Pentax 17 Comprehensive Review – The New Half-Frame Point & Shoot

I’ve been writing about film cameras for a long time now, but the release of a new film camera from a major brand like Pentax feels somehow more significant than most, if not all that I’ve written about before. The Pentax 17 is not only a completely new film camera, it seems to be the start of a new era of film cameras from Pentax, and I can’t help but be quite excited by that prospect.

The Film Camera Marketplace

Since I started running this website, the film camera marketplace has been largely dominated by secondhand sales. There’s just so many cameras to choose from that were made over the last hundred-plus years, that it’s almost felt like there’s no need for a new film camera. After all, most film cameras have been discontinued since 2012-13 when the film photography industry bottomed out, and we’ve been doing fine surviving on ever-ageing gear for over a decade just fine since then… … right?

Well, also since then – it will come as no surprise to most people reading this – there has been something of a resurgence in film photography. We have seen both Ilford/Harman and Kodak bring new films to market, not to mention all the fringe stuff and rebrands. To be fair, there’s also been loads of new film cameras from cottage industry companies the likes of Intrepid, Chroma, Alfie and the rest who’ve been working away bringing relatively small numbers of cameras to the marketplace. Of course, it would be remiss not to mention Lomography and Leica who have also continued to bring new mass-produced film cameras to production too.

But whatever these brands release new, it’s had very little impact on the used value of secondhand film cameras, many of which have skyrocketed in many cases beyond sensible levels. When I started this website, you could buy pretty much any of the older M-mount Leicas for about £300, even an M6 could be had for about £5-600. I bought my first Contax T2 for £160 and remember at the time dreaming of buying a T3 which felt out of reach at about £500 (I think that’s about what I eventually paid). Search eBay for these cameras now and you’ll see they have doubled, tripled, even quadrupled in value. They’ve got older too, and less reliable with it. I now buy terminally-broken Contax Ts and T2s (to harvest their lenses) for more than I paid for my first working T2.

Yet despite this, none of the major manufacturers have seemingly been interested in bringing anything to market to compete with the used market. Like I said, Lomography have, but much of what they have produced is toy-like, and lower priced. And Leica have, but well, who’s got a spare £5k these days…? What’s felt conspicuously missing from the market place is a few well built, well specified, reasonably priced, and most importantly new cameras – cameras that can be bought without the need for a remortgage, and can be trusted to work, (come with a warranty in case they don’t) and take consistently good photos.

This for me, has always presented a bit of a problem for the film photography industry. Yes, for those of us who know what we’re looking at and what we are doing, buying used cameras is easy. But for someone coming into film for the first time, the lack of new cameras that fit my description above presents a barrier to entry. The amount of times I have been asked the question “what film camera should I buy?” over the years, and I have had to caveat every answer to every beginner by suggesting that they buy from a bricks and mortar shop that will help them, or at very least seek assistance off someone locally to them to help find a working one. In short, I’ve never accepted the idea that there’s enough secondhand cameras out there to mean we don’t need new ones. We do, and we have ever since the big brands stopped making them.

“It’s Time for Film!”

Which is why, after many years of rumours, I am so pleased to finally have my hands on a brand new, reasonably priced film camera from Pentax. Am I surprised it’s Pentax who, out of all of the big brands, have pulled this off first? Not really. If you had asked me a few years ago, I might have put my money on Fuji, but with Pentax (/Ricoh) concentrating on more niche markets such as DSLRS, monochrome digital cameras, large sensor compacts and rugged cameras, they feel like a good fit… probably a better fit than Fuji seeing as they have discontinued so many films too. And of course, that’s even before you consider Pentax’s rich history of making really nice consumer-level film cameras! Though, I do feel the need to cast a little bit of shade over the slightly, shall we say, basic “It’s time for film” slogan… It’s been time for film for quite a lot of us for quite some time, Pentax, kudos for finally realising though…

The Pentax 17

Ok, preamble done… It’s time I told you about the Pentax 17. Let me kick off by saying I think Pentax have managed to pull off something of a unique film camera. I can’t think of anything that has this particular set of specs and shooting options.

