pentax ME super, getting started

[spenser]

hey, im spenser. im 17, etc etc etc. ive always liked taking pictures, but its always just been for fun, although i have a general idea of how to make them look nice. skateboarding mostly, which is different, but a few nature shots from trips and things too (i live in alaska, so theres a lot to photograph).

anyway, i found out my mom had this pentax in the garage that she bought back in 1984 when they were still made. so.. its mine now. i have a very basic understanding of how it (cameras) all works.. shutter, aperture, etc etc.

what im looking for here is.. getting started with this one. i have the body, a zoom lense, and a wide angle lense. it needs to be cleaned first, and i have a brush and lense cloth, but ive never done this before.. which is where i need help first. any tips, tricks, etc, or links to sites with good info on cleaning would be great.

also, any general info or tips about this camera, to help me get started. i bought a roll of 400 film tonight to just mess around and test it out on.

thats about it.. so here are a few quick pictures i took.



zoom



wide angle

[yogestee]

Hi and welcome Spencer....The Pentax ME Super is a sturdy no fuss camera which produces fine results..If the the lenses you have are the old Ashai Pentax lenses are great optics.

By you photo the camera doesn't seem to be in bad condition..Firstly remove the battery and clean the terminals with alcohol and cotton bud then buy new batteries..Get yourself a soft camel hair brush available for good artists suppliers and very gently clean the film chamber and mirror box with the brush dry removing as much dust as possible..I don't like using a blower brush as it can blow dust into the prism box.Do the same with the lenses.Open up the lenses to full aperture and hold them up to the light..Check for dust and the killer of lenses that have been stored for some time,,,,mould..Mould looks like a translucent squiggly pattern on the internal glass surfaces...This can only be cleaned by a camera tech,,don't try to dismantle the lens yourself..
When all is spick and span run a roll of film through your new toy and get it processed and check for results...

Good luck.
Jurgen
Australia

[another view]

Good advice above, I'll add:

Don't touch the reflex mirror. That's the one that you see with the lens off the camera, at a 45 degree angle. They're easily scratched and a little dust on it won't hurt anything. It flips up out of the way so that the dust you see on it will not be on your film. If it's bad and you want it cleaned, have it done professionally. You could try a blower like this one to get most of it off, including any dust in other areas mentioned.

Looks like your wide angle lens (can't read from that angle how many mm's it is) has a 2x converter attached to it. It can be removed just like how you remove the lens from the camera. They're usually used with telephoto lenses but will probably cost you a little sharpness and also two stops (f2.8 lens is now f5.6). I'd recommend not using it for now.

Alaska has a lot of stuff to photograph - someday I hope to make it there myself. Since you understand the basics, I'd recommend one of John Shaw's books or Boyd Norton's book to further explain some of the technical stuff. Of course, feel free to ask away here too!

[fotomatt]

Hi Spencer - sounds like you're off to a good start! The Pentax ME is a fun little camera - but does have a limitation.

It is an automatic only camera. No manual settings can limit you. However, the Exposure Compensation feature will save you. Learn to use the EXPOSURE COMPENSATION dial and also the ISO setting to override (lie to!) the camera's meter.

Here are two helpful links:

To find an instruction manual for the ME Super:
http://www.manualsrus.com

To visually learn more about the relationship of Fstop and ShutterSpeed:
http://www.88.com/exposure/simcam.htm

You can visit the Education section of my website (please note...it's out of date!)
www.LITfoto.com/education/viewfinder.html

I teach photography at Colorado Mountain College (Summit Campus) and my basic class spends a great deal of time on the technical aspects of exposure, meters, exposure equivalents and zone system. You can download a PDF of my Photo One outline at the Viewfinder.

Also, I recommend the book: PHOTOGRAPHY by London and Upton. You can find a used copy on Ebay for a great price. Any edition will work (there are about 8 or 9 editions).

Hope that help you on your way.

from somewhere on Colorado's Continental Divide...

fotomatt
www.LITfoto.com

[spenser]

thanks everyone for your help, itll definitely get me going. i cant wait to get everything all fixed up.. i was super excited when i found out that we had this camera.

and ill definitely look into those books, along with the links.. thanks again!

[almo]

i have an ME Super, and I love it. You have a nice diversity of focal lengts. I would suggest buying a simple manual flash for the camera. Be very careful with the timer lever, because even if the camera is off and locked if you activate that lever it will trip the shutter.

Best advice I can give is to enjoy your new camera, it's a great one!

