Pentax Super-A
Encyclopedia
135 film
The term 135 was introduced by Kodak in 1934 as a designation for cartridge film wide, specifically for still photography. It quickly grew in popularity, surpassing 120 film by the late 1960s to become the most popular photographic film format...
single-lens reflex camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
produced by Pentax
Pentax
Pentax is a brand name used by Hoya Corporation for its medical-related products & services and Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company for cameras, sport optics , etc. Hoya purchased and merged with the Japanese optics company on March 31, 2008. Hoya's Pentax imaging business was sold to Ricoh Company, Ltd...
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in the 1980s.
It is not the same camera as the slightly lower-specified "Pentax Program A" (which also had an alternative name, the "Pentax Program Plus".)
The camera offers fully automatic exposure ("program") mode when coupled with an appropriate Pentax-A series lens. With such a lens the camera also offers shutter-priority mode, and with any compatible lens (i.e. Pentax-M lenses in addition to the Pentax-A series) the camera offers aperture-priority and fully manual modes.
The shutter speeds, selected by up/down buttons rather than the conventional wheel, run from 1/2000 of a second to 15 seconds, plus a "bulb" mode. There is flash synchronisation at 1/125 of a second. Unlike the camera's most direct predecessor, the semi-automatic Pentax ME-Super, this model cannot function at 1/125 of a second, or at all, once the batteries have been exhausted. Speed is displayed on an LCD
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
panel on the top of the camera adjacent to the buttons (which also shows whether the camera is cocked), and both speed and aperture are visible on LCD displays inside the viewfinder. These receive natural light through a translucent plastic window on the pentaprism housing and can be electrically lit at the press of a button. Also in the viewfinder, centred, is a split image focus aid surrounded by a microprism ring.
A further improvement over the ME Super was the inclusion of a depth-of-field preview lever. The camera also featured a self-timer, which was electronic rather than the manual lever of its predecessors. The available ISO film speed
Film speed
Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system....
choices were extended too, and run from 6 to 3200 ASA.
As with the previous M series cameras, there is a window next to the winder arm which indicated film movement, and assists the user in rewinding film into the cassette without losing the tip of the film.
Metering is through the lens
Through-the-lens metering
Through-the-lens metering is a photographic term describing a feature of cameras capable of measuring light levels in a scene through their taking lenses, as opposed to a separate metering window...
. Camera also features direct TTL flash metering.
The Super A version was available with a black top-plate (and matching base), the Super Program version was available with a chrome-coloured top-plate (and matching base). The main body, plastic grip, and lenses were always black.
The European camera of the year version(1983) had a small round brass plate on the front lefthand side of the body. This all came with a lens cap and strap with the European camera of the year insigna.