Pentax ME Super Woes

XA2inmypocket

XA2inmypocket

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I've bought a third screwed ME Super on a certain popular auction site that starts with E (when will I learn not to go on there!).

ME Super 1.

Worked great for a while. Beautiful little 35mm SLR. Sexy. Then the perished light seals leached including from the mirror pad. It got worse. The leached glue ran down into the shutters. Like a berk I tried forcing and the mechanism didn't like it. End of Attempt 1.

ME Super 2.

To be fair - this one was sold as seen and as spares or repairs. When I received it, I saw that it had a knock on the film cassette side. The body was dented, and as a result, the film cassette holder was slightly tilted. Still. It worked, so this time, I refitted it with new light seals before I had the previous problem. However - that dent caused problems. Because the film holder was on the slant, it kept ripping the sprocket holes out of films. I'd get 10 - 20 exposures out of a 36 exposure film. I gave it up. Wasn't easy, because the camera was otherwise magic.

I have had a love affair with the SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 for years. I'm convinced that it is the Messiah of Light.

ME Super 3.

Let down again. As soon as I received it - first thing I tend to do, is test the shutter. It didn't work. It was listed as operational, but then the seller added that it hadn't been used for several years so was sold as seen. Despite taking the effort to clean it up, he didn't apparently notice that the shutter mechanism was failing. I feel like giving up. I just can't seem to find a Pentax ME Super that works. Not only that, but when I've dallied with other 35mm SLRs I've had other problems. Its like I'm cursed against owning a decent 35mm SLR.

However, I guess the reason that I'm posting this - besides to warn others of the perils of using online auction sites to buy 30 year old cameras, and to get this off my chest - I know have three ME Super bodies. Does anyone here know a website or book that could help a short sighted, inexperienced, all thumbs, loser take them apart in the attempt of building one really SUPER ME out of three?
 
Think I have an me super with a dicky shutter in the loft! Works unless there is a battery in it, then it sticks. Think they have a magnetic one that sticks.

I'd buy one from Harrison cameras as all their stuff comes with a 12 month warranty.
 
Hmm, think I've got one - my Son has "borrowed" it. Not sure if it works though - he muttered (as young adults do) about it tearing up the sprockets on the film he tried in it. This could entirely be because he's never been shown how to load a film in a camera and "borrowed" it without asking. I've got the Pentax-M 50mm 1.4 on Ebay at the moment. Think there is a 28 2.8 on the camera itself that he's got. Must have words....possibly coming to a popular auction site soon!
 
Reminded me to check on the lens sale - £21 at the moment, ends tomorrow. I thought it might fetch more tbh for a 1.4 lens. I've only used it a couple of times as an experiment via an adaptor on my DSLR. Has a nice quality to it, but too much faff for me on digital.
 
I would take all three to a camera technician and have him build a keeper from them. It will cost about 50 quid but you should get a good as new camera that you know is going to last.

I just ballsed up a mint Canon fd 135mm f3.5 dicking about trying to fix a stuck apperture and for an encore dismantled an om 50mm 1.8 which I am now gurning at in confusion. If you want some light reading take a look at the service manual for an olympus om1, jesus!

I am now cured of fixing photography stuff

Steve
 
Simes123 said:
Reminded me to check on the lens sale - £21 at the moment, ends tomorrow. I thought it might fetch more tbh for a 1.4 lens. I've only used it a couple of times as an experiment via an adaptor on my DSLR. Has a nice quality to it, but too much faff for me on digital.
Click to expand...

Got a link to that?
 
That's a sad story, but interesting, as I have a Pentax ME (not Super) bought by me new in the late 1970s, that has recently started tearing the sprocket holes of film. I've put it on a shelf for now, with an intention of sending it to the guys in Harrow (ex-Pentax... I asked Miles Whitehead about another problem, the failing stand-off spring on the wind lever, but he can't find replacements). I'm using a pair of Pentax MXs instead now, which is easier to get my simple brain around when swapping cameras (one colour, one black and white film, since you ask). As suggested above, I would think asking someone like Miles would be a good idea, given you have 3 bodies, 2 of which you could probably donate as a source of spares as part of a deal!
 
Does the praktica nova take the same pentax fit lenses? That's another basic body.
 
XA2inmypocket said:
Does anyone here know a website or book that could help a short sighted, inexperienced, all thumbs, loser take them apart in the attempt of building one really SUPER ME out of three?
Click to expand...

As an alternative, I have a working ME Super you can have for the cost of postage if you want a fourth one.


Steve.
 
I'm not back in the UK until November but I also have a beater that (worked) that I almost wore out

plus a LNIB that I only used a couple of times, bought it as a back up as I really liked the size of the "Pentax Leica" as it was sometimes called

Beater.jpg


Pentax.jpg
 
Wouldn't bother with Harrow tbh, wasn't particularly impressed with what they did to my LX.
 
I used these guys to service my Pentax 67 http://www.asahiphoto.co.uk/ not particularly cheap but good and quick, plus it's just down the road for me so I can drop off and pick up in person.
 
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