Features & Specs

The first thing to note about the Pentax 17 is that is a half-frame camera. In a world where film and developing costs are getting higher, doubling the potential shot count per roll doesn’t feel like a bad shout. The lens is a 25mm f/3.5, giving it an approximate equivalent field of view and depth of field to a 35mm f/5 lens on a full frame camera.

The lens is manual focus only, with click stops at the focus distances indicated via a set of fairly familiar symbols. These symbols are visible on top of the lens as well as through the viewfinder. I say “fairly” familiar as the flower for macro, different sized people and mountains are all symbols I have seen on cameras before. I am not sure I have seen the knife and fork for the close-up distance between macro and portrait though – a sign of times where it has become popular to photograph one’s dinner, perhaps? Focus distances are also indicated below the lens in both meters and feet. With the 25mm f/3.5 lens, it should be pretty easy to focus, even at closer distances.

The Pentax 17 Camera Body

The majority of the Pentax 17, including all the controls and dials is made of plastic. The top and bottom plate appear to be made out of metal – the material certainly feels slightly colder to the touch, though it’s quite hard to tell these days. The overall feel of the camera is pretty solid, albeit slightly hollow feeling in places, though I don’t hold that against it. It feels like a fairly well built consumer-level camera.

The design of the Pentax 17 is quite interesting too. It’s quite small, but it’s not small pocket-camera small. The body is a bit smaller than a small SLR, though bigger than a lot of point & shoots. It’s probably most comparable to early point & shoot cameras from the 80s (such as the Canon above). Fortunately, the lens projects less than a centimetre off the camera which helps it feel smaller. The grip is deeper than the lens, but about the same with the lens cap fitted. The grip also holds the single CR2 3v battery.

It’s worth noting I think that the little screw that holds the battery compartment closed isn’t fitted to the plastic cover, i.e. if when you unscrew it, it comes all the way out – I can see a few of these getting lost. The cap is a nice Pentax branded pinch to release that clips into a 40.5mm filter thread. The receptor for the light meter is also just above the lens meaning it will account for any filters that might be attached in front of it.

There are also 3 strap lugs on the camera. One on the left as you hold the camera and two on the right. The nice thing about the lower one on the right is that it is flush to the camera – it just looks neat and is out of the way for people who hang the camera conventionally by the two upper lugs. On the back of the camera there is also a slot for putting the end of the film box into to remind you what’s in the camera.

On the top of the Pentax 17 there’s also a set of logos, icons and bits of branding. The Asahi Optical Co. logo at the top above the Pentax logo would have probably been enough of a nod to the legacy, but underneath there’s also “Craftsmanship by Pentax” and “Film Camera” which feel a little cheesy to me. That said, I quite like the design and layout of the logos and words even if I find the wording itself a little redundant. There’s also an icon for indicating the film plane within the camera.

Overall, I think the aesthetic of the Pentax 17 is very nice. It definitely has modern Pentax vibes about it as well as being pretty retro in styling. It also feels really nice to hold and use. It is quite light, and with that there might be a tiny sacrifice in the overall feel of quality – it certainly doesn’t have the solid metal feel of the likes of a Contax T2 – but I don’t think it feels cheap. It’s a nice size in the hand too – the slightly bigger size might come at the expense of it being specifically pocketable, but the 3 strap lugs make up for that in terms of carry-ability. It still fits is a coat pocket or bigger jeans pockets too thanks to the pancake nature of the lens.

The Viewfinder

The Pentax 17 viewfinder is bright and clear – no sign of years of built up dust and haze here. It feels reasonably big to look though, though not massive. Inside the viewfinder, as already mentioned the focus distance is visible at the bottom. Also visible are two sets of framing lines, bigger ones for distance focusing and smaller ones for macro focusing. There’s no moving frame lines unfortunately, just these two, so a bit of guessing at closer-but-not-macro distances is probably going to be required for critical framing. I’ve also found the frame lines to disappear or partially disappear sometimes. You need to have your eye fairly well centred for them to be there, and sometimes given different lighting situations they seem to be less easily visible too. Next to the viewfinder, there are also a pair of LEDs that flash/light up indicating things like the need to advance the film, readiness to shoot, etc.

