Proust had his madeleine. I had a Pentax K1000. My first camera, when I was a freshman in high school. An all manual film camera. The small battery only supplied juice for a simple light meter. The needle would move as the shutter speed or aperture got changed. When the needle was in the middle of the + and -, it meant that the exposure was correct. Snap the shutter. A satisfying, mechanical “clunk.” Manually advance the film, with a slightly tensioned advance lever. Ready for the next picture. 24, maybe 36 exposures. Then, the wait. The film, manually rewound into it’s canister, needed to be developed. Black and white… I would do myself. Color needed to be dropped off at the pharmacy or supermarket that had a one-hour photo lab. Then, finally, the results. Did my shots come out at all? Did they look as I imagined they would? There was magic in every step of the process. That magic is still something I get from photography.
I don’t remember when I got rid of that old K1000, but I do remember I had upgraded to a Nikon FM2. I believed at the time that the Nikon made me a more “serious” photographer. That was many years ago. I have had many cameras since then, many different formats, both film and digital. But deep down inside, I always longed to hold a K1000 in my hands again. Yes, with the advent of Ebay, that desire could have been easily satisfied, for an inflated price, of course. I never could justify buying one in that manner, for whatever reason. So it was a great surprise, under a randomly unrelated premise, that I found myself inside a Savers thrift store this week. I always make a point of checking out the electronics section at thrift stores, though I never find anything of worth. I’ve heard stories of people stumbling upon a used Leica at a ridiculously low price, but I suspect those are tall tales shared on various user forums and YouTube videos. This week however, I found it… a model of my first camera. This particular K1000 was covered in dust, the lenses smudged, the meter didn’t work, and it was attached to a crappy old, knock off brand flash unit. Price tag: $12. The firm advance worked, and the shutter fired… sounding accurate to my ears. I paid the low price, figuring it would be worth it, even as a paperweight.
I took it home, cleaned it thoroughly. The lens was fine, no scratches. I went to Walgreens and bought a new battery, hoping that was the reason the meter was not operating. I popped the battery in AND IT WORKED! I went out immediately and shot off a test roll of film and dropped it off at the local lab. The next day, I picked up that roll and it was all properly exposed and the images looked great. I can hardly contain my joy about finally finding this camera and using one again after all these years. It feels like those first days of discovery, decades ago. Like sinking your teeth into a delicious cookie you only ate as a child, the sensory memories come flooding back. Well worth a 12 dollar investment.