I just got one that is mint and I was wondering if anyone have any experience with such cameras.

yepp I used it quite a lot as a freshman.

What can I say? Super easy to handle

any specific questions?

Nope, I just bought one and I want to know everything there is to know about them.

Any tips?

mhh it is a while back

Al I can remember is that its super easy to use. The lens was "breathing" a bit (zoomlense) so be aware of that. Besides that, nothing I could tell you except to get a good lightmeter.

with "breathing" I mean when you rackfocus, it also zooms a bit with it

Some people report that theirs are finicky to load. Removing the loop formers and doing it manually may help.

Kodak has a 30% student discount when you order. I recommend B&W reversal to start with - less forgiving of exposure errors in either direction than color negative, and cheaper.

You should load in the dark. 'Daylight load' doesn't really mean 'daylight' load.

The included lens is reportedly OK but since it probably has M42 threads you can use any of several types of Pentax thread mount (not the later bayonet mount) lenses: Super Takumars are good, but going up in price recently.

You also have access to the Zeiss Jena lenses made in E. Germany. Look especially on ebay.de or .uk.

Don't trust the built-in lightmeter.

Get a Sekonic incident meter... you shouldn't have to pay more than $60 or so for a nice used one.

Remember to wind the camera before each take.

Practice twice, shoot once

I started in 16mm with a non-reflex Bolex, and I didn't have any zoom lenses, no way to view through the taking lens, and it still produced great images.

You should convert your K3 to super 16 when you get a good grasp on using it normally.

The lens i got is a 69mm f1.9 tack sharp Zenit zoom Lens. A fast f1.9 through f22

It's not going to be tack sharp at the largest aperture, zoomed in

If you really get into it I recommend looking for M42 primes or an M42-Kinor mount adapter so you can use the Kinor 10-100mm zoom, which is based on a Zeiss zoom and is a great piece of glass.

Do you have a link for the lenses online? Also, I heard the camera is really loud. Can I just wrap a towel around it if im doing sound?

eBay.com

A towel is probably not going to provide enough dampening unless the camera is fairly far away (25 feet+) and you can get the mic in really close, or even on the actors (wireless lavs, maybe?).

Stick to shooting MOS at first - dialogue doesn't usually improve many student shorts

Well if your shooting on film, if something is going to be said, it's going to be important. It will be with me at least, i don't have money to process rolls and rolls of film anyway. But I have some good ideas.

Silence says more than words in almost all cases

Seriously, try a short without dialogue. It will sharpen your visual storytelling skills and challenge you to develop a cinematic technique that doesn't overly depend on faux witticisms (a problem that I frequently see in local student productions).

Non sync camera, about 25 seconds per wind. Sounds like a sewing machine. Pretty contrasty lens, you might be able to put a standard pentax mount lense on it depending on whether it has a beyonet or pentax mount.

Make sure you differentiate between what is currently considered the standard 'Pentax mount' (K mount, bayonet) and the M42 screw mount that the K3 uses (older Pentax lenses used this).

Some K3s use their own bayonet mount for which you will not be able to find many lenses outside of Russia. It's more likely that yours has a screw mount, in which case you will want M42 lenses, not K mount.

quote:

Originally posted by Evan Kubota:
Make sure you differentiate between what is currently considered the standard 'Pentax mount' (K mount, bayonet) and the M42 screw mount that the K3 uses (older Pentax lenses used this).

Some K3s use their own bayonet mount for which you will not be able to find many lenses outside of Russia. It's more likely that yours has a screw mount, in which case you will want M42 lenses, not K mount.

Great information thanks! I guess it will be easy to know which one I have once I get it?

Yes, it should be obvious. Almost all K3s are M42, not bayonet, so I doubt it will be an issue.

i dont know much about whih lens goes with which brand, but would the below lens fit on a m43 K3 camera?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vivitar-Series-1-70-210mm-Macro-Zoo...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Didn't look at the lens for but a second, but was that for a 35mm still camera? If so wouldn't this throw off the focal length for the 16mm K3? I may just be talking rubbish though, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

That lens should be fine, but for best results you should really get some quality primes (Takumar [Asahi/Pentax SMC]), not 3rd party semi-cheapo zooms that pull out like that Vivitar.

I don't know how much better that would be than the included lens.

Bruce, you can use 35mm still lenses on 16mm cameras if the mount is the same or you use an adapter

The focal length is the same regardless of format - the field of view changes. Smaller formats get a smaller field of view for a given focal length, so a 50mm lens is 'normal' for 35mm, medium-tele for 16mm, and fairly long for super 8.