Pentax ME Super

[Ian Leake]

My Mum has given me her old Pentax ME Super camera which sadly she can't use any more. It seems to work fully (and I think it was serviced only a while ago), but I'm unlikely to use it myself. I'd like to find it a good home, but before I do I thought I should find out a bit more about it.

Do any of you use one of these? And if so, is it a good or bad 35mm? Does it have any quirks? Would it be a good camera for someone to learn with? Are lenses easy to find? (It just has a 50mm right now.)

Thanks in advance for anything you can share.

 

[Paul_C]

If you haven't already seen it there's this http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/bodies/M/ME_Super.html

It's Pentax K mount so lenses are plentiful and can take m42 with a cheap adapter.

 

[Struan Gray]

I have one - it was the first camera I bought for myself, and the only camera I have ever bought new.

Pluses:
- Large bright viewfinder
- Small, light camera body
- Lots of high-quality 'M' and 'A' manual prime lenses

Minuses:
- metering cell can loose sensitivity
- metering circuit corrodes and underexposes (scrub the ASA dial back and forth to cure)
- some people hate the buttons for setting shutter speed manually
- Good zooms can be hard to find
- Pro-zooms all came later, and are pricey.

Loads of ME supers were sold, so spares and replacements are easy to come by if you're handy.

Mine still works well, despite a punishing life as my mountaineering and travelling camera. Although I don't do much 35 mm these days, it is my carry-around B+W camera, and the one I take to social occasions where I want a proper camera, but nothing large or obtrusive.

 

[Mick Fagan]

I bought one in 1980 with a 50 1.8 (I think) lens. I had it for about one month and I rode through a severe rain storm on my motorcycle. The camera was in the tank bag inside it's leather (imitation?) case. Unfortunately moisture from the high humidity seemed to get into one or both of the little buttons on the top plate of the camera.

As a result it didn't work to well on that trip, I decided to get rid of it and onsold it to one of my brothers for a nominal amount of about $10 or so. He knew that it was faulty with regard to the buttons, but, he is still using it and reminds me every time he has it out at family gatherings, that this is the cheapest and best camera he has ever owned!

Mick.

 

[unohuu]

was the first SLR I ever used. I really liked the metering. I went the Minolta route though when I bought my own.

 

[Ian Leake]

Thanks everyone, and have a happy Christmas!

 

[Bandicoot]

As well as Boz Dimitrov's site that you've already been given a link to, Stan Halpern's collection of comments on Pentax lenses is a very useful resource:

http://stans-photography.info/

The ME Super is a nice camera, very light and good ergonomics - two of Pentax's trademark design characteristics. You either love the buttons for setting shutter speed... or you don't. I prefer a dial (my favourite Pentax bodies are the LX, MX, and MZ-S) but know that the buttons do work very well indeed for some people.

It is certainly a good camera to learn with: it has most of what a student needs except Depth of Field preview, which I think of as pretty much a necessity (but you can fudge it with K-Mount cameras by releasing the lens and turnng it part way, at which point the diaphragm will close down to the set aperure, just don't turn it too far and drop the lens!)


Peter

 

[removed account4]

hi ian

i have a k1000 and an me super
i use the me super all the time
its a great little camera ...
and has a sweet titanium shutter ...

i had 2 problems over the years
the clutch went on the winder ....
and the meter went.
both were easily fixed...

good luck!
john