Revived! Super A and ME

[zoren]

hi guys,

im a newbie and i need help.

i recently have been quite interested in taking nicer, quaility pictures and realised that my point and shoot compacts dun seem to give me what i want. the good thing is, i juz dug out my dad's really old Asahi Pentax ME and Super A cameras bought in 1979. i must say, they look pretty cool, and they are in mint condition as well, despite they being older than me. only thing is, according to my dad, the inside sponge has sort of disintegrated and he din recommend using them. should i get them serviced? if yes, where?

ultimately, i would like to get a current DSLR body to match the lens that i have. but are they compatible? i've got 3 different lens, a SMCP-M 75-150mm/f4, SMCP-M 35mm/f2.8, SMCP-A 70-210mm, all are Pentax K mount bayonet i did do a quick check and apparently i quote,' K-mount lenses usable with restrictions'. what does that translate that into?

pls advise! thank you!!

[berry]

The light seals have to replace due to age. TCW can replace it, which I think not xpensive.

M75-150mm/f4 & M35mm/f2.8 or any manual lenses can be uses on any Pentax DSLR. With K10D, needs to press the green button for metering (bcoz there's no communications between the lens and body), a little slow on operation and manual focus only. Nice lenses, but heavy.

SMC-A 70-210mm can be uses in any mode, but maunal focus only. Good lens!

Hope these helps. Enjoy!

[knyghtfall81]

Actually, there's one thing I would like to take the opportunity to clarify: I was of the impression that you need to use the green button when using M series or earlier lenses with the K100D, and not for the K10D. I thought the K10D can meter using the aperture setting on the lens and set the appropriate exposure, just that it will not display the aperture info in the viewfinder or the LCD. Anyone with the K10D could clarify?

[Erenon]

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00L0W8

Has the low down on how to do it with the k100d. I expect the K10d to be pretty similar. IMportant note is with the M series or earlier lenses, aperture has to be set manually (ie using the aperture ring on the lens itself.

[knyghtfall81]

Originally Posted by Erenon http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00L0W8 Has the low down on how to do it with the k100d. I expect the K10d to be pretty similar. IMportant note is with the M series or earlier lenses, aperture has to be set manually (ie using the aperture ring on the lens itself.

Agree that the aperture is set using the aperture ring. Hm, i expect the K10D to be different from the K100D though - the K100D is on a "crippled" KAF2 mount, whereas I thought the K10D was on the KAF2 mount. I'm not technical expert, but got this from third party websites on pentax that i found

[berry]

I dun have the 100D. To use M lenses, the 10D too, needed to set in the menu to "Aperture ring Permitted" to use any M or S lenses, but have to press the Green button for metering or the aperture will not stop down. Stopping down by aperture ring on the lenses will not give correct value, bcoz there isn't any communication between body & lens (the design is different from the old camera body, a level in the mount to tell the position of the aperture ring is missing on modern body).

NB;
The SMC-A and SMC-FA lenses have to switch to "A" position, or it will perform like manual lenses.

[ilario]

Yes, i own a 50mm M lens. Turn on "Aperture ring Permitted" as berry said in the CUSTOM functions menu(its very easy to spot it, enable custom functions and search for it). You'll see ur aperture "F--" and u have to control it via the aperture ring of ur lens.

The restrictions are very minor: 1) inbuilt flash fires in full force, doubt theres a way to customise, 2) no program mode; only Aperture priority and manual and maybe bulb.

In manual mode, the green button works too but its more like an aperture priority. It will set a shutter speed relative to the aperture u chose on the lens.

For the "A" series lens u probably have an "A" on the aperture ring. Simply select that instead of the aperture numbers and you get full function (program mode, flash, etc).

[creampuff]

When using a M series and older lens, whether on the K100D or K10D, the most accurate mode to use is in Manual mode. Assuming you have set the Aperture ring to Permitted in the Custom menu, adjusted the AF or MF switch, you will have to press the Green button to enable the camera meter to obtain a stop down meter reading. This is because the camera has no way of determining the aperture that was set manually.

For the older M lenses, you can set the mode dial to Av (aperture priority) but the camera will always shoot at the maximum aperture regardless of the aperture setting on the aperture ring.

When used with the M series and earlier lenses, the K10D meter tends to overexpose when a smaller aperture is used and is a known issue. No such problems with the K100D.

Because there is no communication between camera and lens with the pre-A series lenses, the exif reading will be incomplete and there will be no aperture used indicated.

[zoren]

wow weee! thanks for clearing up the limitations part. at least now i have a clearer picture of what to do next.

i did check out a couple of stores in town, like Lord in lucky plaza, its seems that Pentax isn't carried really carried by the stores there. any recommendations to check out more Pentax cameras? is there a flagship store of sorts for Pentax in SG?

oh btw, roughly how much would TCW charge for the repairs? any ideas?

