Spotmatic Vs ME Super

which one is the better all round manual camera? Please state your reasons why...!

As a purely manual camera, I would favour the Spotmatic for its conventional shutter dial which you can set without having to be looking throught the viewfinder. The ME Super is OK, but the push button manual settings are not quite as convenient for the way I work.

Having said that, the ME Super does have a wider range of shutter speeds and a more sensitive meter, but it is also less reliable than a Spotmatic (in my experience).

Hi,
For me, both have their advantages. The spot is a lovely camera and there are a number of very cheap and superb quality lenses for it. (The SMC ones are best for the coating). On the other hand, it has stop down metering and some of the screw lenses are quite slow and the is a smaller range unless you want to pay silly prices. The MES has a wider and faster range of lenses but is not so rugged. I would go for a compromise. The SPF will give you full aperture metering with the screw lenses and has all the qualities of the spot. Or, if I wanted the wider range of bayonet lenses, I would go for the KX. All the advantages of the Spot but better metering and such things as mirror lock up. It also has the best viewfinder display apart from the LX. No doubt others will mention the MX!

Regards
Kim

Hi

To keep Kim C happy, I'm going to plug the MX!

Seriously, I've used the MX quite a lot and it's a great camera, fantastic clear, bright viewfinder and simple controls. The only downside is the price, although as it's so rugged you can go for a pretty scuffed version for not too much.

I can't really provide a comparison, as the only older generation manual focus camera I've used is the MX.

Matt

We are straying a little from the original question, but if you do want to use the more convenient bayonet lenses then in manual cameras my choices would be KX, KM, MX and K1000.

However, if you wanted a modern body then the MZ5, MZ5n and MZ3 can be used in exactly the same way as the other bodies mentioned.

Personally, I currently use two Spotmatic bodies and an MZ3. If I use the K mount adapter I can turn the MZ3 into a screw thread body, albeit with viewing and metering at the working aperture.

The main problem I have found with bodies based on the ME Super design is that the electronics are not now as reliable as they could be. With classic cameras, we may well be better off with manual ones.

As we have strayed slightly away from the original question, hope you don't mind if I turn it round slightly to look at the MES in comparison to the ES11 (my personal favourite from the spotmatic range). The MES has all the advantages of the bayonet mount, and in this instance probably more reliable electronics but somehow the ES11 has that idefineable something about it. Yes it is a big solidly built tank of a camera in comparison to the MES but it stll has a good balance to it ands it 'feels' right in the hand (something shared by the KX, KM, K2, K1000). When I use my screw thread optics it is generally the ES11 I pick up first, the same can'y be said for the MES which is propably the least used of my K mount bodies.