The Pentax 17 is the primary Pentax movie digital camera in 20 years. It is a half-frame digital camera, which means it captures two vertical frames within the house normally used for a single horizontal picture on 35mm movie. The quantity ’17’ within the identify refers back to the width of the 17 x 24mm body that it captures.
Key options and specs
Half-frame picture seize (17 x 24mm)
37mm (equiv) FOV F3.5 lens
Zone focusing system with 6 zones
Round leaf shutter (F3.5-16)
Constructed-in flash (6m/20ft at ISO100)
Optical tunnel viewfinder with body strains
Publicity from 1/350 sec to 4 sec (+ Bulb)
Helps movies from ISO 50 to ISO 3200
The Pentax 17 shall be obtainable in late June at a instructed retail value of $499. A bundle that features one roll of Ilford HP5 Plus 400 B&W movie, one roll of Kodak UltraMax 400 colour movie, two movie processing coupons and a two-year prolonged guarantee (for a complete of three years) will promote for $599.
Who it is for
Earlier than discussing the digital camera’s options and efficiency, it is value inspecting who the Pentax 17 is geared toward. Ricoh says it is seen a renewed curiosity in movie, notably amongst younger folks, an necessary demographic for any producer. It believes many photographers who take footage with smartphones wish to do one thing extra artistic. This contains individuals who have not shot movie earlier than and a few who have not shot movie in a very long time.
With that context in thoughts, Ricoh tells us it selected the half-frame format for 2 necessary causes. The primary is to mitigate prices; movie could also be experiencing a resurgence, however costs stay excessive, notably while you embody each movie and processing. By doubling the variety of frames on every roll of movie, it successfully cuts the cost-per-frame in half.
“Ricoh says it desires to maintain the digital camera’s studying curve comparatively easy, making it simpler for first-time movie shooters to get the specified outcomes with out requiring a lot expertise.”
The second is that the vertical format extra intently aligns with the taking pictures fashion many individuals have adopted for sharing photographs on social media platforms.
Moreover, Ricoh says it desires to maintain the digital camera’s studying curve comparatively easy, making it simpler for first-time movie shooters to get the specified outcomes with out requiring a lot expertise. Because of this, the digital camera makes use of programmed publicity modes reasonably than providing a completely guide taking pictures expertise.
That is perhaps a roundabout manner of claiming that should you’re in search of a completely guide, full-frame 35mm movie digital camera, the Pentax 17 is not it. Nevertheless, that does not imply you may’t have a whole lot of enjoyable taking pictures it.
Physique and design
The Pentax 17 is basically a contemporary point-and-shoot digital camera, although it is a well-built one. It weighs 290g (10.2 oz) with out movie or battery, and the highest and backside plates are made from magnesium alloy. A lot of the center is made from plastic. In step with the digital camera’s compact fashion, the grip is comparatively small.
In an homage to earlier Pentax cameras, the Pentax 17 contains a number of options borrowed from, or impressed by, earlier Pentax fashions, one in every of which is seen on the entrance: the quantity 17 within the digital camera’s emblem makes use of the identical font for the digits as Pentax 6×7 cameras from years previous.
One other throwback is seen on the highest of the viewfinder, with the Asahi Optical Firm emblem showing above the Pentax branding. You may additionally discover the movie airplane indicator and the phrases ‘Movie Digital camera’ right here.
The digital camera’s mode dial is split into three color-coded sections: blue, white and gold. The blue part has a single Auto mode, during which the digital camera will make all publicity selections, together with whether or not or to not hearth the flash. The white part contains Program, Sluggish-speed, bulb modes, and a Bokeh mode that forces the leaf shutter to stay at its widest doable aperture. Deciding on any of the modes within the white part turns off the flash.
In distinction, deciding on any mode within the gold part will pressure the flash to fireside. It contains a normal Program mode (with flash sync) and a Sluggish-speed sync mode that permits the shutter to stay open lengthy sufficient for ambient mild situations.
An publicity compensation dial with a spread of ±2EV in 1/3 cease increments offers an added diploma of management in conditions that would idiot the digital camera’s auto publicity metering, resembling taking photographs within the snow.
The digital camera’s shutter button, which is predicated on the one from the Pentax KP DSLR, is surrounded by the on/off swap. Alongside it, you will discover the movie advance lever and body counter. We’re informed the movie winding mechanism is predicated on the one from the Pentax Auto 110, and the body counter goes all the best way to 72, the utmost variety of photographs you may take utilizing a roll of 36-exposure movie.
The built-in flash additionally comes from the Pentax KP, although it is mounted in entrance as an alternative of utilizing a pop-up mechanism. It is rated for 6m (20ft) at ISO 100.
When loading movie, you will have to set the ISO utilizing the ISO dial, which is launched by a small black button to the suitable of the dial. The digital camera helps movies inside the ISO vary of 50-3200.
