Are These Pentax Film Cameras All The Same?
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Today’s video I go through the minor differences between the Pentax Super Program, Pentax Program A and Program Plus as well as the Pentax Super A. All incredibly different and don’t get it twisted.
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If I remember correctly, the Super A would do Shutter Priority, whereas the Program A wouldn't. They both did Aperture Priority, Program and Manual (with KA mount lenses). Nice cameras, owned both in the late 80s and 90s.
A possible reason for different names for the same camera. Back in the day grey market cameras were a thing. You could get a camera sold outside the USA for less but then the warranty was no longer valid. So if your grey market camera broke you were out of luck because the camera company would not honor the warranty.
With this video in mind,
I think you could also do a video on the P30, P30T and P30N. The last of an old design (before AF bodies took over).
If I get all of them in I might do that, there’s also the P3 but truthfully I’m not sure what the difference between them all is and unfortunately they are incredibly overlooked cameras so the videos I have made about them perform pretty poorly
P3 is US version of p30 I think
I stumbled across a SuperA at a flea market couple summers ago. And never had heard of the model - kind of lost track of Pentax models after the ME Super. Cheers!
Alex are these my cameras you just CLA'd? YAY!!!
Just for anyone who is watching this vid in the future, these pairs of cameras are identical:
Program Plus - North American market
Program A - EU, Asia, Japan, AU market
Super Program - North American market
Super A - EU, Asia, Japan, AU market
These were just marketing games the manufacturers were playing.
Same with Minolta SRT 202 (USA model), SRT 303 (EU model) or SR 505 (Japan model, no T in the name) are all the same camera sold on 3 different continents. I love my SR505 - it's a tank and the vintage Rokkor glass was designed in cooperation with Leitz company (today's Leica).
I myself like buying Japanese models, because they are affordable, the sellers are usually honest, and a chance of finding a mint copy on eBay is very very high. Japanese just love their cameras and always protected them well, or hardly ever used them unless travelling.
I think the Super A will be my "go to" camera as it is as close to a point and shoot as one can get. And I wish you would have shown in the vid how TINY the se cameras are compared to a K1000 or an SRT. I was shocked how small they were when I first got them. With a pancake 40mm lens, this is the ultimate travel/street shooter!
i'd love to see you talk about the Luxon Super 1000, there's not a lot of info about it on the internet but every now and then i see it going on sale for really cheap, and apparently it's a k1000 clone but is it as good as a k1000 or at least good enough for the low price tags?
I have a Super A and a Super program, The A is black and the Program silver. I believe the top plate is some kind of composite, I broke one and it seemed like plastic coated with copper (presumably for brassing) and then the top colour of black. I believe the base was brass, at least t was on one of mine. The grip is removable to allow the attachment of the Motor drive A, which I used to own but traded it in for silly money. Should have kept it.
Australia also got the Super A and Program A...
Thank you for the reminder, it’s been a while since I looked into it so I appreciate the correction!
Coincidently, I bought a Pentax "Super A" last month, October 2024. It has nice ergonomics and a classic Pentax appearance. There are two annoyances though. The viewfinder LCD is hard to see. The contrast of the digits is low and the vertical viewing angle is extremely narrow. I have to position my eye very carefully if I want to see the LCD readout. Also the shutter button is fiddly and it sometimes doesn't turn the meter on right away. I have to turn the camera on and off to activate the metering.
Maybe it is because the LCD and shutter button have aged poorly in the thirty years since it was made?
Kind of like what's happened to me during the last thirty years!
I bought it direct from Japan for a $215 total. It is the black version and it came with a Pentax-M 35mm F2.8 lens.