Meeting the ME Super

I'm a bit of an ignoramus when it comes to the later models of Pentax film cameras. While I've always had Pentax medium format cameras, my acquaintance with 35mm Pentax's petered out after the Spotmatic era. Anyway, I was offered this little collection at an irresistible price, so I'm now the proud owner of a Pentax ME Super and a couple of rather nice accessory lenses. I have to say I'm impressed; so far I've run only a quick test film but this diminutive little camera is a pleasure to use, with a super-quiet shutter, a huge bright viewfinder and a delightfully smooth and short film wind. I particularly like the manual mode with it's up/down buttons, which allows the user to make instant exposure compensation in the viewfinder. While it doesn't offer much in the way of bells and whistles, I like it for it's simplicity and good ergonomics.

 

I assessed the lenses on a digital platform and they're universally very good; the 35mm Super-Takumar f/3.5 is a nice match for one of my favourite lenses, the 28mm Super-Takumar f/3.5, while the 200mm SMC Pentax-M f/4 appears to be a truly excellent performer. I have other copies of the standard 50mm f/1.7 Pentax lens, and this example seems to live up to the marque's good reputation. Here's the little kit.

 

Pentax ME Super

 

I'd be interested to hear other members' thoughts regarding the ME Super. There seems to be quite a wide spectrum of opinion out there, but so far I'm among the fans.

Nice outfit, Rick. When I was shopping for my first camera I seriously considered the ME Super, but ended up getting an Olympus OM-1. I also quite liked the push-button shutter speed control, though shutter speeds are not displayed on top of the camera. Yours looks to be in very nice shape; the ones I've run across are usually pretty dinged up (body covers may be a bit thin on these). They seem to be reliable, though.

 

As with other compact SLRs, I find they handle well with small lenses, but are more awkward to use with longer teles or bulky zooms (unless you have a winder attached). I now find larger, heavier SLRs easier to grip and hold steady, and if weight or size are going to be an issue then I'll just carry a pocket camera instead.

 

Look forward to seeing some test photos.

Edited January 15, 2019 by m42dave

A great acquisition. Things to like, the huge bright viewfinder, amazing for such a small camera. Not to like, the fiddly manual up-down buttons and selector knob with its tiny white unlocking button. I tended to prefer the all mechanical MX, or even the earlier ME (not super), which lacked the manual control. Edited January 15, 2019 by John Seaman

I used the companion model MX bodies for many years professionally, along with some of the Pentax lenses you have in your outfit. I chose the MX over the ME and ME Super because it had interchangeable focusing screens and because I preferred manual exposure control over automation, but as I recall the ME Super had a pretty good reputation for reliability. The finders in the M series Pentaxes were certainly bright and easy to focus, as was the LX also. I am looking forward to seeing some of your results from this camera and lenses.

No ME Super, but I do have (Coming Attraction) the ME F

 

"The ME F is a historically significant camera. It was the first autofocus (AF) 35mm SLR camera to reach production." Wiki

Thanks for the comments John, Dave and AJG; it's always interesting and productive to ingest these snippets of information. I'm looking forward to your dissertation on the ME-F, JDM; it so happens that I have a copy of that very fine and historic lens, but no ME-F body. I've used the lens manually and it's very good, indeed.

Nice outfit, Rick. This was my very first SLR, and it holds a very special place in my heart. I absolutely love this camera! It's quiet, and the compact size makes it a joy to carry with you. I also like that it goes up to 1/2000s, which many cameras did not do. One of my favorites! I can't wait to see what you do with it!

Thanks, Andy, the points you mention are high on my list of "likes", too. I'll certainly post some work from it, when I get a chance...

Nice looking outfit, Rick. Like the MX and original ME, this camera would fit a jacket pocket with the 40mm f 2.8 pancake lens attached. The 1/2000 second top shutter speed is great for mirror lens fans as well. When I use a 500 f 8 with cameras that have the faster top speed I can avoid the neutral density filters often needed in bright light.

