Pentax 17: first few snapshots

mollyc · Aug 30, 2024

blee1996 said:
One solution is diptych: forcing yourself to do two photos back to back within a minute. Then the roll can be finished in about the same time.

And I have my bulk-rolled short length film too.

I've done two rolls through the Pentax 17, and shot both as diptychs. I actually finished an entire half roll yesterday because I wanted the black and white film out of the camera.

I struggle with zone focusing because I'm not good at estimating distances. My second roll (the black and white) was better in terms of focus because I pulled out my phone and used the lidar measuring app to help approximate distance, then I just dialed in the appropriate spot based on the markings on the underside of the lens. The few images I had that were out of focus I had guessed on.

blee1996 · Aug 31, 2024

Hi @mollyc really nice diptychs, especially the near-far pairs.

I took me a few years to get good at guesstimate distances. I use my yoga mats, which is 3 feet wide, and imagine multiple of them in front of me.

35mmJim · Aug 31, 2024

The focusing mechanism and the air gap it has made me a little worried about foreign debris.

Picked up a Hoya UV filter to seal the lens portion of the camera.

blee1996 · Aug 31, 2024

35mmJim said:
The focusing mechanism and the air gap it has made me a little worried about foreign debris.

Picked up a Hoya UV filter to seal the lens portion of the camera.

View attachment 377499

I did exactly what you did.+1

mollyc · Aug 31, 2024

blee1996 said:
Hi @mollyc really nice diptychs, especially the near-far pairs.

I took me a few years to get good at guesstimate distances. I use my yoga mats, which is 3 feet wide, and imagine multiple of them in front of me.

thank you.

mshchem · Aug 31, 2024

mollyc said:
thank you.

Very nicely done. I'll have to check out the LIDAR phone app.

albireo · Sep 1, 2024

mollyc said:
I've done two rolls through the Pentax 17, and shot both as diptychs. I actually finished an entire half roll yesterday because I wanted the black and white film out of the camera.

I struggle with zone focusing because I'm not good at estimating distances. My second roll (the black and white) was better in terms of focus because I pulled out my phone and used the lidar measuring app to help approximate distance, then I just dialed in the appropriate spot based on the markings on the underside of the lens. The few images I had that were out of focus I had guessed on.

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I like these a lot, thanks for sharing!

4season · Sep 1, 2024

I planned on purchasing a Pentax 17 purchase in November, but my neighborhood shop had the camera in stock, and I reasoned that there were no guarantees that I'd be able to get one later in the year as the holidays approached: Rationalization can be a handy skill!

Found some decent light this morning, and flew through 72 exposures in no time. I expect to have images to share soon.

Some impressions:

Slot in battery cover screw is too wide for most coins, but a decent fit for keys. Reminder to self: Don't drop said screw in deep snow.

Film door is ready for leatherette coverings.

Zone focus is easiest for me if I think in terms of Infinity, 3.0, 1.7 and 1.2 meters: click-click-click.

Having finder centered over the lens simplifies finder parallax (can't wait to see how my closeup shots turned out).

Why don't more film cameras have an oversized rewind crank spinner?

Three possible strap attachment points!

JParker · Sep 2, 2024

mollyc said:
I've done two rolls through the Pentax 17, and shot both as diptychs. I actually finished an entire half roll yesterday because I wanted the black and white film out of the camera.

Thanks for sharing! Very nice shots.
This extremely easy way of creating diptychs is in my opinion one of the best features of the Pentax 17. That makes it interesting and a very good tool not only for beginners, but also for enthusiast and experienced photographers.

mollyc said:
I struggle with zone focusing because I'm not good at estimating distances. My second roll (the black and white) was better in terms of focus because I pulled out my phone and used the lidar measuring app to help approximate distance, then I just dialed in the appropriate spot based on the markings on the underside of the lens.

Thanks for that tip! I have not been aware that something like that even exists .

mollyc · Sep 2, 2024

mshchem said:
Very nicely done. I'll have to check out the LIDAR phone app.

albireo said:
I like these a lot, thanks for sharing!

4season said:
I planned on purchasing a Pentax 17 purchase in November, but my neighborhood shop had the camera in stock, and I reasoned that there were no guarantees that I'd be able to get one later in the year as the holidays approached: Rationalization can be a handy skill!

Found some decent light this morning, and flew through 72 exposures in no time. I expect to have images to share soon.

Some impressions:

Slot in battery cover screw is too wide for most coins, but a decent fit for keys. Reminder to self: Don't drop said screw in deep snow.

Film door is ready for leatherette coverings.

Zone focus is easiest for me if I think in terms of Infinity, 3.0, 1.7 and 1.2 meters: click-click-click.

Having finder centered over the lens simplifies finder parallax (can't wait to see how my closeup shots turned out).

Why don't more film cameras have an oversized rewind crank spinner?

Three possible strap attachment points!

JParker said:
Thanks for sharing! Very nice shots.
This extremely easy way of creating diptychs is in my opinion one of the best features of the Pentax 17. That makes it interesting and a very good tool not only for beginners, but also for enthusiast and experienced photographers.

Thanks for that tip! I have not been aware that something like that even exists .

Thank you everyone! I'm debating doing my third roll as just individual photos but always love the diptychs I end up with, so still thinking on that.

The app I use on my phone is just called Measure, which is a stock Apple app on newer phones (I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max). I think there are similar apps on other platforms.

