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

[xkaes]

I agree. I don't see anyone "trashing" it. They may not understand its purpose, or price, or features, or format, etc., but I haven't see anyone claim it creates CRUD. Will it succeed? Another story.


Get real.

 

[cmacd123]

The Minolta SRT and XE had power switches.

the fairly slick system in in the Ricoh KR series slr. the wind lever controls the meter, if it is is the ready position, the meter is on, and if it it pressed into the body the meter is off and the shutter is locked.
on the Minolta X_xx0 if the switch is left on only the first Microprocessor is engaged, once the shutter button is touched, the second processor is switched on. if the shutter is not touched the drain in minimal. {most of the x series, have the touch button, so they turn on as soon as they are touched, the later ones like the X-370N and the X-9 need the button to be pressed to turn on the meter.

 

[Cholentpot]

The Minolta SRT and XE had power switches. After those, the XD has no power switch but half-press. And after that, the X-series (X700, X570,...) and all AF cameras had power switches again. So the half press seems to me, at least for Minolta SLR (which I know the best), an in-between step. Of course a camera can have a power switch, but most power drain is off when there is no half press (that's how it is with the X-series and AF, I guess).

Nikon F3 had a power on switch and half press to activate the meter. Not even half press. I think the shutter had a sensor when you touched it. I have to check my F3.

 

[foc]

The Olympus OM10 had an activator "collar" around the shutter release button. The idea was that even with the camera turned off, if you wished to take a photo, your finger would touch the activator "collar" before you touched the shutter release, and the camera's circuits would be turned on.

The OM4ti didn't have the activation collar, and even when the switch was turned off, the camera would activate when the shutter release button was half pressed/touched.

 

[skorpiius]

cassettes are hip again. I have no idea why. It's all the rage.

Vinyl got too expensive.
Also the Guardians of the Galaxy movie with its Walkman front and center may have played a role

 

[4season]

More hopeful signs of success, as demand outstrips supply in No. America too:
https://petapixel.com/2024/07/05/ri...g-pentax-17-production-to-catch-up-to-demand/

 

[Prest_400]

More hopeful signs of success, as demand outstrips supply in No. America too:
https://petapixel.com/2024/07/05/ri...g-pentax-17-production-to-catch-up-to-demand/

This is very good for the purpose of being the first production proof of concept, seeing the 17 is sized to also be developed. Congratulations to TKO
In Petapixel itself another article called my attention. I think tcritique is better suited against Fuji than including the P17 into it, given that the P17 wasn't a sure success and digital cameras are more general and demanded:

Fujifilm and Pentax Not Fulfilling Demand Doesn't Build Hype, It Loses Sales

Not being able to buy a camera is frustrating, but it's not intentional.

petapixel.com

I hope that a P17 success sends signals across the industry and helps sustain some growth.

 

[Chan Tran]

Nikon F3 had a power on switch and half press to activate the meter. Not even half press. I think the shutter had a sensor when you touched it. I have to check my F3.

It is half press and the switch is to turn on the camera but turn the switch off doesn't turn the camera off. You have to waif for the camera to time out. In fact the switch only prevent the camera from turning on.

 

[Chan Tran]

Aren't we all, since they were all made on the same assembly lines.

I have 1 K1000 left and it was made in Hong Kong. The KX I have was made in Japan. They can't be on the same assembly line.

 

[xkaes]

I have 1 K1000 left and it was made in Hong Kong. The KX I have was made in Japan. They can't be on the same assembly line.

All of the parts were -- but where they were produced shifted over time -- and where the parts were assembled shifted over time, too. Same with Minolta, Yashica & others. The guts of all these cameras are the same.

 

[Chan Tran]

All of the parts were -- but where they were produced shifted over time -- and where the parts were assembled shifted over time, too. Same with Minolta, Yashica & others. The guts of all these cameras are the same.

I saw made in Hong Kong K1000 back in 1979 the time when all Japanese brand SLR were made in Japan. I had newer K1000's which were made in China.

 

[Pioneer]

I saw made in Hong Kong K1000 back in 1979 the time when all Japanese brand SLR were made in Japan. I had newer K1000's which were made in China.