[alanswan]

Lucky plaza isn't the sort of place any local would typically go to look for cameras anyways.
Authorised dealers in Singapore for Pentax slr equipments includes, Cathay Photo (CP) in Peninsular, Alan Photo (AP) in Sim Lim and Funan (but I never liked the outlet in Funan) and MS Color (MSC) in Ang Mo Kio.
Orient Photo (OP) in Sim Lim is not in the list, but they do their own import/sale and provide either shop or international warranty (depending on whether its lens or body or others). They do however, also carry a much wider range of products and offer a very competitive price compared to the "authorised dealers".
This makes very popular within this forum...

[ilario]

MS Color @ AMK.
Don't go to lucky plaza. ever. Bad attitudes, ripoffs, expensive, bad deal! Dont go to shops @ sim lim square except for Orient photo and Alan Photo UNLESS you know someone there. I bought my cam there for cheap simply cuz i got a friend that knows someone there. If not get chopped

[zoren]

my legs are tired.

today i went to SLS to check out the Pentax DSLR. first, i went to Alan Photo but apparently they had run out of stock for both K100D and K10D. then, i forgot what the other shop was (Orient Photo) and went from shop to shop to look see. in the end i went into this one shop at the corner. salesman, typical SLS uncle attitude, quoted me slightly below (are we allowed to post prices here in this forum?) $900 for the K100D kit. i din bother asking bout the K10D or trying it out cuz he seemed to disinterested.

next i walked down to Penisular trying to find a shop called The Camera Workshop (TCW) but to no avail. only like got alot of myanmar shops. I found a shop 'Alex ...' (forgot already) but he said he din sell Pentax. i tried to find for Cathay also cannot find. sheesh, i think i was really lost.

then i went down Funan. the Alan Photo branch there din carry Pentax. So i went to John 3.16. finally, a place that was warm and friendly. even tho they din have stock, they offered to check it out for me, recommend other brands etcetera... really nice folks. thats what i call customer service.

anyways, im still quite On bout finding a Pentax DSLR sp i can make my decision. maybe i'll try MS color at AMK since its recommended!

[Gengh]

Don't torture yourself like that.... Give the shops a call and find out if they have stock, at what price, and their addresses. Or drop them an email and give them a couple of days to reply.

I think your best chance of finding something lies with MS, Cathay and Orient Photo, John 3:16's service is great, but Pentax has no presence there.

Since you have some lenses already, why not consider fengwei's K100D body that he has put up on B&S? If you want the kit lens, I remember seeing many WTS threads too.

[zoren]

yes yes! i juz saw fengwei's post for the K100D body only. seems tempting but no warranty and thats kinda important to me.

juz read thru and watch some videos on the K20D and K200D. like lagi better than the current models. should i hold out till they are available?

[flowerpot]

Originally Posted by zoren yes yes! i juz saw fengwei's post for the K100D body only. seems tempting but no warranty and thats kinda important to me. juz read thru and watch some videos on the K20D and K200D. like lagi better than the current models. should i hold out till they are available?

fengwei's deal is very very worth it...warranty is of course important but usually ppl selling are pretty honest...if u cannot trust fengwei then u can forget about buying from anyone

The models looks great on paper...but im giving a miss for CMOS for now...There is still no confirmation when the new models will be available here, anyway im not waiting...

[fengwei]

Originally Posted by flowerpot fengwei's deal is very very worth it...warranty is of course important but usually ppl selling are pretty honest...if u cannot trust fengwei then u can forget about buying from anyone ...

Thanks flowerpot, that's so nice of you saying so

[zoren]

wow! so many Ups for Fengwei's sale. sounds good! hmmmm....

i was juz reading up and realised that there's a K100D Super. whats the difference? is it juz like D40 and D40x?

and it seems that neither has the extra weather seal thingy. man, i think thats important, since i think i can be quite rough with it.

would anyone recommend a K10D then? i can tell that its a good camera cuz no one wants to sell theirs. haha

[istDeS]

Originally Posted by zoren wow! so many Ups for Fengwei's sale. sounds good! hmmmm.... i was juz reading up and realised that there's a K100D Super. whats the difference? is it juz like D40 and D40x? and it seems that neither has the extra weather seal thingy. man, i think thats important, since i think i can be quite rough with it. would anyone recommend a K10D then? i can tell that its a good camera cuz no one wants to sell theirs. haha

K100D and K100D super are quite similar except the later has features of the dust removal system and support for SDM lenses.

Zenten is selling his K10D.

[alanswan]

I also thinking of Fengwei's K100D...
Wondering if I should get the K20D later in the year and keep my K10D as backup,
or buy his K100D as backup and much later, upgrade my K10D to K20D... :s

[Gengh]

Originally Posted by zoren i was juz reading up and realised that there's a K100D Super. whats the difference? is it juz like D40 and D40x? and it seems that neither has the extra weather seal thingy. man, i think thats important, since i think i can be quite rough with it.

How rough? I've brought my K100D to below zero degrees, used it in light drizzles, and had my own sweat drip onto it quite a bit, it's still alive and kicking.... Maybe I'm just lucky