On a side note when breaking out this camera with the motor drive af400t and lens... i always get attention... attention i use to bring people into the Pentax brand.

All things considered, the Pentax ME Super turned in a great review. It’s a fun camera that’s easy to carry around, with good ergonomics and handling especially with a small lens. I really like small cameras that will function with no battery power, so this one worked out really well. A great camera for those wishing to travel light, and want control over their exposures. It has a stop-down button. It has a needle-interface in the viewfinder which I prefer to LED, but it is not illuminated - so its very bad in dark light).

Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5

version, the SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, is also a good buy}. SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.4 SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.4 Both of the Vivitar macros were manufactured by Komine and were sold under several different brand names. If you search for one also look under the Panagor, Elicar, Quantaray, Spiratone, and Rokunar brand names. Personalized Leather Camera Strap Gift Custom Strap for Photographers DSLR Camera Holder - Gift for him Gift for Her

It's super compact, lightweight, has a huge viewfinder magnification, reliable lightmeter and was a great budget camera when it was sold new. How to change the ISO? This can be confusing if you aren’t accustomed to it being called ASA, ISO = ASA, you can see your ISO number in the small white window next to the green letters ‘ASA’. To change your iso you need to pull upwards on the outer silver ring and rotate, this will change this ISO for you. If you’re struggling to change the iso it may have become stiff over time, you will just have to be persistent. On the same ring is 1/4x – 1/2x etc, this is exposure compensation, so you can either under or overexpose your image slightly by choice. Let me add two of my favourite ME (Super) features. One is the superb loading system: a bundle of white, flexible rods on the take up spoil grabs the film leader first time, every time. The lenses were junk, they couldn’t replicate the look of the Pentax primes I had come to love. But the Pentax Super Program – that was the real find. This problem is not unique to Pentax. Cruise around photography forums and you will see similar statements about Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Olympus, etc., lenses as well. All of these statements are wrong, but some are less wrong than others.

The Missing Piece of the Puzzle

At its intended purpose, the ME is pretty fabulous. It’s one of those rare values in the world of vintage cameras that offers a near perfect balance of assets; excellent form factor, robust construction, technical prowess, and low cost. There are similar cameras in its category that may be just as good (Nikon’s EM springs to mind), but no camera in its segment is decidedly superior to the ME. The Canon AE1 gets all kinds of praise heaped on it when discussing entry level 35mm SLRs that offer auto and manual modes. I’d take the ME Super over it every day of the week though. The Pentax’s aperture priority auto mode is a lot more intuitive and easy to use than the Canon’s shutter priority mode. As a bonus, the Pentax is smaller but still has a nicer viewfinder. Where could things be better? The self-timer lever feels a bit cheap. It’s plastic, and feels as if its mount isn’t totally reliable. The lens release lever is similarly worrying, in that it feels just a bit fragile. But on the whole, that’s about all we can find at fault in the ME’s build. Not bad! The ME Super offers everything I love about the original ME plus that manual mode. But I’d hardly use manual mode (if this ME Super’s Auto mode were working). I prefer aperture-priority shooting and use it nearly exclusively on every SLR I own that is so equipped.