Not sure they were ever made in China. First made in Japan (that is where my two were put together), then Pentax moved the assembly to Hong Kong and finally to Vietnam.

One of these days I may have to buy one example each from Hong Kong and Vietnam just to see if they were that much worse. Besides, Pentax quit making all the other K cameras before they moved the assembly of the K1000 out of Japan. By that time they were making the M models like the MX. That K1000 was a VERY long lived camera both from the assembly perspective, the sales perspective and from how long they keep working.

There will probably be parts to keep that camera fixed and running properly long after every other camera made in that same time period is dead and and in some landfill, or museum.

 

[Chan Tran]

Not sure they were ever made in China. First made in Japan (that is where my two were put together), then Pentax moved the assembly to Hong Kong and finally to Vietnam.

One of these days I may have to buy one example each from Hong Kong and Vietnam just to see if they were that much worse. Besides, Pentax quit making all the other K cameras before they moved the assembly of the K1000 out of Japan. By that time they were making the M models like the MX. That K1000 was a VERY long lived camera both from the assembly perspective, the sales perspective and from how long they keep working.

There will probably be parts to keep that camera fixed and running properly long after every other camera made in that same time period is dead and and in some landfill, or museum.

Pentax never made the K1000 in Vietnam. They stopped making the K1000 in 1997 which I doubt that they had their Vietnam factory yet. Although they made a lot of lenses there and recently made the 17 there. I am not sure (I've only seen made in Hong Kong ones in 1979) but according to Wikipedia Pentax made the K1000 in Hong Kong since 1978 and moved to China in 1990. I did have some made in China.

 

[xkaes]

I saw made in Hong Kong K1000 back in 1979 the time when all Japanese brand SLR were made in Japan. I had newer K1000's which were made in China.

Almost exactly like Minolta assembly -- which moved from Japan to Indonesia to China. That has nothing to do with where there parts were actually made -- and they were always made all over the place, and the assembly lines were always supervised by the camera companies. If you want to claim that the assembly in Hong Kong, or China, or Indonesia was worse than in Japan, go ahead.

Some claim the Carl Zeiss lenses made and assembled in Japan in Tomioka plants were inferior.

Some claim the Leica lenses made and assembled in Japan in Minolta plants were superior.

 

[Chan Tran]

Almost exactly like Minolta assembly -- which moved from Japan to Indonesia to China. That has nothing to do with where there parts were actually made -- and they were always made all over the place, and the assembly lines were always supervised by the camera companies. If you want to claim that the assembly in Hong Kong, or China, or Indonesia was worse than in Japan, go ahead.

Some claim the Carl Zeiss lenses made and assembled in Japan in Tomioka plants were inferior.

Some claim the Leica lenses made and assembled in Japan in Minolta plants were superior.

They were not always made all over the world. In the late 70's (1978) I don't know of any Japanese brand SLR that was made outside of Japan (except for the K1000). We are not talking about the 90's.

 

[xkaes]

They were not always made all over the world.

Nobody said they were. And no matter where the K1000 was assembled. doesn't mean that all the parts were produced at the same location.

"Japanese" cars are assembled in Canada with parts from all over the world -- and sold in the USA.

 

[Chan Tran]

Nobody said they were. And no matter where the K1000 was assembled. doesn't mean that all the parts were produced at the same location.

"Japanese" cars are assembled in Canada with parts from all over the world -- and sold in the USA.

The K1000 was made in Hong Kong at the time when it was not the norm like today. It was a clear decision to make it cheaply and the quality did suffer because at the time workers in the far east outside of Japan were not as good as they are today. Practice does make perfect.
The K1000 was fine as it offered a workable camera for $129 with a lens, half the price of any of the other K mount camera at the time and the same or lower than a point and shoot at the time. It's not however worth the price that it's being sold used today.
Yes the Minolta SrT 101 and SRt 102 have the same quality just different in features but the K1000 isn't of the same quality as the other K mount cameras.

 

[warden]

Yes the Minolta SrT 101 and SRt 102 have the same quality just different in features but the K1000 isn't of the same quality as the other K mount cameras.

How?

