| Author: | | Otis Memorial Pentaxian Registered: March, 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Posts: 42,007
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 29, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Build, remote option | | Cons: | A little complicated for certain use cases | |
I bought this winder to use with my Super Program and truth be told, I did so purely because I thought they were soooo cool back-in-the-day, but could not justify the extra cost at the time. As is evident in the name, this is a winder, not a motor drive. It is supports a much slower frame rate (2 FPS) than most motor drives and is not made to support a heavy duty cycle. Like most power winders it is somewhat noisy and heavy (batteries, mostly).
Pros:- Sturdy build with liberal use of metal
- It works
- Supports a cabled remote release
- Switchable Single/Continuous modes
- Allows rewind without removing winder from camera
Cons:- Noisy (common issue with most winders from the time)
- Feels a little cramped if you have large hands.
- Can be sort of fussy to mount
- Battery life
- Must be careful in single shot mode with long exposures
- Must be aware of coupling levers before mounting to body. The levers must be in appropriate positions for proper operation.
- Requires special setting if used with the non-electronic shutter speed (125X or 100X mode dial position) supported by some bodies. See camera and winder manuals for details.
- Several other operational precautions and quirks. See manual and notes below.
The winder manual can be downloaded from HERE
Note:
It is important to remove the accessory front grip from cameras that have them (e.g. Super Program and similar) before attempting to mount the winder. Failure to do so will result in the winder not mounting cleanly and failing to engage with the film transport mechanism.
Note #2:
End-of-roll behavior may be confusing. Most user's expectation is that the winder will simply stop responding to the grip's shutter button. Instead, the winder motor will continue to engage and the unit will cycle, but with no shutter, mirror, or wind action on the camera. There is a change in sound that happens at end-of-roll, but that is the only cue given the user that they are out of film.
My Conclusion
This is a nice accessory for your compatible Pentax camera if you have a need...say any type of shooting where you must keep the viewfinder to your eye and be able to shoot at will without stopping to wind. To be honest, this winder is too slow for "spray and pray" shooting, but is a great tool for rapid portrait work and such. For other types of shooting, save the weight and the batteries and leave it at home.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: September, 2012 Location: Albacity Posts: 2 | | Review Date: September 27, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap, easy to use, nice grip | | Cons: | Batery door looks flimsy, sometimes is difficult to adjust to the camera | |
I bought mine in pack with the ME Super camera and the Pentax-M 50mm lens for less than 100$ in almost new condition. It's very nice to use it, but sometimes it's difficult to correctly attach it to the camera. It gives you speed when shooting, better grip than the camera body only and a very nice sound. I love it.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2012 Location: North Coast, NSW, Australia Posts: 142
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 24, 2012 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | cheap, on eBay | | Cons: | none, for the vintage | |
i could never afford to buy one of these in 1980/81 when i bought my ME
having recently resurrected my SLR out of storage, i found that i was forgetting to wind on the film (too many years of using cameras with 'auto-everything', i guess)
it works just fine on the ME-F that i recently acquired
with modern alkaline AA batteries, it is very good, even if it 'whirrs' a little when working
so far, it has not been tested on my ME-Super
the manual re-wind i don't mind. i am used to doing it on these manual cameras, and it gives me a few moments to reflect on the shots i may have on the film. 
the auto-focus' 'green-light' on the ME-F works o.k. with the winder's 'firing-button',
and 2-fps is not too shabby for equipment of 30+ years ago 
all in all, i am very happy with it, and intend to get a second one, specifically for my ME-S, so both cameras will always have one attached
would i recommend it?
certainly, to anyone who uses one of the vintage cameras from the list
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2009 Location: Beautiful Bavaria :-) Posts: 123
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 28, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | fits many camera models, easy to operate | | Cons: | quite noisy, weak battery door | |
You can't go wrong with this winder if you want to pimp your classic Pentax film camera! It fits:
ME-F, ME Super, ME, MG, MV-1, superA, SuperProgram, programA, ProgramPlus, P5, P50 (!!!)
Pentax engineers have created a versatile, yet easy to operate winder. The only thing to check with the camera beforehand is whether the camera batteries are fresh or sufficient, because the winder blocks the battery compartement door. Some cameras have a dust cap over the socket for the winder, unscrew it from the body and screw it into the reserved socket on the winder - excellent idea for not loosing those little caps!
Attaching is 5 seconds: place the camera on top of the winder and attach the winder to the tripod socket by turning a milled wheel on the back. Make sure body and winder are sitting flat.
You can choose between single shots and continuous mode and you can switch between "Auto" and "125x", thus synchronising the winder speed with the camera options (125x for use with flash).
The motor is quite noisy, but if a silent shot is required, you can operate the camera with the winder attached without using the winder! A remote cable is available (but very rare), take of the top button cover and stick&screw it into the socket.
A red LED indicates winding and some kind of status control. Unfortunately, rewinding is still fully manual, the winder does not offer this! It takes four AA batteries or rechargeables, leading us to the only real weakness: the plastic battery door clamp is the "predetermined breaking point" - and it breaks if not handled carefully! Other problem areas are the rake-like golden contacts below the shutter button, they tend to deform, but can be redone do-it-yourself.
Overall verdict: an all-time classic, inexpensive, versatile and easy to find!
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