Pentax ME Super or Pentax MX
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ย. 2021
- A question you might not have asked yourself, until now.
Which camera would win my heralded approval? The fan favorite ME Super or the mysterious newcomer in the MX?
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I have an MX and I love it. My favorite feature is the light meter. When you partially push down the shutter button it activates the light meter but if you prefer, you can then move the film advance lever to the first detent position and the light meter stays on no longer requiring you to partially hold down the shutter button. That's a plus because it keeps you from accidentally firing the shutter while you make your f-stop adjustments watching the light meter. Also really love the little window in the viewfinder that shows you your f-stop setting. I just bought an ME Super on eBay today. Looking forward to getting that, giving it a CLA, then get out and shoot with it
PS
There is always something that could be better. But when the camera never fails - you live with it and get used to it.
I really enjoyed the video. Thank you 👍😊 The video just made me remember my old MX. A WORKHORSE 😂💋❤
Again - thanks for the video. Really mean it.
Regards Jesper
I am definitely on the opposite side... I vastly prefer the MX but really appreciate the ME/Super/Super-Program. My problem with the latter from a shooting perspective is just never liking the push-button controls. I've put 20-30x more rolls through an MX though. Meanwhile, for a period of time the LX seemed like the answer to all my prayers but it has a similar electronic Achilles heel as the ME line. So, this brought me back to the MX. I have had at least two for years, and as many as five when I was fixing them (not to your level though).
In the past 5 years though I fell deep, DEEP into the Konica rabbit hole sort of by accident. I have several Autoreflexes (T3, TC, T4, FT-1) now and my many years with a Pentax as primary 35mm system have weirdly almost come to a hault.
.... Without yammering too much, the Autoreflex T4 has replaced (somehow) my longtime black MX as a favorite daily driver, and in a scrappy way it soothes what I miss (or don't trust) about the LX and other AE capable bodies. It's so simple, but so capable and compact and lightweight. It feels and handles great in the hand and its offer shutter-priority (which it bizarrely, slowly, coaxed me into preferring over aperture-priority, at least in the way Konica implements it)... *plus* even without that, it's still mechanical and does not require that system to function at all. It's the best of all the worlds to me annnnnnnnd it shoots HEXANONS. ❤ It's only flaw to me is that the viewfinder just can't compete with ME Super/MX/LX for their clarity, size and brightness, but the T4 does so much else right for me that I forgive it completely.
You should seek one if you've not spent time with one. Reliable, capable little gems that no one (and I mean NO one) is talking about at all.
do you clean and fix cameras? picked up a second hand ME Super, and its kinda gross. Dials are sticky and don't move easily, and id love to have it disassembled and cleaned if I could..
Can’t agree more about your complaint of the winding feeling on MX😂😊
I’m having serious trouble putting the self timer lever on the Mx. do you have any tips?
Had an MX years ago in 1995. Bumped it through Namibia for 6 month. Rain, dust and heavy use. Never failed. Since 1995 it`s been a Leica M6 becise I wanted to upgrade and the money. Much more heavy use. The MX never failed - the Leica the same. Buying an MX for my daughter. She`s got my old Pentax lenses. 28, 50 and 135. She want`s to learn taking pictures with film aged 25. Same manuel settings opportunities as the Leica. That`s why. Looking forward to feel the MX again 🥰
I`m still with my loved Leica. Also an M8.2. Never use the 8.2.
MX is the best!!!!!!
The MX is much better than the ME Super. I’ve seen so many ME’s in the parts bin compared to MX.
The nice thing about the ME Super is that outside of some extreme examples they all share some common issues and the repairs are never too strenuous if you know what you're doing. But again I'm pretty biased haha thanks for watching!
@@RompingBronco I wonder if the ME is common in that regard. Mine will shoot fine, and then wildly underexpose for a few random frames, and then be fine again. Any idea on why or the fix there? 🤗
Recently picked up an MX and cant wait to try it. I have an ME Super with the pancake lens and its good but one thing I hate is the shutter speed dial and prefer what the mx has lol. I have a K1000 as well and one thing I wish that Pentax kept is the tick light meter that the K1000 has. Not a fan of the light meter with the Me Super and MX. I do know the MX has a pretty accurate light meter in low light situations. Really want an LX :-)
i got an LX recently but came with sticky mirror & more worrisome, light-meter indicator issues .. might swap the MESuper 4 a purely mechanical MX
@@jocknarn3225 yup its basically a Pentax K1000 but smaller and lighter lol
As a long time owner and user of both, all I can say is that I have had problems with both. I have had problems with my KM too. All have been fixed though. I am waiting for my LX to have its sticky mirror fixed too. I have also had minor problems with such pro models as Nikon's F3 and FM2. If you are going to buy an old camera, please factor in the cost of any future repair or service. Generally it is true to say that mechanical cameras are more likely to be repairable than an electronic one.
