[brofkand]

I love Fuji Acros (or as Freestyle Photo calls it, LegacyPro 100 :-)), especially in medium format.

But for a starting film photographer, I'd stick with HP5 or Tri-X. They're good films.

If you want a slower film, Acros is good. I also love Plus-X. With a good negative, you'll get the most beautiful tones you've ever seen in B&W. Just like Kodak says, "When people say black and white, this is what they mean." Plus-X is also known as Arista Premium 100 by Freestyle Photo.

[Skullsroad]

Very nice. I wish I started with a Super but I jumped the gun and bought a P3 before doing any real research. I do love the black body though. Looks very stealthy with a black lens, rubber eye cup and a thin black strap. Ended up paying $80 for the body, a 50 f2 and a 70-210. The zoom lens is pretty worthless but I got a few fun shots with it. I'm pretty jealous that your kit came with a 1.4 plus the view finder on the ME series is superb.

[Turbo_Spool900]

Thanks! I'm having a lot of fun with it so far. I just developed my first roll of Ilford HP5+ B&W and the format is really drawing me in. The viewfinder is absolutely fantastic. Much better than the K-x in low light situations. I think I got really lucky finding this kit for so cheap. I saw the same lens for sale here for $175.

[royden]

Just picked up a ME super with a M50/2.0. A 1.4 would be nice. Got a Sunpak auto 144PC as well which fires when I depress the test button. I bought new batteries(3PK) # 357 which replaces among others a LR 44. It doesn't seem to turn on. I could not read the manual(link in titrisol's contribution above). I was asked for a password. Would appreciate your help.
I have a K-x, 18-55 D AL. 55-300 D AL. M50/1.7 and 2.0. Thx.
.........

[shiner]

I went through massive quantities of Tri-X and Plus-X in my ME Super and MX back in the 80's. Good find. I miss the truly small and stealthy 35mm cameras.

[stevebrot]

Just picked up a ME super with a M50/2.0. A 1.4 would be nice. Got a Sunpak auto 144PC as well which fires when I depress the test button. I bought new batteries(3PK) # 357 which replaces among others a LR 44. It doesn't seem to turn on. I could not read the manual(link in titrisol's contribution above). I was asked for a password. Would appreciate your help.
I have a K-x, 18-55 D AL. 55-300 D AL. M50/1.7 and 2.0. Thx.
.........

The password for all the manuals is "Pentax"...

• Takes two batteries.
• "+" side faces into the body.
• Mode selector must be off "L"

Steve

[Turbo_Spool900]

Loving the ME Super and film in general. Got some great shots using Ilford HP5+.



I had a question or three about flash and manual focus lenses. If I buy a hotshoe flash like the Metz 48 for my K-x, will I a) be able to use it with my manual focus lenses and b) will I be able to use it with my ME Super? I don't quite understand how P-TTL/Auto flashes work and what it all means. Does auto mean you have to have the camera in "auto" exposure program?

[titrisol]

Flash will work;
1. in the KX since you can only work in M-mode anyway you have to play a bit to find the best combination of flash+f/stop

2. Yes it will work but again it will be manual

[brecklundin]

congrats...that was my first Pentax body when they were new. Before then I originally learned on a Rollei Twin Lens (I am not sure if it was a Rolleicord or ???) and a 70s era Miranda. The Rollei was owned by the school but the to SLR's I bought new. I still have my ME Super in a drawer somewhere with a SMC 50mm and a 135mm which I don't remember the make...

Have fun with the Super it is a nice film body....

[royden]

The password for all the manuals is "Pentax"...

• Takes two batteries.
• "+" side faces into the body.
• Mode selector must be off "L"

Steve

Hi Steve, Thanks for the info. The old batteries work too. I notice the word "adaptall" in your list of lens. What is that?

[stevebrot]

Hi Steve, Thanks for the info. The old batteries work too. I notice the word "adaptall" in your list of lens. What is that?

Adaptall is a the trade name for lenses made by Tamron over at least a 30-year period. The lenses were generic and made to use an adapter that was specific to the brand of body to be used. Many adapters were available including two Pentax K-mount. One has the A-contacts and supports program and shutter-priority automation. The other is generic K-mount. The Adaptall and Adaptall-2 lenses were well-regarded back-in-the-day for both build and performance and continue to be popular now as used items. There is an "Adaptall Club" on the lens discussion forum on this site. Here is a link to a Web site (no longer actively maintained) specializing in Adaptall lenses:

adaptall-2.org

Steve

[EyeSpy]

I spent more years than I care to calculate shooting Kodachrome 64 with an ME Super. I found that the metering for views, buildings etc. was excellent if you dipped the camera a little and excluded most of the sky. If you metered including all the sky it tended, unsurprisingly, to under-expose by about a stop or stop and a half. On slide film that is too much! I used my ME Super almost entirely on manual and got used to the little buttons very quickly. I still find my forefinger seeking them out sometimes...

For BW I prefer to use Ilford Delta 100 ASA for fine grain images. I have had big problems with Tri-X 400 fogging probably due to airport x-rays (I travel a lot). I also find Kodak CN400BW film excellent and relatively cheap. It has a wide exposure latitude: over expose for fine grained but slightly flat images, under expose for contrasty but coarser grained images. I usually set the ASA dial to 320 which seems a good compromise. As it is a chromogenic film you can take it down to Happy Snaps (or whatever) and get it developed along with the colour print film. I, however, usually send it to a good quality developing firm as I had a few nice images ruined by poor developing and scratched negs.

Enjoy the ME Super. It may be a common camera, but they made and sold a lot of them for a very good reason!

K.

Wombie, I'm unclear. "It has a wide exposure..." you are referring to Delta 100 or Kodak CN400BW? As well setting the dial to 320 when using the Delta 100 or the Kodak CN......?

[womble]

Sorry. Kodak BW400CN is officially rated at ISO 400 but has such a wide exposure latitude that you will get very usable images from it at other ISOs without having to adjust the development times etc. I set my ISO to 320 (i.e. just 'over-exposing' a little) and generally meter for the shadows. Luckily, by scanning the negs and using photoshop one can restore some punch to the slightly flatter negs.

Here is one of my BW400CN images.



Best wishes, Kris.

[Wombat]

I'm so envious of the range of film you guys can buy. Here at the bottom of the world there ain't much choice.
Anyway, Ilford FP4 Plus at 125 ISO is also a pretty forgiving film when it comes to pushing and pulling. It can be a bit bland but that 1.4 lens will overcome that. I'm a big fan of the M series lenses. I know most people consider the A series in general is better but I just love the jewel-like quality and sturdy construction of the Ms. I get a kick out of going on a shoot with a group of friends and watching them struggling with their testosterone-dripping giant, heavy, wallet-challenging lenses - "Look how big mine is, boys" - while I'm quietly getting great results from these old, cheap, tiny, sweetly smooth gems. And of course they're a perfect fit with the M series cameras.
Enjoy.

[Cinders]

I just got an ME Super too. Gonna go pick up some batteries now, it didn't come with any, bought it from Keh.com and it's in excellent condition. The viewfinder is awesome, so much better than the K-x. I had a K-x but it was stolen, along with all my lenses. So now I have the M 50mm 1.7 that the ME came with, and my crappy Quantaray 100-300mm 4.5-6.7 lens.

I bought the ME Super because I just started a b&w photography class. She's making us use Tri-X 400. I've never done any developing before, this should be fun. I'm surprised how small the ME is, I knew it was small, but wasn't excepting it to be THAT small lol. Seeing this beautiful viewfinder kinda makes me curious as to how much better the MX's viewfinder is.