More on the Pentax film camera project

[Mackinaw]

I just watched a video on the Pentax 17 on YouTube. Pretty impressive little camera. And $500 USD is reasonable considering people spend $1,000 on a cellphone without batting an eyelash. I'm not sure I'll buy one, but it has motivated me to pull out my old Canon Dial-35 1/2 frame camera and shoot some pics.

Jim B.

 

[ecowarrior]

If I just heard correctly on the petapixel review it has a shutter speed range of 4 seconds to 1/350th. That, no hot shoe, half frame, zone focused, and £500 is a very solid no from me.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

There will be a whole lot of these on the used market in about a year. The "fun" will fade fast, once the expense and inconvenience (compared to the trusty ol' phone) have sunk in. I wish I had grounds to believe otherwise, but I've seen too many hipster fads come and go.

 

[JeffS7444]

Wow.

It's pricier than I expected, but it also has a much higher-end look than anticipated. I can't remember the last time when a Pentax product achieved "It" status, but I think 17 could be such a product. If it gets mentioned by Oprah, it could be sold out for a long time.

 

[Zuiko-logist]

Pentax tend to drop their prices after a while. This may also be limited production.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

Wow.

If it gets mentioned by Oprah, it could be sold out for a long time.

Well, if Oprah endorses it, then I guess I'll just have to get one! 😉

 

[JohnGellings]

If it gets mentioned by Oprah, it could be sold out for a long time.

Oprah likes photography?

The thing for me is the Mint said they were aiming for $600-800. Pentax is lucky they beat them to the market, because if they get in that $600 range, it is clearly the better camera. That said, I doubt that it'll be $600.

I'm with Retro Grouch, there will be plenty of these on the used market eventually.

 

[MISH]

I got a email from B&H today saying you can preorder it for $499.95. They had a launch event today and again tomorrow Tuesday the 18th from 11:00 AM to 5:00PM where you can experience the camera “hands on”.
Did anyone here see it today?

 

[armadsen]

I happily ordered one as soon as I could.

I don’t really agree with the comparisons to used cameras, personally. Film cameras are actually really the only category of things I’ll buy used, and that’s only because that’s basically the only option now. I much prefer to pay more for something new, perfect, with a warranty, and serviceable.

Anyway, I think Pentax is going to do well with this camera, and I hope they’re able to continue on with the premium compact and SLR cameras they’ve talked about wanting to do next.

 

[splitimageview]

I think it will do well. It'll make a few people happy around here, but RFF isn't the target demographic. So be it!

 

[hap]

Wow.

It's pricier than I expected, but it also has a much higher-end look than anticipated. I can't remember the last time when a Pentax product achieved "It" status, but I think 17 could be such a product. If it gets mentioned by Oprah, it could be sold out for a long time.

It looks like a Nikonos, Olympus PEN F, and bessa R.....with riffs on the old Pentax haptics from something like a ME.

 

[Freakscene]

Bit of an oof from me on that one.

But hey, everything's more expensive now. The amount of kids I see with £800 iPhones... £500 for a "proper" camera might be a drop in the ocean in comparison.

On a slightly ridiculous tangent, I did notice that the Pentax 17 should be able to take a Shirley-Wellard cassette. Will that matter to anyone except me? Probably not. But it was still nice to see.

Edit: I'll say this - the sample photos on the Pentax Forums article (scroll to the bottom) actually look pretty decent as far as quality goes. I'm not about to pick up an auto-exposure half frame, regardless of price, but... I'm impressed. This pair were shot on Ektachrome:

View attachment 4839454

I saw that, and agree, very nice. E6 remains very expensive, even with 72 exposures….

The camera is $AU899 here.

 

[Mos6502]

Maybe they'll drop the price down by a hundred after a year, and bring it back into the realm of reality.

It being mechanical doesn't seem to justify the price, unless maybe it's full of brass gearing etc.

 

[wlewisiii]

I guess I must be the outlier here, I'm shocked it came out this cheap. That's actually a bargain for a brand new film camera in 2024. Considering the exquisite samples I'm seeing from Ned Bunnell on Instagram, I'm even more impressed at the price point and the 25mm f/3.5 lens.

I'd still much rather get a Z5 or perhaps buy myself a Rolleicord Vb or even spend the money on a new 9mm toy (I'm such an 'Murcan boy) but that's just my odd tastes not anything wrong with it.

 

[neal3k]

I don't know my demographic but I have been shooting film since the early 1960s, have about 250 cameras in my collection and regularly shoot probably 25 of them, from Leica I to Holgas.

I pre-ordered one today. I already have an Olympus Pen but have to try this. I'll be shooting lots of diptychs and triptychs.

 

[TenEleven]

I think the price is reasonable for a new camera. It's MSRP, too. So I expect that various stores will soon offer points and or other discounts knocking the price down a bit further.

Then of course, it being new you get warranty on a guaranteed working camera as well as a bunch of other niceties that you do not get with a used camera. And for a beginner trying to buy a used camera often equals to a sort of hail mary.

Also half-frames with 25mm lens are not that common. There's the Olympus Pen-W (rare, expensive), the Fujica Mini (rare, expensive-ish), and the Auto-Half (common, cheap)... I'm omitting the Ricoh "Caddy" and some others... I guess there's the Konica's "Recorder" or "AA35" - which is perhaps most comparable to it. However on most of those "Recorders" the shutter is on deaths door as it relies on a foam seal - if that crumbles into the mechanics you will be left with a camera that will only take blank exposures as the blades get stuck to each other.

Is the camera for me? Nah, probably not. But I am happy it exists.

 

[JeffS7444]

Silly reasons why I want one: It has a "Bokeh" setting, a focus setting for food photos. And then there's the crazy hodgepodge style, which somehow works, in an Inspector Gadget x steampunk sort of way. All this, in a package which weighs less than 300 g. I wish them 30 years of sales success with it, as they experienced with the K1000.

 

[JohnGellings]

I don't know my demographic but I have been shooting film since the early 1960s, have about 250 cameras in my collection and regularly shoot probably 25 of them, from Leica I to Holgas.

I pre-ordered one today. I already have an Olympus Pen but have to try this. I'll be shooting lots of diptychs and triptychs.

Sounds like you are exactly the person who should buy it. I also think about it as a diptychs camera, but...

 

[wrs1145]

I'd rather have a Konica 35/2.8. Millions made and a more than a few on the market at around $120.

 

[Mos6502]

Wow, that thing is pretty big for a half frame...

Yeah. It's almost like they made it big enough to be a full frame camera (in case they wanted to do that later)... I wonder why?