B. Film Camera - Pentax ME and MX

[Wheelu]

There is a dearth of posting on this here part of the forum, but, undeterred, I will press on and give my views on two of Pentax's classics, the ME Super and the MX.

They are of course film cameras, and they date from, I guess, the 70s. I have had an ME Super from new, but bought a secondhand MX last year. This year I took them both on a cycling holiday, using Provia in the ME and HP5 in the MX, so I got a good feel for their comparative merits.

First the viewfinder. Magnificent, splendid, absolutely corkingly wonderful. If you have had the misfortune to have spent your entire photographic career peering down the periscope of a DSLR, then you have never lived. This is how a viewfinder should be.

Next ergonomics. These are small and light cameras, they fit easily in the hand, and, with a small lens attached, will fit into an overcoat pocket. They are simple cameras, but everything falls into place, in my view the Pentax M series cameras should be a design icon, this is how cameras can and should be.

The ME Super has an electronically controlled vertically running shutter with TTL metering that will set the shutter speed to the required value in a continuous range (i.e. not limited to particular settings like 1/100) from 4s to 1/2000s. The selected speed is shown via a series of LEDs to the left of the viewfinder. You set the aperture on the lens. You can override the meter's setting by 2 stops either way, or change the ISO for further/more detailed adjustment. Full manual override is available via a couple of buttons on the top plate, but then you are limited to the normal discreet range of speeds.

The MX is a fully manual camera. You set the speed and aperture using external controls. There is a match needle meter visible within the viewfinder, that also displays the selected shutter speed. A little window ahead of the pentaprism peers down onto the lens barrel to show, rather indistinctly, the selected aperture. The shutter is a horizontally running cloth thing, with speeds between 1 and 1/1000th second.

The ME Super is a joy to use, most of the time the primitive exposure meter gets it right, but it is of course foxed by backlight or other oddities. The downside is that, as an early electronic gismo, there are very definite reliability issues with the little black boxes that lurk within. If your batteries should pack up you can still shoot, but you are limited to a single shutter speed, 1/125.

The MX takes a bit more getting used to, but, being in permanent manual mode does have its advantages. It forces you to think about every shot. You quickly realise that, as you move the camera about, the recommended exposure changes, and then you have to decide what is the exposure that you want to get the effect that you require. Of course you can use the ME Super in the same way, but the auto feature makes me lazy! (Actually I find the ME Super easier to use in manual mode than the MX, the speeds are easier to adjust with the camera to the eye.)

The MX, being a fully manual beast, does not care whether or not the battery is healthy or indeed even within the camera. Sure you lose the meter, but, being raised with cameras without meters, that's no big deal for me. It's also, I suspect, a good deal more reliable than the ME.

Which one would I choose? Impossible, rather like my children, I love them both. Long live film!

I do possess and use a DSLR, see my Canon 20D review, but it's just not the same as the wonderful Pentax M series.

[dangie]

Now that I finally accept that digital is here to stay and it's not a two minute wonder, what I would give to have a digital version of the Pentax MX. Leave the body and controls the same, just replace the innards with a sensor and memory card...Wonderful..!!!

[Dave_Cox]

I've used the ME and MX, and they're both good cameras. Currently I have a P30 and P50 just for the AE functions with my later lenses - I think the exposure metering improved a bit over the years as well!

I often carry the P50 alongside the K20d - and only one set of lenses for the two...less weight on my shoulder and the best of film and digital.

[Malcolm_Stewart]

My main disappointment with my ME Super is that the exposure compensation is limited to whole stops, and this is too coarse for slide film. I know that changing the film speed can give 1/3stop steps, but other cameras were offering 1/2 stops in the compensation area.

Otherwise, it's great.

[Benchista]

I never liked the ME Super - no DOF preview and silly buttons rather ruin it for me. However, the MX is a delight. My favourite small, compact, manual SLR. Superb.

[Straightarm]

The MX is a fully manual camera. You set the speed and aperture using external controls. There is a match needle meter visible within the viewfinder, that also displays the selected shutter speed. A little window ahead of the pentaprism peers down onto the lens barrel to show, rather indistinctly, the selected aperture. The shutter is a horizontally running cloth thing, with speeds between 1 and 1/1000th second.

I thought the MX had LEDs to set the exposure, red amber and green, rather than a needle

The MX is a very nice camera, its compact design possbily being influenced by the success of the OM1, and a far, far superior camera to the K1000 that people seemed to think was the "ideal" starter SLR.

[Wheelu]

I thought the MX had LEDs to set the exposure, red amber and green, rather than a needle

Whoops, you are quite right, I wrote the piece from memory without peering through the viewfinder. My apologies

There is a small rotating transparent dial showing the selected shutter speed and alongside a row of 5 LEDs. The outermost pair are red, the second pair amber and the inner one green, representing a correct exposure.