Contained in the ISO dial is the movie rewind crank, one other throwback: It is based mostly on the crank from the Pentax LX, an SLR launched in 1980, and we’re informed the white arrow markings on the crank are designed to imitate the Pentax Spotmatic SP.
The again of the digital camera features a 2.5mm jack that works with the Pentax CS-205 cable launch. To reinforce the movie expertise, there’s even a body to carry the highest flap of the movie field to remind you of what movie is within the digital camera. Lastly, the underside of the digital camera has a tripod socket and the movie rewind launch button.
Lens
The Pentax 17 makes use of a 25mm F3.5 lens with a leaf shutter, however proudly owning to the digital camera’s half-frame format, it has an efficient 37mm focal size in equal phrases. It is presupposed to be based mostly on the lens within the Pentax Espio Mini from 1994, and like that digital camera, it makes use of a triplet design that options three parts in three teams. It has been up to date to incorporate Pentax’s fashionable HD coating. The smallest aperture is F16.
The lens employs a zone focus system with six obtainable presets: 0.25m, 0.5m, 1.2m, 1.7m, 3m (0.82ft, 1.7ft, 4ft, 5.6ft, 10ft) and infinity. Zones are chosen utilizing icons alongside the highest of the lens, with index marks in meters and ft additionally obtainable beneath the lens.
The lens features a 40.5mm filter thread, and for the reason that mild meter is positioned on the entrance of the lens, it ought to meter precisely even with a filter hooked up.
Viewfinder
The obvious factor you will discover when trying by the viewfinder is that it is vertical, owing to the digital camera’s half-frame design.
The viewfinder is a straightforward optical tunnel design. It contains two units of body etchings, one for normal photographs and one for taking pictures in macro mode, which corrects for parallax when the digital camera is near the topic.
A pair of LED lights sits to the suitable of the viewfinder to point situations resembling inadequate mild (which might additionally point out that the lens cap remains to be hooked up), that the movie lever must be wound earlier than you may shoot the subsequent body, or to remind you that you just’re in macro mode.
“The obvious factor you will discover when trying by the viewfinder is that it is vertical, owing to the digital camera’s half-frame design.”
Helpfully, a pass-through within the viewfinder means that you can see which zone focus icon is presently chosen. This lets you choose the main target zone with out eradicating the digital camera out of your eye.
Battery
The Pentax 17 could be the first Pentax digital camera launched in fairly a while to not embody a chargeable battery, choosing a 3V CR2 lithium battery as an alternative.
In line with the spec sheet, a battery ought to final by 10 rolls of 36-exposure movie when utilizing flash for 50% of the photographs. Nevertheless, a Ricoh consultant informed us that, in follow, most customers will possible get double this quantity if they don’t use the flash so continuously.
In use
In some ways, taking pictures the Pentax 17 is paying homage to utilizing an outdated point-and-shoot movie digital camera. However not fairly.
Many point-and-shoot movie cameras from the final couple of many years of the movie period did as a lot as doable to get movie out of customers’ manner: options like auto-winding to the primary body, automated movie advance between frames, and auto rewind on the finish of a roll of movie have been commonplace. And, in fact, most have been autofocus. In essence, in an period the place each digital camera shot movie, most point-and-shoot cameras aimed to make it doable for folks simply to level and shoot.
Pentax 17 pattern galleryPhotos captured utilizing Kodak Ektar 100 movie and processed by The Darkroom with ‘Enhanced’ scanning [2048 x 2905 resolution]
The Pentax 17 takes a hybrid method. It seems like a point-and-shoot however offers sufficient tactile cues to make sure that you have interaction with the movie expertise. Manually advancing the movie to the primary body, cranking the movie advance lever between photographs, and manually rewinding on the finish of the roll are all a part of the method. I reasonably loved the easy motion of cranking the movie advance lever and utilizing it to anchor my thumb when taking pictures. As a former movie shooter, it felt very pure.
Equally, zone focusing requires you to cease and consider the scene. It has been some time since I’ve shot utilizing zone focusing, and it took me a bit time to get into the groove, but it surely offered an pleasing steadiness between needing to cease to consider my settings and an informal point-and-shoot expertise. Zone focusing is fairly easy, and I anticipate most customers will get fairly good at it after taking pictures a few rolls of movie.
Kodak Ektar 100
Picture: Dale Baskin
The factor that is going to leap out to many skilled photographers would be the vertical viewfinder. This is usually a bit jarring in a world the place most cameras default to panorama view, however I largely forgot about it inside a couple of minutes and simply loved taking pictures. Pentax anticipates promoting many of those cameras to individuals who got here of age taking pictures on smartphones, and I anticipate lots of these customers will really feel proper at dwelling with the vertical association.
Total, the digital camera handles nicely. The small grip offers a great steadiness between dealing with and look, and the controls are logical and comfortably laid out. Turning the main target ring on the lens feels much less exact than I would like – I want it will extra definitively click on into place when switching between zones – but it surely’s not a showstopper.