There’s a few different meanings to the various combinations of flashing a illuminated lights, but the most important ones are that he two lights flashing on and off means that you’ve forgotten to advance the film, and just the blue light flashing fast indicates low light. A slow flashing blue light reminds you that the lens is set to one of the close focus ranges. A steady orange light indicates that the flash is ready to fire. One slight frustration I have found with the lights is that they are quite bright. I founds the steady orange light to be very bright in low light situations, almost making the viewfinder hard to see through.

Here’s a snapshot from the manual of the various LEDs – the full manual is available here: pentax17_om_EN

Controls & Dials

Working from the top right looking at the Pentax 17 when it’s in your hand, first there is a shot counter then the manual film advance/shutter cocking lever. The film advance clicks flush with the camera, but also has a second slightly poked-out ready position which quite nicely acts as a little thumb grip when holding the camera.

We then have the shutter button which is surrounded by the on/off switch. The Pentax 17 shutter button has a half press which activates the almost silent electronic focusing mechanism and moves the lens to the preset focus position. Remember, this is a manual focus camera, so all that this is doing is setting the focus to the position selected by the user. Half press also sets exposure settings and lights up any relevant LEDs by the viewfinder accordingly. Full press, obviously, takes the photo. The button itself has a pretty nice feel to it, the half press is distinct enough to find it without the risk of an accidental full press. It’s worth noting that half press doesn’t lock exposure either – if you move the camera whilst the button is half pressed, the exposure will adjust according to what the camera is pointed at. There is no exposure lock feature either, though as I will come to, there is an exposure compensation dial.

What might be considered slightly unusual is that the manual focus dial doesn’t set the focus manually/mechanically, it just tells the camera what distance/zone to focus the lens to electronically when the shutter is half pressed. Possibly the biggest downside of this system is that it means the camera isn’t what I’d consider a true manual focus camera. The benefit of a true MF camera is that once the focus is set, there’s no shutter lag caused by an AF system having to move the lens into position for correct focus. It could be argued that a manual focus camera that sets the lens after the shutter button is half pressed is almost a worst-of-both-worlds. No AF, but still has shutter lag.

That said, thanks to the lack of AF there’s no processing time – some point & shoots take a moment to decide where to focus which adds to the shutter lag further. At least that isn’t a factor here. I have more thoughts on why the Pentax 17 might work like this in a moment too. I should probably also say that I haven’t yet really noticed the shutter lag in practice. If I think about, it’s there especially at closer distances where the lens moves more, but for normal shooting I don’t think it’s particularly noticeable – you just might notice it if you come to this camera with an expectation of a mechanical manual focus experience.

I think it’s also worth pointing out at this stage that thanks to the focusing system being very quiet, and this being a mechanical/manually advancing camera, the Pentax 17 a very quiet/discreet camera to use.

Next we have the control dial with various settings that are all essentially automatic, but provide a reasonable level of control over the decisions the camera makes. First, in blue is the full automatic “auto” mode. Auto is completely automatic and will select an appropriate shutter and aperture as well as firing the flash when the cameras deems fit to (Edit: The auto mode also sets the lens to a fixed hyperfocal distance – it ignores the distance the lens is set to). P for Program sets the shutter and aperture to a balanced setting appropriate for the light levels without it ever resorting to using the flash. The little moon symbol favours longer shutter speeds and “BOKEH” favours wider apertures. B is for Bulb and will keep the shutter open as long as the button is held down. Finally, there’s a pair of flash settings, one for slow sync and one for daylight/fill flash for use when the subject is backlit etc.

I must say, I’m very impressed by the Pentax 17’s selection of automatic modes. Pentax have managed to fix a few of my biggest gripes with old point & shoot cameras here. First is the fact that the nature of a dial means the camera will retain whatever your shooting preference is. Specifically, if you don’t want the camera to flash after switching it off then on again, it won’t. So few older film cameras offer this as a feature. Next is the three non-flash program settings. When I used to review point & shoot cameras back in the early days of this website, I used to hunt google for program mode settings charts (here is a time I wrote about one). Many point & shoot cameras will favour selecting slightly slower shutter speeds over opening the aperture in slightly low lit circumstances. I found Fuji cameras to be particularly prone to this. The charts would show that the cameras would set 1/30 and f/4 over 1/60 and f2.8 – this baffled me and put me off a lot of Fuji cameras (such as this one). Olympus, on the other hand, used to favour wider apertures. It’s one of the reasons I really liked the mju-ii (despite my reservations about what they cost secondhand).

