Starting With Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR

The Pentax ME Super first made in 1979 and finished production in 1983. This is a wonderful full-frame SLR camera and we're going to break this down to see how we can start shooting with it.

The 28mm F2.8 lens is a wonderfully small, nimble little thing. It is a very compact lens and packs a punch. You will find the aperture and shutter controls on the lens itself. In the video, I demonstrate how you can adjust these controls.

Pentax is a very reliable brand, as such, it became trusted amongst professionals and hobbyists alike. Therefore, it should be relatively easy to pick up one on eBay. However, I would recommend popping into a local vintage camera store. You will be able to talk to someone about the camera and feel more confident with your purchase.

At the front of the camera you've got a timer. You can pull this down. Once you hit the shutter release, it'll start going and then it takes about 10 seconds for it to get to its point. So enough time for you to run to get into the shot. There you go. That's the front of the camera.

At the top of the camera you've got your bracketing exposure setting so if you want to change it, it's really quite simple. You just rotate the dial and then you're good to go. It is a little simpler and easier than the Nikon FA equivalent. Also at the top, you will find your shutter release which you can pop a cable release into.

With such a compact design it is even more handy to have a hot shoe available at the top. Just be really mindful that when you put on a trigger or a remote, when you're taking it off, do so slowly. You don't want to lose the metal contacts from the hot shoe! Considering that this is a very old camera it might be difficult for you to get some new ones on. Ultimately, it will be very pricey for you.

In comparison with the Nikon FA there are fewer modes to choose from. The three available are, manual mode, as well as the auto mode.

One of my favourite things about this camera is the traffic light system which you can see inside the viewfinder. This could be particularly useful for any new film photographer with no light meter. That way you're going to make sure that you've got your subject, your scene well exposed for. To make the light meter work, you will need two L1154 Cells. You can find these online from a good electrical retailer. It is straightforward to pop in and I would strongly recommend putting in a couple, especially if you don't have a light meter.

To release the film back all you need to do is lift the little dial at the top of the camera and then it will pop open. You can go ahead and pop your film in there. Pull it across to the other side. The spool on the right hand side of the camera is very unique. It's very easy to put the film tongue into this and then you can just go ahead and kind of rotate the film. It will catch on very quickly and easily. This was, I think, unique compared to other 35mm cameras from its time. Once you've got that done, you can go ahead and shut the back and make sure that you've got that shut down and go ahead and shoot to your heart's content.

In the video I show the similarities and differences between the 28mm and 50mm in terms of weight and size. Pentax lenses are excellent and think carefully about what type of images you enjoy taking before committing to a new set of lenses.

This Pentax ME Super has a faster, lighter full manual exposure control than the K1000 available. It also has a cable release function so you can pop in the cable release into the top here and use that as well. I think this is a wonderful street photography camera.

It's so easily held. It's light, it's portable, it's quite friendly in the way that it looks, and also when you're carrying it. For any beginner photographer I would strongly recommend getting one of these. Particularly for those of you who don't have light meters and want to use one that's already built in, this will be perfect for you. Just to make sure that you get those shots absolutely well exposed.

Considering the Pentax, they had so many of these cameras out there. If something does go wrong then you've got options to find ways of fixing it. However, even if the battery stops working the light meter stops working, as it is a fully mechanical camera, so it will carry on working without those functions!

I'd love to hear from you as well. What's the best way to shoot with this? Doesn't really matter whether you're shooting colour, slide film, black and white film, everything's going to work here. Just make sure that you expose it well. Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!

This Is Why Everyone Raves About Portra 160 On Yashica Mat 124g And Nikon FA

In this shoot I mixed it up and was shooting with the Yashica Mat 124G and the Nikon FA with some wonderful Portra 160. Now in rarity we get bright blue skies in London, England. I finally had the chance to check it out on both Medium Format and 35mm and it was not going to disappoint!

Both these cameras I have shot outdoors with natural light but not in these conditions before. Previously I had shot with the Yashica and Portra 160 in very cloudy and wet weather and got some modest results and I hadn't shot Portra 160 on 35mm before so I was quite excited about this.

What I enjoy about using the Yashica Mat 124G is the viewfinder on top, you can just pop it open and there’s this little magnifying glass inside so you can go super into detail framing the shot.

One of the great things about shooting with this camera is it forces you to move, move into new angles and positions which you would not consider when using a regular 6x45, 6x7 or if you’re going full out on a 6x9 medium format camera.

The Yashica comes with a f2.8 viewing lens, but the taking lens is f3.5, which is pretty much the same as a Rolleiflex Camera. As I mentioned before, the image in the waist level viewfinder is so beautiful to look at, you want the world to look like that, especially when captured on film.

This camera is really built for natural light portrait photography and I wanted to capture something chilled and relaxed outside in this post industrial setting. So it was a no-brainer shooting with some Portra 160 because of the tonality but also perfect for the urban landscape and weather conditions we had on the day.

We started off one side of the bridge and slowly made our way to the other side grabbing the opportunity to change things up and outfits too. What I love about shooting outdoors is the almost limitless options on how to use the environment around you to create some unique shots.