[yogestee]

Spencer,,,we are looking forward to seeing your work posted within this site!!

Jurgen
Australia

[straightarm]

Hi Spencer - sounds like you're off to a good start! The Pentax ME is a fun little camera - but does have a limitation.

It is an automatic only camera. No manual settings can limit you. However, the Exposure Compensation feature will save you. Learn to use the EXPOSURE COMPENSATION dial and also the ISO setting to override (lie to!) the camera's meter.

But he's a got a ME super which is not auto only, it has full manual over ride as well as auto

[spenser]

i have an ME Super, and I love it. You have a nice diversity of focal lengts. I would suggest buying a simple manual flash for the camera. Be very careful with the timer lever, because even if the camera is off and locked if you activate that lever it will trip the shutter.

Best advice I can give is to enjoy your new camera, it's a great one!

i went into one of the photo stores here and asked about flashes, but he didnt have any for ME supers. ill probably look online..

[another view]

i went into one of the photo stores here and asked about flashes, but he didnt have any for ME supers. ill probably look online..

Does the hotshoe (thing on top of the camera that the flash attaches to) have one big round silver contact in the middle surrounded by black plastic, or one big one and one or more small ones around it (looking at it from the top)? Hate to sound so simplistic, but these are the contacts that allow the flash to function with the camera.

If it just has the one, then any flash will work. Pick up a used one on ebay or at a store and fire away. Even if it has other contacts then you can still use any flash, but with limited capability. Vivitar 283 comes to mind but it's pretty big and heavy. Popular with wedding photographers for many years.

If it has more contacts than the one main one (can't remember on this camera) then it uses a "dedicated flash" specific to Pentax. The other little contacts might show that the flash is "ready" in the camera's viewfinder or allow some automation, etc. Nothing absolutely critical, but certainly handy.

[spenser]

it has the main contact, and then theres the little one next to it. needs to be cleaned a little though.. so that means its a more specific flash needed for the camera?

[spenser]

i used up my first roll today, just as a practice one. most of the pictures were with a semi-shallow dof, going by the frame, not by the actual distance between what i was shooting. i tried out the wide angle with and without the 2x converter, and same with the zoom. i was shooting with my friend, and we tried out the timer too. thats a really cool feature, because its a simple turn of the lever, which seems exactly like a windup toy. cant wait to develop them to see how it worked.. hopefully tomorrow. it was a lot of fun, and the fact that i have to develop now ups the excitement and anticipation A LOT.

one thing was.. with the meter, it worked fine at first, but after a while of being outside (it was a little cold), it stopped working all the time, and then it seemed like it wasnt correct. it always came up as completely over or under every time it DID work. after i got back inside and it warmed up though, it worked fine. so im assuming the cold did that?

also, the roll has 24 exposures, but it was still winding all the way to 30, which is when i just stopped because i didnt believe the camera. haha. the roll that was in the camera stopped winding at 20, though, which was correct. anyone know why it might do that?

[another view]

after i got back inside and it warmed up though, it worked fine. so im assuming the cold did that?

Probably, a lot of kinds of batteries do this.

also, the roll has 24 exposures, but it was still winding all the way to 30, which is when i just stopped because i didnt believe the camera. haha. the roll that was in the camera stopped winding at 20, though, which was correct. anyone know why it might do that?

Well... Umm... If it keeps winding like that, it might not be a good sign. Did you notice if the rewind knob was turning every time you used the film advance lever? If it didn't, the film might have not been properly loaded. This would mean that the film was never exposed. If it happened to you, you're certainly not alone...

[another view]

it has the main contact, and then theres the little one next to it. needs to be cleaned a little though.. so that means its a more specific flash needed for the camera?

You don't necessarily need a Pentax dedicated flash, but you'll lose some of the convenience. Almost any flash should work just fine, but a flash designed for the Pentax system would be your first choice (Vivitar, Sunpak and others will make them, Pentax probably has some of their own too).

[spenser]

Probably, a lot of kinds of batteries do this.



Well... Umm... If it keeps winding like that, it might not be a good sign. Did you notice if the rewind knob was turning every time you used the film advance lever? If it didn't, the film might have not been properly loaded. This would mean that the film was never exposed. If it happened to you, you're certainly not alone...

......hah. well, i didnt notice if the rewind knob was turning, but i wouldnt doubt that i loaded it wrong. ive never loaded (or even seen someone load) film before, and the manual wasnt really helping. im great with figuring out directions, but it was a little weird.

thats kinda disappointing, but oh well. ill find out.