Help for a newbie with an old Pentax ME

CaymanImaging · 10-20-2009, 09:01 PM

After years of shooting Pentax DSLRs, I bought a Pentax ME today. Thought it would be fun to shoot some film.

My question is this...I want to get an original era Pentax flash for it. Any suggestions? Does this camera support hot shoe or is it "cold".

Totally new to this area and any help would be great.

I want to keep it around the era the camera was made. I want to try some old school stuff.

Steinback · 10-21-2009, 01:14 AM

I'm pretty sure the ME has just a regular hot shoe, which means that any manual flash should work fine with it.

Something along the lines of a Vivitar 283 or 285 would work well with the camera and shouldn't be too expensive. If you want to go with a Pentax flash from around the same time period the AF 280T seems to have a good combination of features, however I haven't had a chance to try one. There are lots of cheap manual flashes available used, often because their trigger voltage is too high to use safely on a digital body

*calicojack* · 10-21-2009, 03:31 AM

The 280T has TTL and is with the generation of the Super Program, ME Super time frame. The Vivitar 283 was probably the most common flash from just before TTL.

Dangermouse · 10-21-2009, 04:01 AM

Looking at the ME it only seems to support manual flash sync, so I might suggest an AF200T as this has a good selection of manual modes but will work in full auto with a Pentax film body that supports this. My MV1, P30, 30T and MZ50 all seem happy with it.

Even mint examples of these do not seem to fetch big money, so be picky. My AF200T still has the quality control sticker and vinyl case in unmarked condition but only cost around £15.

Does anyone have a link to a guide showing the various Pentax flashguns and what their features are? I'd be interested to know what an AF160 is capable of for example - do these work with auto mode on an M-series camera or are they a manual-only flash?

*wildlifephotog* · 10-21-2009, 07:00 AM

The AF 160 is manual only.

Dangermouse · 10-21-2009, 10:48 AM

Not so sure about that. I found an instruction manual as a PDF this morning which said that it had the old Red/Green auto modes which work with suitable film SLRs.

*wildlifephotog* · 10-21-2009, 11:20 AM

The AF160 will auto sync with shutter speed on certain cameras. You have a manual hi/low setting. In it's so called auto mode, it has a sensor for judging light level.

The cameras it auto syncs with are MV, MV1, and Me Super.
I have 4 of these. In the so called auto mode, they are not very accurate.

Dangermouse · 10-21-2009, 12:15 PM

Ah ok, I won't be looking for one of those to add to the collection then! Thanks for the warning.

CaymanImaging · 10-21-2009, 12:33 PM

Thanks all!!!! I went to my local photo shop here in Colorado Springs and luckily found the AF 160 AND a film winder for $50 total!! What luck!! Bought a roll of BW film and am very excited to try it out!!!!