In actual use I enjoy both the MX and ME Super about equally. Both have really nice viewfinders, both are nice in the hand. It depends if one prefers a shutter speed dial or buttons to change shutter speed. You can tell at a glance from above what shutter speed you are on with the MX but with the ME Super you either have to remember what it is set to or look in the viewfinder first. TBH its no big deal either way.
I've nearly bought a second late-model LX ore times than I can count in the past 8 or 9 years but never pull the trigger. The one I own has erratic AE behavior stemming from PCB weirdness... It's remained the same (i.e. it has never gotten any worse since it began sometimes around early 2015) and I'm familiar with its weirdness and can work around it, but I just don't trust it at all. Which is a bummer because were it not for those electronic issues they all can fall to, it would be my "one" camera above any other. The MX has that spot for Pentaxes again by attrition. :)
But as I mentioned in my own comment, that "one" status overall was moved to the Konica T4. Never saw that coming, but it's my favorite 35mm of the many (far too many) I've owned, and has been now for 5 or more years.
@@therealchickentender It's odd isn't it how a relatively small manufacturer can capture one' s heart? My all time favourite SLR is the Fujica ST 801n. Coupled with a 55m Fujinon EBC f1.8 or Voigtlander 40mm SL in M42 I think it's sublime. Like yourself I own far too many!
@@richardhale9664 It's a big world out there. Konica was no small manufacturer by any means though. They were an enormous player and present in many markets around the world. They never released a system that truly catered to the pro (same with Pentax) in the way Canon and Nikon poured money and marketing into doing, but their overall market share was very sizeable for quite a long time. They and Topcon were particularly prevalent in Asia. But I get your meaning... these days they seem like a footnote in the minds of current film shooters.
Just got my hands on a secondhand Pentax me super. Body is in beautiful condition and the shutter works great. The only problem I’ve noticed and it’s driving me crazy is the led viewfinder. I’ve replaced batteries and put them in correctly but the viewfinder is still not lighting up on the side. So I have no idea what shutter speed the camera is set to. Have you run across this problem before and can it be fixed?
Thanks for the comment! The default mechanical shutter speed of an ME Super without power is going to be 1/125, it sounds like you are having a power issue which can typically by fixed! I would recommend setting the dial to Auto and just pressing on the shutter button just to confirm it isn’t working and if it still isn’t fill out a form on my website www.rompingbronco.com and I’ll get back to you about potential solutions!
No power 😔 I’ll fill out the form. Thanks so much for the help!
Thanks for the video. Working through your presentations as a new subscriber.
Yep ....have the MX in lovely working condition and sadly an ME F complete with the pristine auto focus pentax zoom lens with the mirror locked up. Took the baseplate off and quickly put it back on...not a job I'm going to tackle any time soon, have you worked on one yet?
As a beginner, me super seems just more user-friendly for me because of the "automatic" mode. However, I've heard so many stories of them breaking and my own me-f has a sticky mirror so I might take more time to learn film camera and buy the MX instead.
The few ME-F's I dealt with had some power failing issues but I always chalked that up to I wasn't working with the highest quality of ME-F out there so I can't speak too much to that but I will be the first to tell you that the ME Super has it's flaws and for just the peace of mind I would say the MX is probably a good bet. I hope you find one that you like and thanks for watching!
@@RompingBronco yeah ME-F definitely can have lots of problems but I feel like it's such an unique camera I'm still holding on mine. Even better with it's trademark lens.
All of Japans big five camera manufacturers made excellent equipment in the 70's and 80's. Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus and Minolta were all top grade.
When I was working out of a Studio run be real Pros, we used mostly Nikon gear. But in the field I saw Pros actively using all Japanese made gear.
One fellow who did high money contract work loved his Pentax gear. And retired young with heaps of 💰💰💰 in the bank!
Очень интересно ВЫ видео снимаете, в полутьме и с боковым светом))) Классно!!!!
Black cameras on a black background, with one harsh side light. Genius.
