Pentax: Two new compact film cameras planned - Pentax 17 announced June 2024

[4season]

In lieu of insider information, hard to say whether Ricoh considers P17 a success: As a lower-tech product, they could conceivably be producing batches of the things for years to come. Currently showing as out of stock at B&H, with more expected mid-month.

Rollei 35AF, Lomo MC-A, Analogue AF-1 et al: I wouldn't mind trying them, but how many cameras can I keep buying? Unless engineered for a particular "look", I think most well-designed cameras and lenses produce results which are more alike than not.

 

[xkaes]

I'm getting ready to sell another Yashica Samurai Z -- a 35mm half-frame SLR with a 35-105mm (equivalent) zoom lens, a built-in flash, horizontal film frame, auto film advance, auto-exposure, auto-focusing, etc. etc. These were $600 cameras when they originally sold, but they can still be had for around $100.

And I'm getting a Fuji TW-3 with 35mm & 105mm (equivalent) lenses ready to go out the door as well. Another incredible 35mm half-frame that also goes for around $100.

What was Pentax/Ricoh thinking?

 

[polaromar]

IIRC, their idea was that the Instagram generation is used to smartphone camera ratios and portrait orientation, so they made the Pentax 17 half frame and portrait oriented to be more intuitive to that crowd, in theory at least. If a photo is only going onto Instagram, then half frame provides sufficient resolution given JPG compression.

I don't think that was necessarily a correct assumption though. People who shoot film gravitate to it for it being different than just whipping out your phone and snapping a few shots off, trying to make the experience similar is defeating the purpose. Half frame is also a niche within a niche. I honestly think the 17 would've been better off as a typical full frame camera.

 

[brian steinberger]

I think the 17 could have been better as a full frame 35mm, but only IMO if it had a coupled rangefinder instead of the Holga scale focusing. If they had done those two things I probably would have bought one.

 

[4season]

P17 focus isn't continuously variable; rather, it moves in discrete steps corresponding to the clicks on the focus ring. And the lens distance markings can be seen through the viewfinder, but I operate it by counting the clicks.

A captive screw for the battery cover would be nice. Not surprised that both are offered as spares.