Thanks, Mike; I was surprised to discover just how small the ME Super is. Good point regarding the mirror lens...

Count me as an ME Super fan.

 

For manual cameras with shutter speed dials, the Spotmatic is the "right size" -- so I never got on with the MX (too small to easily hold and adjust the shutter speed.) The ME Super handles perfectly because it's small but dispenses with the shutter speed dial. That said, it's the most comfortable with the ME/MEII winder, which adds a front grip.

 

Compared to the MX, the ME Super also doubles the flash sync speed and top shutter speed, both of which are important to me. 1/125th and 1/2000th hit my preferred minimum spec for using a camera in daylight.

 

The shutter and mirror mechanism is quiet and VERY well dampened. I have never seen any shutter shock or loss of sharpness at any speed.

 

I compare the ME Super very favourably against the Nikon FE/FE2, with the benefit of being able to use those lovely Pentax lenses!

I'd agree with David about the size of the MX. The winder does help with the handling of these cameras, though it also kind of defeats the purpose of the compact body.

 

The lack of exposure lock and DOF preview were also minor points against the ME Super, though I still like the camera.

I have the ME super but I never use it though. I used to have the MX and I like the MX much better.

Thanks, David, Dave and BeBu. I think the addition of the winder would suit my rather large hands, and I prefer slightly heavier cameras. I think the Nikon FE,one of my perennial favourites, has the advantage of displaying the apertures in the viewfinder, and I prefer a pointer moving on a scale as opposed to LEDs, but that's a very personal issue.

Bringing an old tread back to life to share my appreciation of this camera.

I recently bought an ME Super on a whim. A Tamron lens I bought for other pourposes came with a K mount Adaptall adapter and my camera shop had an orphan ME Super with a 50/2 for next to nothing on the shelf.

In the past I have owned Spotmatics and love their Takumars dearly but find the bodies a bit dated for regular use.  I still have a magnificent old M42 S-M-C 50/1.4 that I can't see myself parting with, although I have no longer an M42 camera to use it on. (I did get a M42 to K adapter, but haven't tried on the ME Super yet.)

My ME Super came with a defective "down" button. Luckily the buttons operates in a circular fashion, so you can still select any shutter speed with only one button, you just have to toggle through more speeds.

The defect bothered me more than I thought it would, and I figured it was just a contact in need of cleaning. The top plate was very easy to remove, but it took me a little while to figure out how to get to the contacts. While working on the ME Super is well described, the particular problem I had appeared not to be common.

I did find my way (you have to remove the shutter collar to get to a screw under it - I thought the area under the buttons may have been fixed with glue), and as expected, a cleaning of the contact was all it took.

I have read some sources stating that this is an "all metal camera". They obviously haven't seen the top plate from below. It is definitely chromed polycarbonate.

For a compact SLR, this camera agrees with me - more so than the Olympus OM2n I owned but sold - which was similar in size and viewfinder quality. The materials and execution of the OM2n was made to a much higher standard than the ME Super, but the latter just feels nicer to me in the hand of the two.

I don't see myself using the manual settings much. I like the care-free nature of grabbing photos with AE that this camera inspires - and as such, it's predecessor, the ME, would probably suit me equally well.
The big flaw of this camera IMO is the lack of exposure lock.
Sure, manual mode should make up for that, but an exposure lock is just the easiest and fastest way to make a quick correction to the suggested auto exposure value IMO.

For a fully capable AE camera, I would choose a Nikon FE/FE2 - or even a Nikkormat EL any day, but for an SLR that takes up very little space and that I can easily throw my bag, I think this camera will serve such a pourpose well in my collection.

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by NHSN

I think I have three of these.  They make a nice small package with the 40mm f/2.8 "pancake" lens.  The camera does not have an exposure lock feature so I find myself using the exposure compensation dial or setting things manually, especially in backlit situations or when there is a lot of sky in the scene.