I have recently retired and wish to take up photography again. I have an ME super 35 mm camera with three lenses. Would the lenses fit a modern camera body?

[Pablom]

You bet they will!

[hks_kansei]

To be more precise.

They certainly will fit modern bodies both film and digital.

The only thing you may notice is that if the lenses do not have an "A" setting on the aperture ring then you may need to change some settings on the Digital SLRs to enable the sperture ring to control the aperture, and not the body.
You will also need to use stop down metering (I've not done this before, so can't really give any more detail)

And of course, you won't have autofocus.



The bonus is that the older lenses are wonderful to use on a modern Pentax, I love the 50mm prime on my *ist to the point that I'm trying to buy a second one so I don't need to keep taking the 50 off my ME.

[RKKS08]

There are 2 more things which should be mentioned:

1) The sensor size of Pentax DSLRs is APS-C, which means roughly half the area of the 135 film of the ME Super. So the frame caught by a 50mm lens will be about as the frame a 75mm lens would catch with the ME Super. But DOF will still be more like it wasn't a 75mm.

2) If you own lenses made by Ricoh for PK Bayonet, there was no problem with the ME Super, but there may be a minor problem with any Pentax DSLR. The problem can be fixed, please search for "Ricoh pin" in this forum or in the net (BEFORE you try to attach a Ricoh lens to a Pentax DSLR body!).

[rbefly]

Hello Jake, Welcome to the Forum!
All the info above is correct, but it will be much easier to answer your question accurately if we know exactly which lenses you have. It's printed around the filter ring, like this;
SMC Pentax- M 1:2.8 28mm. Next will be the serial # and (Usually) Asahi Opt. Co.
Then we can tell you which functions work on those lenses without describing every function for every series of lenses.
Once you check the data, you might take a look at the lens reviews, to see what other users think of that lens. Very useful info!
Ron

Thanks to all for info. The original lens is an SMC Pentax- 1:1.7 50 mm, number 7308896 and a Vivitar 80-200mm 1:40 Macro focusing zoom MC No.77517956. It's over 30 years since I last took 35mm pictures and am rather rusty. I also have a Vivatar 3x-22 Tele convertor. Thanks again and regards to all.

[rbefly]

Hi Jake,
Thanks for the info on the lenses. There is one entry for the Vivitar zoom, here;
Vivitar 80-200mm F4 MACRO FOCUSING ZOOM MC Lens Reviews - Vivitar Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database
With your ME Super, both lenses will be manual focus, manual aperture.
For auto shutter speed (Aperture Priority), set the mode dial to "Auto". Now, as you change the aperture, the shutter speed will automatically change to compensate. For example, if the correct exposure at f/4.0 requires a shutter speed of 1/60s, changing the aperture to f/2.8 will change the shutter speed to 1/125s. By opening the lens one full stop, you're letting in twice as much light. This means the shutter speed should be increased 100% (twice as fast).
In "M" mode, you must set aperture AND shutter speed manually. The little up + down buttons next to the mode dial control shutter speed.

With a Digital body, the Vivitar zoom will work in Auto or Av mode differently. On the aperture ring, next to f/22 (or whatever the highest aperture value is) will be a little button. By pressing this button and turning the aperture ring PAST the highest f/stop (one click) it will lock into "Auto".
Now the f/stop can be controlled by a thumb-wheel on the body and the shutter speed will change to match it. This is equal to a Pentax "A" lens.
The fifty won't work in this auto mode, it's one series older than the "A". But it will still work manually on any newer body, as an manual focus, manual aperture and manual shutter speed lens.

Next, the green button! If you get a digital body, let us know and we'll try to help!
Ron

[Colbyt]

Jake as stated above your lenses will work but there is a learning curve. A curve that is greatly eased with Pentax A lenses. I suggest you at least get one of the kit lenses with your purchase to ease the transition. Save the old glass for the creative stuff that comes later.

Thanks once more to all who have contributed to my question. The info on the lenses was particularly helpful. Jake.