Pentax ME Super II1985

History

The ME Super debuted in 1979 and remained on sale through the mid-1980s. By 1983, the Super Program had superseded it for photographers who wanted shutter-priority and program modes, but there remained a market for the ME Super's compact form factor and simpler two-mode operation. The ME Super II arrived around 1985 as a refreshed version of that concept, keeping the push-button speed selector and overall ergonomics unchanged while updating cosmetics and addressing minor build issues accumulated over the original's six-year production run. It was not a prominent release in Pentax's catalog; the company's attention had shifted toward the Super Program and the upcoming SF series.

Why It Matters

For collectors, the ME Super II occupies an interesting edge case: it shares virtually all functional DNA with the original ME Super but is less commonly encountered, making it slightly harder to find in good condition. For shooters, the distinction is minimal - both bodies offer the same exposure range, the same mechanical fallback at 1/125s, and the same compatibility with the entire K-mount lens family. The push-button shutter speed control, initially unusual, proves fast in practice once learned.

The ME Super II is not a camera that changed the course of photography. It is instead a quiet product-line maintenance release: Pentax keeping a proven compact body current while the company's engineering resources went elsewhere. That context makes it historically legible as a snapshot of how Japanese camera manufacturers managed long-running product lines during the mid-1980s transition to autofocus.

Lenses & Accessories

Pentax K-mount. All K, M, KA, KAF, KAF2, and KAF3 lenses mount. KA-mount lenses (marked with an "A" aperture position) work in aperture-priority mode; shutter-priority and program modes are not available on this body. SMC Pentax-M primes are the natural size match: M 50/1.4, M 50/1.7, M 28/2.8, M 35/2. The Winder ME II enables auto-wind. TTL flash via AF280T or AF200T.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• Late-M-series Pentax body; no documented association with specific working photographers.
• Encountered primarily as a collector's variant among Pentax M-series enthusiasts.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Pentax ME Super - covers ME Super lineage including variant bodies
• Pentax Forums: Pentax ME Super - user reports and specification data