The camera comes with its own onboard light meter which is a dream to use and saves you fumbling around with an external handheld one. That said I still would recommend shooting with a dedicated light meter such as the Sekonic L858D.

Which brings me on to this wonderful Kodak Portra 160. I like getting my film developed right away and as it requires C41 processing it can be a little bit of a money saver too

In my previous shoots I have often used Kodak Portra 800, this is mainly down to the very variable weather conditions outdoors but also the wider exposure latitude is much more forgiving. The bright sunny conditions provided the perfect opportunity to shoot Portra 160 as long as I kept remembering to meter on the camera.

My favourite shot from the Yashica Mat 124G was the one with Paula sitting in front of the turquoise door and the one with her standing in front of the tree which gave a real vintage vibe especially with what she is wearing and the context of the background. The other shots were great too, like this one in front of the red garage door, the colours have rendered really well here and this one of her standing in front of the green hedge.

Both Medium Format and 35mm performed beautifully on the day. It’s really down to you how you want to shoot this film. If you are shooting fashion or beauty then you really ought to be shooting in Medium Format as this will give you that added detail. Ofcourse, if you’re shooting casually then go with the 35mm for a greater range of frames!

This was a super day out shooting with Portra 160 on medium format and got to shoot some on 35mm which I hadn’t done before. I want to thank Molly aka Eclectachrome for helping filming the video on location and Paula for being our wonderful model on the day.

Thank you for watching all my videos, do go ahead and comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts on this shoot, the images, how you have shot with Portra 160 which are you likes and dislikes? What do you recommend I shoot next with it? On that note I’ll see you on the next drop, in the meantime check this one out!

You can grab a copy of the book here

Zeiss Ikon Nettar vs Yashica Mat 124G with Ilford Delta 400

These cameras both use the 6x6 picture format on Medium Format film. The Zeiss Ikon Nettar being the older more rustic version in comparison with the Yashica Mat 124G.

You can have a look at some of my previous videos on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar here.

It was time to test out both cameras under the same conditions using the same film (Ilford Delta 400) and settings throughout. This way I could see how they would perform and what differences potentially could pop up.

Taking a leaf from the Thoreau and his wandering walks in the wild I decided to take a walk of my own in the urban jungle. The walk started on a bright sunny but cold and windy Spring day. I saw these newly painted houses and thought that would be a good place to start.

Surprisingly switching between both cameras was quite seamless. Having the Yashica Mat 124G around my neck and the Zeiss Ikon Nettar tucked away in my jacket pocket. I found taking the folding camera out easy to quick take out of my pocket and snap the shot in frame.

Each time I tried to align it as closely to where the lens from the Yashica was pointing and snap it from that perspective. You can see from the first shot the tones have come out darker in the Yashica on the car and trees. This was to become a consistent theme throughout all the images.

I carried on along and found a side entrance to some apartments which I wandered down to see if there was a route to the other side through. After a short walk through some pastel pink coloured buildings (which I was very much tempted to snap but then thought I don’t have Portra 800 loaded!) I came to a dead-end. I turned back and looked up to see this staircase winding down the side of the building with just the right amount of light on it. While I did my best to shorten the interchange time between cameras, the light had changed slightly after snapping first on the Yashica Mat 124G. The tones have come out a bit darker on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar probably due to the reduction of light on the frame. On a side note, I did find framing and shooting the shot upwards a little tricky and fiddly.

I double-backed on myself and got back to the street where I started from and carried on, turning left and find this row of Victorian Houses. I do like a chequered entrance and with a bike in frame it was a winning combination. The images are almost identical here in tonality, although I slightly prefer the framing on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar.

Coming to the end of the road, I had a decision to make, whether to carryon walking straight or turn left. The decision was made by the graffiti on the wall on the left hand side. Be Happy! The clouds were starting to draw over and the light was intermittent and variable. The framing on the Yashica 124G has come out better probably because of the viewfinder which allows for a more intuitive framing experience. The Zeiss Ikon Nettar has a little square viewfinder which is not entirely accurate in giving you a realistic view of what the image will turn out to be.

The low-ish walled bridge was just about reachable to place my camera on top and capture a few snaps of the railway lines. Initially, I had thought about taking the images of the train tracks but then saw these trains coming along and decided to shoot those in frame. Next time, I’ll stick with the railway lines!

London ‘Mews’ streets are just the best to shoot. More recently, I have seen a trend in these little side streets being blocked off to the public which is quite sad. Capturing the vanishing point of this street on the square 6x6 format was a bit tricky. It would be interesting to see how a 6x9 format would fare here.

The architecture was starting to change as I crossed the main road. Moving away from terraced Victorian homes to more detached villa style homes. Notable persons of historical interest even resided in these homes from almost over a century ago.

As you can see from the image comparison, both cameras came out with near identical shots. The only real difference between the two being with the Zeiss Ikon Nettar shots coming out lighter and less constrasty on the blacks.