Cracking video Peter! You remind me somewhat of my own grandfather with all your stories and the way you explain things, thanks for being a national treasure atleasy to this young soul in the south of rainy ole' England.
You my friend, are a much needed antidote to all the top knotted and bearded “what’s up guys” hipsters out there - and not a square space in sight ….. more power to your elbow.
Pete, you and I, and I imagine most people watching your channel, will have no issues playing around with fully manual SLRs. Pentax could have saved themselves a bunch of effort and money just re-releasing the Spotmatic. But that wouldn't get new (young) people into film photography. The 17 is an exercise in very clever marketing. I'm not one for programmes or anything that takes control out of my hands. But that's because I've been setting up my own photographs since the 1980s. This is exactly what people like my daughter, who have grown up with smartphones need, to get them to lose their fear of film.
It's aimed at the youngsters who are used to using their phones, not photographers😂 although being a 1/2 frame fan , I like it, pity I can't afford it!
I'm glad film cameras are making a comeback. Pentax 17 was sold out in many stores the day before yesterday when I went to get one. I hope other manufacturers reconsider them, especially Contax and Fujifilm Klasse. It'd be nice to have a premium full frame point and shoot with f2.8 or wider aperture. Great video sir! And really enjoyed 😊
The black and white prints looked surprisingly detailed.✔ That said, I don't really see any point in buying a new film camera. You can buy used ones very cheaply, most of which are full frame and with better user controls.
In my point of view, the reason to buy this over a used camera is that you can be sure that it works, you get warranty, you get service and you also pay as a way to show support. But yes, of course, this is not the best camera you can buy for that money.
I think the biggest selling point of P17 is still supported by the manufacturer. Let's be honest that most of us use old gears which are not supported anymore (unless you use Leicas), or already dead. Of course ignoring inflation, we can get more capable cameras on lower price.
It was so nice to hear a human speaking normally with no special effects or BGM. I’m so tired of extraneous effects and sounds when I want to know something about a camera. Your take on the camera is exactly what I guessed, though I don’t have one. I would be baffled not knowing what the camera was choosing for shutter speed or aperture. That being said, the photos in black and white looked great. I’m happy with my Pentax MX and other smaller film cameras, but am certainly cheering Pentax on for making such an interesting new film camera.
While I prefer the full frame SLR’s, I am happy that Pentax has introduced a film camera, and this camera will also inspire more people to shoot film. I think it’s a well made camera, and is new with a warranty and should last a while.
Thanks Pete, I recently bought a Pentax LX, luckily enough it is in very good condition. You should like an Eastender, but I could be wrong. I just looked at a picture of Deer on your RUclips channel and it looks like Harold Hill. Thanks.
Yes I originate from East Ham , Manor Park area, Started Photography at East Ham Grammar School in 1952. YES that IS Deer at Harold HIll - a Camera Club Mate took me there
So glad it found it's way to you! (Cheers Rog!!). I used a lot of HO5 half frame, developed with a good staining dev, I find the grain is acceptable (at least for 8x10). Definitely has a retro feel, but it's not gross.
It looks a bit like my Voigtlander Bessa L, though in half frame. I was always dubious about getting a decent 10 x 8" print from a half frame camera, however there's a chap on Flickr who has some perfectly sharp scans from old 110 negatives, which are about half as small again.
I looked up the price out of curiosity and I nearly fell off my chair, €549 for a camera with no user control over aperture or shutter speed and using zone focusing with mountains and flowers like a Holga? Wow! To me the lens and body look cheap as do the controls, and the settings appear to be painted on rather than etched? I also tried to look up where it's made but couldn't locate any information? You could buy a lot of quality film gear for €549, and TBH if I was offered one of these for €100 tomorrow I wouldn't buy it.
If you sort out the "features", you can conclude that the designers installed some features and omitted others in a cynical mix to imply that this a more significant creation than it is. Sort of coasting on the meaningless impressions of buyers who do not know better. Examples: Important cameras have manual focus; cheap point-n-shoots use autofocus. So no autofocus, but it still uses a power focus mechanism. It would have literally cost them nothing more to use an active infrared autofocus module off the shelf, like a $20 Mju. Then, they installed a half dozen "modes" for exposure in lieu of standard controls. Some of them require maximum depth of field or other specific focus to function. They know that their average buyer is going to screw that up every time, so those modes override the manual control and set focus automatically. So, you discover you really do have an autofocus camera, it's just a half-ass mess. The lens is a three element 25mm. Even an Olympus Pen manual half frame from the late 1960s used a four element 28mm 3.5 lens to obtain minimum sharpness and color correction; used: about $40. Pentax 17: "We don't't need no stinking sharpness." Ricoh has given away dozens of the Pentax 17 to social media types, who have paid back their gift with YT postings of reviews of the "Boy, I sure like it!" class. The price will insure that sales will die as soon as the media hype bloom is off the Pentax 17 rose. So who will buy? The same hype-sponges who paid $900 for a used Pentax 67 system 105mm lens, which sold for $125 for years. And this little piece of marketing hype was supposed to be the Phoenix rising from the ashed of past glory to save the future of film photography? (I sigh!)
