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Pentax 17 Half-Frame Film Camera Reviews

4.7 Rating 7 Reviews
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I have no regrets about spending $500 on it. As a Leica rangefinder shooter I'm pretty comfortable with zone focusing, I find it a joy to shoot with. For daylight shooting, if you're using 200-400 ISO film, the aperture should be set (by the camera automatically) around f/11 to f/16, following the Sunny 16 rule. I typically set the focus point to 1.7m, which provides a deep enough zone to cover most of my subjects. For distant scenes, I simply switch the focus to infinity. With these settings, 1.7m and infinity cover most of my shooting scenarios perfectly.
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I so badly wanted to rate this a solid 5, but its more like a 4.5. When it gets a good shot, its lovely. This camera is uber-fun to use and I would make it my favored 35mm camera. Its compact, easy to handle and operate. I did not run into any of the issues with fingers in shots or changing the mode dial. I did forget to change the ISO on a roll. What I don't like is that the flash is not great for indoor shooting with any ISO speed film I've tried (100,200,400,800). Only works well when people are not too close. My biggest challenge is the focusing. Its too soft in full program mode for my tastes. When using one of the zone focus modes, my distance judgement is not as good as I convinced myself of. I miss focus too often. However, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this camera for the fun factor. It is just a joy to use. I still hold out hope I will get the zone focus system figured out better. Also, I may be spoiled from using my rangefinder cameras, which to be fair, are multiples of the cost of this. And I really do not feel $500 is unreasonable for a new camera in 2024 that had to be researched and developed from scratch. The Mint Rollei 35 is coming next month and that is $799. Yeah I want that one too. But my point is for a new camera, $500 is great. When my rangefinders break, I will be paying a lot more to fix those.
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I have having so much fun with this camera. I have been looking for a smaller point and shoot film camera for every day use and this has worked well and I have enjoyed the results. Simple, convenient and just enough flexibility to give some creative control.
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Bought one for my wife. The camera's a ton of fun for her, and I've had a similar experience with the few shots I've taken with it. She wanted the Pentax 17 specifically because it shoots portrait orientation in default, her preferred style, so it's really a joy for her to take pictures with. The camera itself is what it is. Half frame. Zone-focus ring only (which is fully electric so has no intermediate positions between the clicks). All of its modes are automatic rather than having any real manual exposure control. Auto mode competely overrides whatever zone focus you've selected, too! Built-in flash, clear viewfinder with framing brackets. It's light as a feather but very well constructed, so it's easy to forget about when slung crossbody for a few hours and yet is still solid in the hand for shooting. A Pentax 17 isn't going to replace anyone's 35mm SLR. But it's a very rad camera to bring along for a day out so one can capture beautiful half frame photos on film rather than resorting to their phone. Its limitations aren't deficiencies, they are simply design choices that seek to deliver a specific experience. And it's a brand new film camera sold with a warranty in 2024. No reason not to get one, the Pentax 17 will be an iconic milestone artifact in 15 years.
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