I agree with you. I believe Pentax had done their study and sees the opportunity in a certain group. This group don't have shared interest with me other than the film media.
The marketing power of some 'influencers' on this demography is crazy. Just because few celebs were posting their pictures holding Contax pocket camera the followers instantly jumped on the secondary market. In another instance some influencers praised the 2000's pocket digicam CCD sensor film like image and the followers instantly jumped on the secondary market. So Pentax must be thinking "why not create the real film camera to cater for this folks?"
Dumb question : so do people who use this camera mostly use it for portraiture? I can't imagine using this for my hiking camera
Think about it: how do most people take pictures with their cell phones; portrait orientation or landscape? The old half frame cameras such as the Olympus Pen were ahead of their time!
And unless the camera has up/down film transport it has to be in portrait orientation. Kills two birds with one stone - portrait orientation is what most young people are used to, and with half frame you get twice as many photos per roll.
If this mediocre looking concept is to lure in the young, then I think this Pentax will prove a complete failure, a short lived wannabe, sold by hype and marketing, ultimately failed by product itself. The more I read about it, the more puzzled I become.
Yes, I am perplexed about the excitement given what is being shown, from form factor, to design and features. It's aching to Lomo talking about unorthodox powers supported by total nonsense. But while Lomo has become rather successful, it was a well thought out long term campaign, this appears to be lacking, the hype is mainly based on "it's film you know, film is back, film is here to stay" rather than "we've got something special for you, try it, you will have hard time letting it go". This is not novelty it would need to have at least a short term chance of a run to a podium. It also appears to be designed by those who never successfully designed much let alone a film camera, hardly had any training in industrial aesthetics, and appear to be riding on a Pentax train ... without a valid ticket.
What to me would be better, is deliver a product actually much closer to a modernised replica of some older body, which alone would help marketing showing how old blends with new, with perhaps an easy digital/film changeover. This is doable, and if it had quality output, it would likely attract many from all walks of life, and have potential of becoming true fusion of old and modern.
Even a seasoned film photographer might like to have a new film camera that's pocketable and easy to take almost anywhere (and consumes only 1/2 the film). I include myself in this category.
If there plan was "pocketable", this one isn't it -- unless you're Captain Kangaroo. They could have easily made it half the size.
If there plan was "pocketable", this one isn't it -- unless you're Captain Kangaroo. They could have easily made it half the size.
If there plan was "pocketable", this one isn't it -- unless you're Captain Kangaroo.
They will be compared with iPhones for cool factor.
I also can't imagine it would really have been harder to start with a film SLR camera. They have all of their records and design plans for decades of film SLR cameras as well as still being active in making SLR bodies, prisms, mirror assemblies, and shutters. They even designed the new film advance based on an SLR camera.
And SLR -- even a half-frame with a fixed lens-- would be bigger, heavier, costlier, etc. etc.
Someone on Reddit estimated the size based on the 40.5mm filter, it's a small camera. 116x70, a bit smaller than my Ikonta 35. A handgrip on a camera that size isn't a bad idea.
If there plan was "pocketable", this one isn't it -- unless you're Captain Kangaroo. They could have easily made it half the size.
The reasoning that Pentax and many others seem to be using, that this camera needs to be similar to a smartphone is what I think is completely wrong. I think the half-frame camera marketed like using a smartphone is a big mistake. People who are obsessed with smartphone imaging (one really can't call it photography) don't care at all about film.
The young people who want to use film want to use it because it is different from the modern digital technologies. Similarity to the modern digital technologies will be a negative point for a new film camera. Pentax should have just made a nice quality classic 35mm format compact camera. This would appeal to almost everyone instead of being some weird niche product.
I also can't imagine it would really have been harder to start with a film SLR camera. Pentax have all of their records and design plans for decades of film SLR cameras as well as still being active in making SLR bodies, prisms, mirror assemblies, and shutters. They even designed the new film advance mechanism based on an SLR camera.
I have not seen a single person say they want a new compact camera and certainly not a half-frame marketed for use like a smartphone.
I think an SLR would have been better, but I am okay with them starting with a compact camera, but I definitely think it should have been a classic type full-35mm-format camera. I think that would give them a much stronger start. I hope such a model follows quite quickly after this first one--supposedly they are introducing two compact cameras this year.
It's more pocketable than my Folding Pocket Kodak.
As far as I can tell, "the kids" are pocketing ever larger smartphones which are themselves enclosed in hefty cases. Pockets are getting larger again and especially the young women are carrying little bags/pouches for their phones plus other bits and bobs. This camera should go fine with such accessories. As for the young gentlemen, maybe they will avail themselves of a manbag or a carry strap. I don't see this camera as being especially large. It doesn't seem much bigger than the recent Kodak branded half frame camera, which seems to have sold very well and from which I often see photos posted on social media.
I honestly think you're barking completely up the wrong tree. First off, starting off with an SLR would have killed the project dead. An SLR is far more difficult to accomplish than this new half frame P&S, and would have cost so much that almost nobody would have bought it. Certainly not the young audience Pentax are chasing. The entire raison d'etre for this project is to help the youngsters by providing them with something *they* can buy and enjoy.
Do I really need to say it again. It. Is. Not. Aimed. At. Us. At. All.
These young people are used to shooting in portrait/vertical mode. I don't understand why myself. When I shoot with my phone (and it is photography, no need for snobbery), I use landscape mode 9 times out of 10. But the young folk do it differently. Who am I to tell them they are objectively "wrong"? And it's not aimed at those who are "obsessed" with phone photography. It's aimed at those who are looking to buy a film camera, and who are hitherto only familiar with phone photography. Most people under about 25 have never used a camera of any description that wasn't contained within a phone.
A "weird niche product" fills a niche. Pentax have done a lot of research and I assume that niche is sufficiently large to recoup the cost of developing and producing the Pentax 17. If it's a success, by whatever definition Pentax have assigned to it, then the next camera will probably be a more standard compact P&S 35mm camera. And after that, in a few years, we may see a SLR. From what they've been saying on social media (and they are engaging with young people and old farts alike), they aren't entirely ruling out medium format in the more distant future. But it all depends on the road map they have shared working out.
Finally, Pentax have made it abundantly clear that having the blueprints was of little help because the current engineering staff couldn't even understand them. Hence they engaged the services of long retired Pentax engineers to help them. They literally don't understand mechanical cameras - which has long been one of the biggest hurdles to production of a decent new film camera. Perhaps this was the last chance to work with the old engineers who worked in the 70s and 80s. But having the designs really was of minimal help on its own. Sankyo found exactly the same twenty years ago when they looked briefly at making a new super 8 movie camera and dismissed it almost immediately as impossible despite having blueprints and even a cache of parts from the 70s.
Finally, Pentax have made it abundantly clear that having the blueprints was of little help because the current engineering staff couldn't even understand them. Hence they engaged the services of long retired Pentax engineers to help them. They literally don't understand mechanical cameras - which has long been one of the biggest hurdles to production of a decent new film camera. Perhaps this was the last chance to work with the old engineers who worked in the 70s and 80s. But having the designs really was of minimal help on its own.
It's more pocketable than my Folding Pocket Kodak.
I want a new compact camera. Half-frame? Great!
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