Spotmatic F with a K mount, but with the self-timer, depth of field preview, film reminder dial, and the FP flash socket (by now redundant) removed. In creating it, Asahi achieved their aim of making the cheapest big-brand 35mm SLR on the market, on its introduction at least. The "1000" in the K1000's name was a reflection of the camera's fastest shutter speed. This follows from the naming of the previous Spotmatic cameras, the SP1000 and SP500, which had top speeds of 1/1000 and 1/500 respectively. Production continued until 1997 when manufacturing costs of its older design and supply of its mechanical and electronic parts (especially precision analogue microgalvanometers for the light meter) finally became untenable. It was replaced by the highly computerized Pentax ZX-M (also called MZ-M) in 1998. Changes Production of the largely hand assembled camera was moved from Japan, first to Hong Kong in 1978 and then to China in 1990, to keep labor costs down. The "Asahi" name and "AOCo" logo was removed from the pentaprism cover to de-emphasize the company name in keeping with the rest of the "Pentax" line. The meter components changed as Asahi Optical searched for suitable supplies. The metal in the wind shaft was downgraded from steel. Cheaper plastic was substituted for the originally satin-chromed brass top and bottom plates and aluminum and steel film rewind assembly. Note that the use of lighter plastic lowered the weight of the Chinese-assembled K1000s to 525 g. See also Pentax cameras References Anonymous. "Annual Guide to 54 Top Cameras: Asahi Pentax K2" p. 119. Modern Photography, Volume 40, Number 12; December 1976. Anonymous. "Modern Tests: [Pentax ME] Smallest 35mm SLR: Fully Automatic Only" pp. 115–121. Modern Photography, Volume 41, Number 4; April 1977. Anonymous. "Modern Tests: Pentax Miniatures KX In MX, Makes It Better?" pp. 116–120. Modern Photography, Volume 41, Number 5; May 1977. Anonymous. "Modern Tests: Pentax K1000: Basic Body Still Endures" pp. 78–80. Modern Photography, Volume 47, Number 4; April 1983. Anonymous. "Pentax Miniatures KX In MX, Makes It Better?" pp. 99–101. Modern Photography's Photo Buying Guide '85. reprint from Modern Photography, May 1977. Anonymous. "Modern Photography's Annual Guide '84: 48 Top Cameras: Pentax MX" p. 94. Modern Photography, Volume 47, Number 12; December 1983. Anonymous. “Top Cameras for ‘89: Modern picks 40 of the finest.: Pentax K1000” p. 43. Modern Photography, Volume 52, Number 12; December 1988. Anonymous. "Pentax Manual Focus