Lenses for Pentax ME Super

One more thing, what lenses do you folks recommend for use with the

Pentax ME Super? I want to know so I can start search for them on

ebay. I'm primarily interested in wide-angle lenses and telephotos.

Thanks again for your help folks!

 

-David

Basically most Pentax SMC prime lenses are good. If you want AF, FA20/2.8, FA*24/2, FA28/2.8, F28/2.8, FA31/1.8, FA35/2, FA20-35/4 are worth to consider. As to telephoto, look for the "SMC PENTAX-A 70-210/4".

There is no reason to buy automatic focus lenses (FA and F -series) for ME -series camera. The manual focusing of these is not nice.

 

All Pentax (35 mm size) lenses work in the ME. They are usually marked 'SMC Pentax' and the bayonet is called 'K mount'. Also older screw mount lenses (called S or M42 mount, Takumar) can be used with an adapter ring but automatic aperture is then not available.

 

There are three series of manual focus Pentax lenses: K-series (no specific idnetification), M -series (Pentax-M) and A-series (Pentax A). The A series is compatible with the present Pentax digicameras, so these keep their value better in the next upgrade of the camera body.

 

I recommend the first lenses to be 50 mm and 28 mm but this is a matter of personal prefences. All Pentax prime (not zoom) lenses have good quality as far as I know.

You should defiinitely look over these two sites:

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/

and

http://stans-photography.info/

 

You don't mention your budget, but the range of prices among K mount lenses is considerable. For myself, I use a 43mm Limited mostly on my MX, with other lenses on other cameras.

Hi David.

 

Naturally, it partly also depends on your wallet, how you like to shoot (tripod or free hand) and what exactly you mean by telephoto and wide angle. But here are some wide lenses with good manual focusing properties:

 

(All Pentax)

20mm f2.8 A

20mm f4 M (slow, but ok)

24mm f2.8 K and A

24mm f2 FA (I know this is an FA lens, but it has a nice clutch feature for comfortable manual use)

28mm (several options)

The 20-35mm f4 FA while not the greatest manual focusing lenses is nevertheless a very functional manual wide angle lens.

 

Tokina 24-40mm f2.8

 

And these are just coming off the top of my head. There are lots more options.

M-lenses were sort of made for the ME-Super. I keep a Pentax M 50mm f/1.4 or an f/1.7 on mine. Short telephoto, the Pentax M 135mm f/3.5 makes a great street package. Any 28mm would do. The ME Super is a more manual version of the preceding ME model, and it gives you control over exposure (aperture and shutter), but you have to get used to the LEDs. It's not a very automated camera. If the battery goes dead, you can shoot at 125.

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Thanks for the incredible feedback folks! My budget on this

project really isn't that large. What I would like to do is spend

less than $100 on the lens. My original idea is to wait 'till

someone puts their ME Super on ebay with a couple of good

lenses and then buy it there. That way I can have 2 cameras and

mount each with a different lens and film.

 

In the meantime though, I bought a SIGMA 35 - 70mm/ f2.8 lens

off of ebay. It was only $40, so I don't expect the quality to be that

great, but it will do for now.

 

I think I've got enough information now to start my resarch on

what lens I should really splurge my money on. Damn, this is an

expensive hobby!

If your is the Sigma 35-70/2.8-4, is a not bad lens. As to the tele, just look for a dirty cheap SMC PENTAX-M 135/3.5 which is very sharp. They are plentiful on eBay.

If you can find one at a good price the 55mm f/1.8 SMC Pentax is very nice. This was one of the original K mount Pentax lenses before the smaller M series came out. The 35mm f/3.5 and 135mm f/3.5 SMC Pentax lenses are also nice. To save some weight and size you might consider the 50mm f/1.7 SMC M and the 135mm f/3.5 SMC M lenses. The 35mm f/2 SMC M can be pricey but is very small and very sharp. You might also consider some more non-Pentax K mount lenses: Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 Close Focusing, Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro, Vivitar 35m f/1.9, Kiron 28mm f/2.8 or f/2. Vivitar made a line of lenses with interchangeable mounts called TX. Both the lenses and the adapters sell for very little. I have nearly all of them in my collection. Some very inexpensive but nice ones include the 24mm f/2.8, 28mm f/2.5, 28mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.8, 135mm f/2.5 and 200mm f/3.5.

My main camera is a 22 yr old Pentax MX with 35mm f2.8 and 100 f2.8 SMC lenses. I STILL love both lenses even though 90% of my shots are with the 35mm. I have never regretted buying these when I was a humble student. Prices are quite cheap. I would not get less than f2.8 and would stick with Pentax. These lenses have had hardly any wear or tear over these many years.

This system still takes great shots (including wedding photography) which partially explains my reluctance to buy a "nice" digital SLR system for a lot of money...