The SMC Pentax, SMC Pentax-M and SMC Pentax-A lenses are the most suitable, although all the autofocus ones can be used as well, but obviously only with manual focusing.

In all cases, the "A" setting on the lenses, where present, is not used with the K1000.

As some zooms change aperture with zooming, on the K1000 exposure measurement should be taken after the zoom is set, otherwise the exposure will change. Because of this, zooms with a fixed aperture are slightly more convenient.

There is a vast choice of second hand Pentax lenses on the market, and eBay is a good source of these at very reasonable prices.

If you are building a kit from scratch, I would suggest starting with a 50mm lens and then assessing whether your interest would lie with wide angle photography or telephoto photography.

The ideal kit is personal choice, but a 24mm, 28-80mm standard zoom, 50mm prime and 100mm telephoto would be a powerful and versatile selection as a start. I'm sure others will have all sorts of other ideas!

My preference is for using a card reader and not bothering with the camera software at all. I suppose the only exception to this will be if I needed to use a camera RAW seting, and there is no facility in Photoshop 7 for me to handle such files.

I use a Coolscan IV and it makes all sorts of buzzing and clicking noises, so I guess it may be normal. It also vibrates when doing the final scan, just as you describe. I think the real thing to watch out for is when something starts making previously unheard noises....

A 2x Macro Converter will in particular convert a 50mm lens into a pretty good 100mm macro.

In general, though, copnverters do magnify a lens's abberations and results can be downright poor if the match is not good.

I would suggest using the appropriate pentax converters and using them with the designated lenses, usually telephotos. Of cousrse, this does not mean we can't experiment with "inapproprate" combinations - some results could well be interesting....

I can't give you a specific answer to the code the camera gives you, but basic advice would be to try new batteries before assuming the worst. The grinding noise does not sound good, and if you're on holiday you will want to take pictures, so there is a problem. Buying another camera could be the only viable option if new batteries do not solve the problem - perhaps buying second hand if there is a suitable local source. As a real low cost last resort perhaps even a disposable camera would be better than nothing?

At our club, ADAPS, we have some superb digital photographers who freely admit that they know very little about photography as such. But they do have an eye for a great picture and they let their digital cameras do the rest.

But they have been enjoying the summer syllabus which has introduced quite a few photgraphic techniques and there is no doubt that a cewrtain amount of photographic knowledge does help us to create the iamges that we want.

So I would certainly recommend any phtographer, digital or traditional, to at least for a while to give up the electronics and try out a fully manual camera. Anything from a pentax Spotmatic to all the suggestions in this thread will serve very well.

It's well worth the effort!

Why not check with the college tutors?

But probably a manual SLR would be the learning tool of preference, so I would suggest a used but good example of the KM, KX, MX or LX cameras. From the current range, a new MZ-M would be the body of choice. The MZ5 and MZ3 are also useable as manual cameras, but add auto exposure and autofocus options.

All the bodies mentioned will accept your ME lenses and accessories.

Unexpected grinding noises don't bode well, but I wonder if the film sprockets are properly engaged or if something is jammed in the film chamber or path?

I would take it back before something drastic happens and get a replacement if you can, or a warranty repair if that's the best that can be done.

I change the batteries in my P30T once per year and have never had a set fail. They would probably last much lomger than that, depending upon useage. (I use silver oxide SG13 cells)

I'm totally in agreement with what George has written.

I have discovered that when copying documents the 100mm can lead to an uncomfortably long working distance and so for some applications the 50mm macro may be preferable.

The key is what applications you have in mind, and if you can get any Pentax macro lens at a good price then it will certainly serve you well.