Pentax have given the wider-aperture program mode the “BOKEH” nomenclature to denote that it will use the widest aperture mode readily and therefore create the shallowest depth of field. How much or little bokeh a 25mm f3.5 lens creates is another matter of course. For me, that’s irrelevant anyway. What’s important here is that we have a wider-aperture-favouring program mode which will reduce the chance of blur in some slightly lower lit circumstances. We also have a longer-shutter-speed-favouring mode for where the opposite is the preference. This might be for either intentional blurring effects (streaky car headlights for e.g.) or for simply helping to ensure larger depth of field for landscapes etc. Given lower-light shooting circumstances, it’s possibly advisable to think about a tripod or something to lean the camera on for this mode. One way or another, these three program modes strike me as being very well thought out, and as I say, I can’t help at being impressed at Pentax for including them.

Jumping to the other side of the Pentax 17’s viewfinder and we first find an exposure compensation dial for -2 to +2 compensation. Above this dial is the ISO dial release button which lets the ISO dial to the left rotate for setting between 50 and 3200 ISO. Within the dial is the film rewind which is released via a lock on the bottom of the camera. Pulling the film rewind up pops open the back of the camera. Again, I’m impressed at Pentax for including any level of exposure compensation. Though there is a chance I suppose that those who like to shot some of the ultra-slow films – and/or those wishing to heavily push films – might find the 50-3200 ISO range a little limiting.

Finally, on the back of the camera, there is also a port for an accessory shutter release as well as the film reminder slot for inserting the end of your film box.

What’s missing?

In some ways it doesn’t feel fair to talk about what’s missing from the Pentax 17 – it’s not even autofocus, so comparing it to the “best” of the point & shoot cameras out there doesn’t necessarily make sense. But, as a camera that’s entering a marketplace alongside some very highly regarded cameras – and with it having such an interesting set of features – I thought it might be an idea to make clear what I think, could by some people, be conceived as missing.

The first thing is something I’ve spoken about already, and that’s the proper parallax adjusting frame lines. This is a feature I’d love to see in a higher spec model, especially one with such close focus capabilities as this camera.

Another thing I think is missing from the viewfinder experience is any kind of digital readout telling the user what shutter speed is going to be used. I took a couple of photos in lower light where I just had to hope there wasn’t going to be motion blur. Admittedly, the flashing blue light on the back gives some indication of low light, but nothing beats a proper shutter speed readout in the viewfinder in my opinion.

There’s also the lack of an aperture control dial. Many of the higher spec point & shoots from back in the day allowed manual control of the aperture. Of course, the Pentax 17 does allow some control in the form of the three program modes. Actually, for me, these offer enough control, but some might disagree.

There’s also a lack of exposure lock. Now it’s very easy to argue that an exposure compensation dial offers a perfectly good alternative to an exposure lock button, but personally I like both. As mentioned, half press doesn’t lock the exposure either.

Finally, there’s no DX code reader. Personally, I probably prefer a lack of DX code reading, especially these days when there’s so many cottage industry films out there that don’t come with a DX code. It does however mean remembering to set the ISO of the film on the camera each time it’s loaded. I guess this will or won’t be an issue depending on the habits of any given individual user. One way or another, I thought it worth a mention.

Pentax 17 Image Quality

So far, I have only developed one roll that I have shot, but I have also been able to have a flick through some of Paul’s (from Analogue Wonderland) photos. It’s really hard not to be impressed by what the Pentax 17 is capable of. Remembering of course that this is a half frame camera, and that my results were all from Ultramax 400, which isn’t exactly at the top of my list when it comes to resolution, I think it’s really impressive!

And here are a couple of Paul’s photos that he kindly allowed me to share

There’s also more of my photos on my flickr here – I have another roll nearly finished, so that will be uploaded soon!

Pentax 17 Key Specifications

I don’t usually share spec lists, but there’s a few key ones I thought worth sharing, as follows:

Frame size: 24 x 17mm (17 being where the camera’s name comes from)
Lens: 3 element/3 group
Lens angle of view: 61 degrees
Filter thread: 40.5mm
Metering range: EV2.5 – 16.5 (ISO100)
Shutter speeds: 1/350th – 4 seconds (and bulb)
Flash guide number: 6

If you would like to see all the specs, they can be found in the manual which I have uploaded here.