😎
Very interesting to hear a tech’s perspective on these cameras. I’ve been shooting Pentax since the MX came out, but I couldn’t afford one until 20 years ago. I eventually added a chrome body as a backup, and both recently broke. Also, yes, one of my LX’s has developed the sticky shutter. I have never, ever seen an ME-Super fully working. My two K-1000’s soldier on.
Thanks for watching and it's always a pleasure to meet a fellow pentax shooter! What was your experience with the LX pre sticky shutter? I'm intrigued but not quite ready to jump into that. K1000's are almost bulletproof, my previous video I took a "modded" K1000 out on a photo walk and I was very impressed .
@@RompingBronco The LX is probably my favorite camera. The size and layout are perfect for me, and it is a great platform for using M-42 lenses. The meter works great. Unfortunately, I don’t think I would trust one anymore. 4 years ago, I took one on vacation as my only camera. All my shots came out great, but I wouldn’t do that again.
@@RompingBronco That modded K1000 was quite a trip
@@jonlouis2582 I feel exactly the same about the LX. It's my favorite 35mm overall from any maker... but I don't trust it further than I can throw. It's kinda sad.
I have three ME Super paperweights and 1 still working MX. The ME super feels good in the hand but I agree it's very difficult to find one that doesn't have a bad shutter. I also like the K1000 for it's simplicity and the sexy shutter sound.
I prefer the MX 4 its all-mechanical reliability & crucially, repairability. The aperture viewer thingey's handy too. Compact & solid. Sorta along the lineage from K-1000, KX to MX. I do dislike the button operated electronic shutter-speed controls .. guess it keeps u in the viewfinder. These cameras r real small .. perhaps even 4 my modest paws, a tad fiddly .. tho i know that was the selling pt back then.
I never liked the MX meter lights. I used to have a couple of them and always migrated back to the ME or ME Super. Much prefer the KX when it comes to all mechanical.
MX
I've had three ME supers, one was a family hand me down that was very well cared for and the other two were used ones I purchased because I liked the camera. the original one developed a slow shutter, I had it repaired, and then a few years later it broke again in the same way. The two used ones both had the same problem without much use as well. Then I just started buying them for dirt cheap for the lens that was being sold with them and all of those examples were also broken in the same way (I did score a few really nice SMC-M lenses though). Shutter problems are a big issue with the ME Super. Meanwhile the MX that my father used since 1981 and gave to me in 1996 is still working, I was just shooting with it yesterday. I did have the take up spool fixed once and after 30 years the secondary shutter curtain stopped working but I was able to have it fixed about 10 years ago and it still works well today. In my experience The ME Super just isn't worth the money to have fixed because it won't last but the MX will take repair and work for years more without issues. It's a shame because I did really like using the ME Super but it's getting impossible to find a good one. I would just buy an MX which isn't that expensive really, get it CLA'ed and then shoot without worry. I wouldn't recommend the ME Super to anyone especially not starting off in film and definitely not to someone wanting to save money. Buy cheap buy twice really applies to the ME Super.
Thank you for this point, I am actually considering revisiting this topic because I've found myself using an MX more than an ME Super lately and I believe that being transparent with my preferences and experiences could help people save a bit of money and a bit of heartache down the line. Always love to hear people's stories as well so thank you for that!
Aperture in viewfinder. Minolta did that forever.
Minolta aperture window is in the bottom of the prism whereas Nikon and Pentax aperture windows are in the top of the prism. The only reason I know that is I tried to replace a bad KX prism with a Minolta X-570 prism I had laying around and yeah took too much finagling so ended up using an FE. It's a great feature though!
If you check the ME Super's manual, you'll see that the Super's metal shutter was made by Seiko, not Copal. Just sayin'. Carry on.
Good catch, I appreciate the correction!
The ME Super should cost more than the MX... The Super-A is the 🐐
I would agree I think the ME Super brings more to the table but I'm a sucker for an all mechanical camera. The Super A is an A plus for sure but shooting it in low light leaves the LED readout almost useless but other than that a great camera as well. Thanks for watching!
@@RompingBronco The best way around the Super A limitation at night is to gaff tape a small glowstick on the front of the light intake... It worked for me.
@@punkrachmaninoff Honestly that's a great idea, I think I'll have to try that out with the Program Plus that I have. Thank you!
@@RompingBronco Yeah, they sell them at the fishing stores. Totally a weird thing, you should make a video if it works out!! Hahahaha. Drive the prices up on those two (very underrated) camera's.
It does cost more than the MX because it will break and you'll be paying $$$ to have it fixed.