The half-frame method has one very tangible profit: with as much as 72 exposures on a roll of movie, you are more likely to spend much less time watching the movie counter and extra time having fun with the images expertise.
Picture high quality
Contemplating the Pentax 17’s half-frame format, it should not come as a shock that it does not ship the identical picture high quality because the bigger negatives from a normal 35mm digital camera (much like what we see with totally different sizes of digital sensors). Let’s stipulate that the Pentax 17 is not a digital camera you are going to purchase if absolute picture high quality is your high precedence. As a substitute, it is a digital camera you purchase since you’re in search of a selected kind of taking pictures expertise.
Total, picture high quality met my expectations. The lens is not as tack-sharp because the extra fashionable designs discovered on latest digital cameras, however even when it have been, likelihood is fairly good it will out-resolve many of the movie you are more likely to put within the digital camera. Typically talking, picture high quality jogs my memory of the outcomes you’d get from a typical point-and-shoot movie digital camera, which is not too stunning contemplating the lens’ heritage.
Kodak Ektar 100
Picture: Dale Baskin
One of many largest components that can influence picture high quality is not the digital camera itself however the movie you employ. Throughout my take a look at interval with the digital camera, I used Kodak Ektar 100 movie, which produces comparatively excessive distinction and vivid colours. Looking back, it most likely wasn’t the very best movie inventory for a sunny summer season day with a whole lot of distinction, however that is what I put within the digital camera. Because of this, a few of my photographs embody blown highlights and darkish shadows that possible would not have occurred had I used a movie with much less distinction.
Nevertheless, that is a part of the movie images expertise: typically, you simply need to shoot no matter movie occurs to be in your digital camera.
How the movie is developed may also be an element. Our movie was processed and scanned by a industrial lab, The Darkroom, and included ‘Enhanced’ scans that measure 2905 x 2048 pixels.
I anticipate most individuals who hunt down the Pentax 17 will accomplish that to share photographs on social media or make small prints reasonably than ordering enormous enlargements to hold over the hearth. For these makes use of, picture high quality is appropriate. What’s most likely extra necessary to those customers is the flexibility to create photographs with a definite look totally different from the extremely processed smartphone photographs most individuals are used to seeing.
Conclusion
When contemplating the Pentax 17, it is important to handle expectations. Understandably, some design selections, notably the choice to go along with a vertical-first, half-frame format, have been polarizing inside the images group, particularly amongst long-time photographers. On this case, it is necessary to contemplate the product’s audience.
Movie continues to promote, partly as a consequence of youthful photographers who wish to experiment with movie images. It is a logical demographic for Pentax to go after, and it permits the corporate to begin constructing relationships with a special technology of customers. In that context, a half-frame digital camera that defaults to vertical taking pictures makes some sense.
Kodak Ektar 100
Picture: Dale Baskin
Nevertheless, do not be misled into pondering the Pentax 17 is just for the Instagram crowd. Typically, images is just about having enjoyable, and I had a whole lot of enjoyable utilizing the digital camera. The truth is, one of many issues I loved most was the half-frame format. Anybody who has shot movie is aware of that a part of the expertise is that temporary second of tension you expertise each time you press the shutter button, hoping every photograph is well worth the incremental expense. Watching the body counter tick up and understanding you may go all the best way to 72 removes a few of that stress.
And people bills are actual. The Darkroom, the industrial lab that processed and scanned our photographs, fees round $20 to course of and scan a roll of 35mm movie from a half-frame digital camera, which incorporates on-line supply of the scans and negatives returned by submit. Including a set of prints will increase that price by round $10. Costs will range between labs, however this provides you a ballpark concept of the prices.
At $499, the Pentax 17 shall be greater than an impulse purchase for most individuals. Nevertheless, some used point-and-shoots, together with the Pentax Espio Mini, routinely promote on the used marketplace for round $250. From that perspective, a brand new digital camera with a guaranty and an organization to again it up might be engaging to patrons preferring to not roll the cube on used gear.
Do you have to purchase it? In the event you’re the kind of one who hasn’t shot movie earlier than, or perhaps not in a very long time, the Pentax 17 is an efficient entry level to get the movie taking pictures expertise. Nevertheless, there are a whole lot of nice point-and-shoot movie cameras obtainable on the used market, too, although it is value noting that many of those have seen their worth improve lately and might not be the discount they as soon as have been. However, if the concept of a half-frame, semi-manual digital camera appeals to you, and your expectations for picture high quality are cheap, the Pentax 17 is an efficient possibility.
What we like
Traditional trying design
Good controls and dealing with
Good steadiness between guide and automated management
What we might prefer to see improved
Some plastic elements do not stay as much as total construct high quality
Extra exact zone-focus ring
Value