I asked you this question back on June 30, post 903. Maybe you responded but I don’t see it? You keep saying the build quality of the K1000 is inferior to the other K mount cameras. How, specifically, is this so?

Is the winding inferior? Do light leaks happen more easily? Does the camera make funny noises? Is the shutter inaccurate? Do pieces fall off? Do the light meters fail after a short while? What specifically are you suggesting?

 

[Pioneer]

The K1000 was made in Hong Kong at the time when it was not the norm like today. It was a clear decision to make it cheaply and the quality did suffer because at the time workers in the far east outside of Japan were not as good as they are today. Practice does make perfect.
The K1000 was fine as it offered a workable camera for $129 with a lens, half the price of any of the other K mount camera at the time and the same or lower than a point and shoot at the time. It's not however worth the price that it's being sold used today.
Yes the Minolta SrT 101 and SRt 102 have the same quality just different in features but the K1000 isn't of the same quality as the other K mount cameras.

I am not sure where you are getting your information or why you seem to have such a poor opinion of these cameras, Your own personal experiences with these cameras do not seem to have been very positive. I know that my experiences are completely anecdotal so you are free to dismiss them if you wish. Based on what information I have been able to pull together, my K1000 was almost certainly assembled in Hong Kong and it has operated without a single problem for me since I bought it used in 1982. I finally sent it for a checkup in 2021 or 22, and it was given a clean bill of health by a very reliable Pentax technician at that time. Over 40 years after I bought the camera, it is still running for me just as well as I could expect. IMHO the Pentax K1000 is certainly one of the most reliable cameras ever produced by any camera manufacturer. Over the years I have also owned KM, KX and K2 as well as other Pentax cameras, and I can say without hesitation that my K1000 is built just as well as any of those cameras were. I don't know who the assemblers were that worked for Pentax in Hong Kong when this camera was put together, but in my opinion they should be congratulated for their excellent work. I would love to shake their hands if I could. If my camera is an example of what they did on a regular basis while they worked for Pentax then IMHO they assembled these cameras with just as much care and attention to detail as anyone could have, no matter which country they were from.

 

[xkaes]

according to Wikipedia Pentax made the K1000 in Hong Kong since 1978 and moved to China in 1990.

At approximately the same time, Minolta (and others) moved some of their camera manufacturing to China, as well. In the case of Minolta, it was via Malaysia, first, not Hong Kong.

Since the largest camera manufacturer in China is Seagull, it's no surprise, that they were the manufacturer of the last of Minolta's manual focus SLR cameras -- X-370, etc. Does anyone know if the K-1000 was also made by Seagull?

The reason I'm asking is because when Minolta stopped selling the X-370 cameras, Seagull continued to make & sell them -- with the Seagull brand name. If Seagull also made the K-1000, they might have sold some under the Seagull brand, as well. I do know that Seagull made many Seagull SLR cameras with the Pentax K mount, but I don't know if any are exactly like the K1000. I would not be surprised. Here's one that has many more features:

• Mechanical vertical-travel, medal-bladed shutter.
• B,1-1/2000
• Manual exposure only with TTL center-weighted average metering (3 LED display correct exposure or not)
• Acute matte focusing screen with central split-image spot surrounded by microprism
• ISO settings from 12-3200 with intermediate settings.
• Multi exposure capability
• Standard HOT shoe
• The mechanical self-timer 10 sec. Delay
• SYNC at 1/125 sec. Or lower
• Batteries (2-A76) only needed for TTL meter

 

[MFstooges]

Interesting. Considering Chinese lens quality has taken off I wonder why the camera manufacturers are not following. I was interested in Seagull MF folder but being put off by the hit and miss quality.

 

[xkaes]

 

[ant!]

Just found an interesting teardown video, looks pretty repairable!

 

[bfilm]

Just found an interesting teardown video, looks pretty repairable!

Interesting. I like to see this kind of thing. I wonder if there is an easy way to disconnect those annoying LED indicators right next to the viewfinder.

I am glad to see there is a fair bit of metal in the mechanics -- more than I might have expected on this camera. Although, it is hard to tell the quality of materials in the video. Gives one some hope that Pentax might still develop a pretty decent film SLR in their return to film cameras.

 

[mshchem]

Amazing