Final Thoughts

I think Pentax have done a pretty solid and well rounded job at updating and modernising the concept of the manual focus/manual advance point & shoot film camera. When selecting older film cameras, there has always been a sense that it’s a case of selecting a camera from a series of options that were designed for a by-gone era – even if that by-gone ear was only a decade or so ago. That is to say, with settings options being designed for the marketplace back then, very few cameras seem to offer what a lot of people want from a point & shoot camera today. The result of this is that those cameras that do, have gone up stratospherically in secondhand value.

The Pentax 17 has a really solid and balanced series of features. It answers questions and frustrations that many of us have had with older film cameras such as the ever-frustrating automatic flash modes that need switching off every time the camera is turned on. Impressively, at least to me, it also answers the frustration of the program mode not quite being fit for all uses by having the option of 3 different modes. It’s also quiet, and easy to understand even for the beginner, yet doesn’t feel particularly lacking to someone like me who’s tried a lot of different cameras and therefore is a little more demanding in terms of what features I want to see.

The overall build quality is certainly good enough too, and I can’t help but like how it looks. It seems to strike a fine balance between having a more modern look to it, whilst also appropriately nodding to the its heritage. Though I do retain the right to express a certain level of skepticism at the various cheesy slogans and bits of branding associated with the launch of the camera, and blazoned upon it.

There are of course some limitations too. The viewfinder, whilst bright and big enough, is quite simple. The frame lines being fixed, and having a propensity to disappear sometimes make for a less than perfect framing process. The lack of shutter speed readout might also disappoint some. Though of course, it’s nice to be looking through a clean/bright finder that’s not got years of crap floating around in it. There’s also the slightly unusual electronic focusing that makes for a tiny bit of shutter lag that I wouldn’t expect from a manual focus camera. Though I should emphasise again, that I suspect most people won’t notice this in practice. Of course, it’s manual focus, which will likely limit its appeal to some. There’s no manual controls, DX code reading or exposure lock either. And then there’s the slightly larger size might, and indeed the basic fact that it’s half frame might put a few people off too.

All in all though, I have found myself really enjoying my first week or so with the Pentax 17. I really do belive that what it lacks is definitely outweighed by what it provides. Quite simply, it takes great photos in a way that I’ve found enjoyable to take them, and whilst I can nitpick, none of what I have found lacking has come anything close to being a deal breaker for me. It just feels like a really well thought out camera for a new era of film photographers. It’s also a camera I can see me recommending to beginners without reservation, which has to be a good thing for both those beginners and the industry as a whole. I’m now just looking forward to seeing what Pentax do next, as I believe this camera holds some clues to what we are likely to see.

Hints at what’s to come

The Pentax 17 is interesting in itself, but it’s also interesting in terms of what I think it hints at. Firstly, and perhaps most obviously is the size of the thing. Admittedly, the top plate is fairly crammed and therefore couldn’t be shrunk all that easily with this design and feature set. But, if they actively desired to make a smaller camera, I’m sure they could have made one – especially as it’s half frame. I just don’t think they wanted to make a smaller camera, as by making a slightly larger-bodied camera, they are potentially creating platform of at least some parts that can be shared with other future models. The biggest hint to this is when you open the back of the camera and see the amount of space around the half frame film gate. A few different components here and it could easily be big enough for full frame.

For me though, possibly the bigger hint at what’s to come is the electronically controlled focusing. I’m no camera designer, but if I were making a manual focus camera, I’d probably make one with a mechanically focusing lens. I’m sure it would have been a lot more simple to do so… Unless of course, a design for an electronically focusing camera had already been designed, or at very least needed to be designed for a future camera that needed such a system. It looks to me that the focusing system is based on an AF focusing system that’s been simplified to set distance based on what the focus dial is set to rather than what a AF system tells it to.

In short, I expect we might see a very similar looking camera that’s autofocus, shoots full frame, and sits very comfortably alongside the Pentax 17 in a future line up of film cameras from the brand. Fingers crossed!

If you’re looking to purchase a Pentax 17, you can get one from AW here (this is not an affiliate link).

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