JParker · Sep 2, 2024

mollyc said:
Thank you everyone! I'm debating doing my third roll as just individual photos but always love the diptychs I end up with, so still thinking on that.

The app I use on my phone is just called Measure, which is a stock Apple app on newer phones (I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max). I think there are similar apps on other platforms.

Thank you for the very quick reply!
I am not an Apple phone user, but I will have a look whether I can find a similar app for my phone.

brbo · Sep 2, 2024

mollyc said:
Thank you everyone! I'm debating doing my third roll as just individual photos but always love the diptychs I end up with, so still thinking on that.

Or... you could go the other way. Triptychs, fake panoramas...

JParker · Sep 2, 2024

brbo said:
Or... you could go the other way. Triptychs, fake panoramas...

Looks good.
May I asked with what technique you have done these? I am especially interested in the precision and seamless line of the different shots.

xkaes · Sep 2, 2024

JParker said:
Looks good.
May I asked with what technique you have done these? I am especially interested in the precision and seamless line of the different shots.

I tripod helps.

JParker · Sep 2, 2024

xkaes said:
I tripod helps.

Of course, I know.
My question was about what additional equipment was used, e.g. something like a nodal slide:

Rollei nodal slide 140

Panorama slide 140 from Rollei ► Made of aluminum ► Rail length:114 cm ► Weight:132 g ► Buy now at the Rollei online shop 🛒

www.rollei.com

brbo · Sep 2, 2024

JParker said:
Of course, I know.
My question was about what additional equipment was used, e.g. something like a nodal slide:

Nothing like that. It's all handheld and it clearly shows. There is a lot of overlap because image on film is wider than what viewfinder shows.

Chan Tran · Sep 2, 2024

I do a lot of scale focusing and estimating the distance is easy for me but setting that distance on the distance scale on the lens is difficult. The markings are few and not linear so it's difficult to figure out the the in between markings.

4season · Sep 2, 2024

Chan Tran said:
I do a lot of scale focusing and estimating the distance is easy for me but setting that distance on the distance scale on the lens is difficult. The markings are few and not linear so it's difficult to figure out the the in between markings.

Are there any in-between focus settings? I was under the impression that it had exactly 6 fixed focus points.

4season · Sep 2, 2024

brbo said:
Nothing like that. It's all handheld and it clearly shows. There is a lot of overlap because image on film is wider than what viewfinder shows.

Nevertheless, it's a great use of the medium!

Chan Tran · Sep 2, 2024

4season said:
Are there any in-between focus settings? I was under the impression that it had exactly 6 fixed focus points.

For the Pentax 17 yes only 6 postions. But on many old rangefinder the rangefinder patch faded too bad and can't be use so I do scale focusing and found the difficulty is not estimating the distance but setting the distance on the distance scale. For Pentax 17 since it has only a few postions estimating the distance would be extremely easy.

Angarian · Sep 4, 2024

mollyc said:
Thank you everyone! I'm debating doing my third roll as just individual photos but always love the diptychs I end up with, so still thinking on that.

The diptych idea is very appealing to me, I like that very much. I also see it as a very nice change and diversification to the 'normal' and daily photography we're doing.

And congratulations, your first series with the Pentax 17 look very good .

joelbolden · Sep 11, 2024

For those tempted to procur the Mint version of the Rollei35, here's a rather knowledgeable reiview of the two by the Kamerastore

JParker · Sep 11, 2024

joelbolden said:
For those tempted to procur the Mint version of the Rollei35, here's a rather knowledgeable reiview of the two by the Kamerastore

That review and another reviews had already been posted in the last days in the dedicated Rollei 35 AF thread
(https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...t-35mm-film-camera.196759/page-5#post-2827512)

I think we should stay here on topic: the Pentax 17.

blee1996 · Sep 12, 2024

A few diptych from the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Pentax 17, Ilford HP5+ film, and processed in F76+. This time I remembered to use the "night mode" in order to get proper exposure indoors without flash. And the results are excellent: almost all frames are properly exposed. I was not intentionally doing diptych, but a few funny ones happened anyways.

And I really like the Pentax 17 for one hand operation. The grip helps a lot. And with the other edge of camera leaning against my body, I can do film winding with one hand easily and quickly. I tested it extensively with the other hand holding a large boba tea with success.

Tough and rough - Pentax17_HP5_003 by Zheng, on Flickr

Portal to immortality - Pentax17_HP5_005 by Zheng, on Flickr

Pretty face and logical mind - Pentax17_HP5_029 by Zheng, on Flickr

4season · Sep 15, 2024

A series of mishaps at my local shop delayed processing of my roll of Lomo 800 CN by a couple of weeks, and now that I've got the negatives back, every single frame is lacking in density, with shadow regions scarcely denser than the film base itself! Which makes me wonder if there was a processing error, else could my expired (2020) film have degraded so badly Before pointing fingers at the camera, I shall do more shooting, this time with fresh Ilford HP5+, which I'll process myself. Camera ISO dial was set correctly, and I didn't experience any problems with inadvertently moving Mode or Exposure Compensation controls, so ..? Anyhow, here are a couple of less-bad frames. Normally, I'd like to reveal more shadow detail, but that's not possible here due to underexposure.

Macro focusing using camera strap as distance guide worked pretty good, as did parallax correction.

Pentax 17: first few snapshots

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