than saying that when you open the back the film counter resets to zero I can't help much. Will say that the photos of the camera are nicely done, well lit too. I imagine that someone else will be able to help with the other questions. It does look like FP and X are something to do with either external flash or metering.

It's not enforced but it is customary to introduce yourself at some point early on. Tell us a bit more about yourself Nhien and what sort of photography you are in to. I for one would like to see some more of your photographs.

Thanks Paul. Will do the intro soon. Opening the back and close it do reset the frame counter to 0. Very straightforward. Based on my name, can anyone guess what my national heritage is?

 

[Nhien Lao]

Welcome to RPF Nhien. Don't worry about asking about asking silly questions, there will always be someone who can help I'm sure. And, as you will find, RPF is a friendly place. I'm sure you'll enjoy it here.

And what a lovely find. You will find a manual for the camera here - Pentax SP1000 instruction manual, user manual, free PFD camera manuals. I had a quick look as I don't know this camera really and the SW switch turns the light meter on. They recommend to turn it on before taking a picture, using the meter, and then turning it off again after (I guess it is OK to leave it on for a while but not so long that it exhausts the battery). The X and FB sockets are for connecting an electronic flash or a flash bulb to. You would probably be using electronic flash and so would use the X socket. The reason that there are two is that electronic flash is essentially instantaneous and so you want to fire the flash when the shutter is fully open (you can use a maximum shutter speed of 1/60s when using electronic flash with this camera). In contrast, a flash bulb takes time to reach maximum intensity and so you 'ignite' them when the shutter is just opening such that they reach maximum brightness during the time that the shutter is open.

As for the frame counter, this will reset to zero when you open the back of the camera. You might need to press the little film release button on the underside of the camera as well though. The normal procedure once you have finished a film is to press that button and then use the rewind crank on the top left side of the camera to wind the film back into its canister (ie when the rewind action becomes more slack). You then lift the rewind crank up to open the back. The frame counter should now reset to below 1.

Thanks for posting such nice shots of this interesting camera and good luck with it. I look forward to seeing the results!

Thanks for your very informative reply. The manual is awesome. I was actually planning to ask about the little button on the underside of the camera but have not had time, but you already answer that. Will get a roll of film soon to see how the pictures are.

In the link to the manual that you provided, it shows the name “Honeywell Pentax”, not “Asahi Pentax” like on my camera. I know they are the same model SP1000 but why are there 2 names (or are there more) like that? Is it because at the time Pentax was the main manufacturer and the 2 other small companies Honeywell and Asashi bought the main camera body from Pentax. Or are “Honeywell” and “Asahi” just the name of product lines from Pentax?

- - - Updated - - -

Welcome, Nhien. Nice shots of a nice camera. I have an Asahi Pentax K1000, which similar but even more manual. I managed to get a couple of good shots out of it before moving over to digital, if only because developing, printing and scanning proved so expensive for me. But lately I've been thinking more about film, and will be doing some reels again.

You'll find lots of help and advice here, and encouragement too. I look forward to seeing some of your shots.

Thanks Rob. I have just looked over the K1000, and it looks almost identical to my SP1000, except it has a hot shoe. I am also lukewarm in using film camera because the cost of buying film and developing it. Then, if I want to share the pictures online, I have to scan them, quite time-consuming a process. But I will try to get a few rolls of film to try with my SP1000 soon.

 

[Nhien Lao]

Nhien, welcome!
lovely find!
that lens is a cracker... I have one, its a keeper!!

I love the lens, too. It can be turned very smoothly and has a nice cold metal feeling when holding. The built quality is much better than some entry-level Nikon DX lenses I have at the moment.

- - - Updated - - -

I like that its like a cleaner version of the K1000, you will have a lot of fun with that I think, you have all the settings you will ever really need unlike the massive number of settings on a modern DSLR. I would check out some guides on youtube (like 'theartofphotography's channel) for some basic looks into film photography. My mate has recently got into film cameras, ive just lent him my Fujica ST605n, which is along the same vein as your camera in that its fully manual with an inbuilt light meter.

I would take the camera out somewhere and simply look through the viewfinder and change some of the lens and shutter speed settings and see what it does with the exposure, my mate learnt quite a bit with just playing with the settings to find out what does what and how the exposure changes.

I will get a roll of film soon to try out this camera.

 

[Nhien Lao]

What a super looking camera - welcome on board Nhien

It took me quite a while to clean all the dust and sticky residues as it was left uncared in the junkshop. It is worth the effort, isn't it? I am glad that the camera does no have many big scratches or broken parts.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

It took me quite a while to clean all the dust and sticky residues as it was left uncared in the junkshop. It is worth the effort, isn't it? I am glad that the camera does no have many big scratches or broken parts.

Definitely worth the effort - you've done a great job cleaning it.

What did you use for the cleaning?

Always interested in tips and ideas, as most vintage gear needs years of dirt removing from it!

 

[Nhien Lao]

Hi Chris,
At first, I used a blower to dust the not-too-stubborn dirt out first. Then, I used soapy warm water and a cloth to clean it. For the more sticky stuffs, I used the Vodka 40% alcohol. If you have ethanol or isopropanol of 90%, they even work better. It is fortunate for me that the camera does not have many big scratches or broken parts as I wouldn't be able to fix those things.

 

[Glen Roberts]

For the more sticky stuffs, I used the Vodka 40% alcohol.

What!!! I'd rather keep the sticky and drink the alcohol....Hic!.

 

[Nhien Lao]

What!!! I'd rather keep the sticky and drink the alcohol....Hic!.

For the restoring mission, it is worth sacrifying some alcohol.