BTW, as far as I remember - Kodachrome 25 was very well suited for old scripts on old parchments... It allowed a lot of pull process - even showing sraped older texts...
Not surprised at all. Pentax is now Ricoh. So it really should have been named Ricoh17, it would have been more honest. As much as I love film cameras, thes ehalf frames have neve rdone anything for me, least of all one with a fixed lens at nearly £500.00. You can spend you money moe wisely me thinks. Just for information, an absolutely first class used Nikon F3 + 50mm F1.8 AI or AI-S lens would cost you the same money perhaps a bit more TBH, and will probably outlast this thing. Which one would you rather have?
What if I already have F3 (and "few" more great "FF" film cameras) and sometimes I just want to snap color photos without costing me an arm and a leg? Will my F3 outlive the P17... that's questionable... there are already masses of broken F3's (lcd and electronics are breaking down). I prefer the F3, it's my favorite camera right now, but P17 is good enough and it allows me to save some money on photos that would be "just snaps". The only complaint I have is that they didn't put a leatherette on backplate of camera, but I solved that myself for a couple of euros and now it feels much better in the hands. Have a nice day
@@nikoladimitrijevic8172 What if this and if that? To be perfectly honest, unless someone is paying me to use colour film for any reason, then I will not be going near it. I do have a few rolls of Gold 200, a couple of Ultramax 400, even Vision 3 250D and some Ektar 100 120 which i bought a few years ago for my own use, but I will not be touching any of the Portars at the present asking prices unless someone else was paying for them. If I wanted colour, I use my digital cameras. B&W film is another matter. It is as simple as that. I doubt very much if a piece of plastic camera made by Ricoh is going to outlive a well looked after F3. Film photograhy is not about ' cost ', otherwise Digital wins hands down. A simple calculation, I use on average two rolls of 35mm or 120 films each week. In a good year it could be about 130 rolls. At present cost and not using the ridiculous Kodak films, that 130 rolls cost me about £2300.00 in film, chemicals and what we call ' consumables each year. If I went and got a used Leica M Monochrom ( I already have Leica Ms and M lenses ) that would cost me about £3500.00 ~£4000.00 . Meaning at present prices I get my money back within two years, and probably much sooner the way both Kodak and Ilford are pushing prices up. So it is not the cost saving excercise that prompts me to shoot film. It is the satisfaction, fulfillment and to a very large degree nostalgia that makes me haul a 4X5 outfit up the Peak District to shoot film with. If they meant this camera to be used by the iphone content creator generation, there may be a case for its existance, otherwise words fail me.
@@nikoladimitrijevic8172I agree with you, I also have a very good condition F3 with HP finder and it is a great camera, but it’s also 40 years old and electronics can fail at anytime. The advantage of the Pentax 17 is new camera, lower film cost, it should make great 5” x 7” photos and decent 8” x 10”.
@@CalumetVideo I totally agree! Almost everyone is talking about how this is an instagram camera... but my idea is to fill albums with 5 x 7 photos, 17x24mm ratio is nearly perfect for that 👍And if "FF" 35mm can be printed with excellent results on A3 than "half frame" would certainly be great for 8x10. I rarely fall for marketing, but this project really seems like a legitimate attempt to keep the film alive, P17 is not some toy without legit use value.
Those cameras cost the better part of a thousand bucks. That's a lot of money for a camera where you can't even adjust the shutter speed or aperture and is not even an SLR. You could buy a pristine Spotmatic for a quarter of that and you'd have a better camera too.
Overpriced. I'm sorry, but there is no way in hell I would pay around £500 film camera. I recently bought a Chinon CX body, built like a tank and in full working order, for £30.
Cracking video Peter! You remind me somewhat of my own grandfather with all your stories and the way you explain things, thanks for being a national treasure atleasy to this young soul in the south of rainy ole' England.
Good to see you again Mr.Elgar ! . . and looking in good health too 😉
Talk about memory line with Tudor film. Good to see you again
You are amazing! Thank you for the informative and entertaining review!
Only Pentax Pete could muller a roll of Kodachrome without so much as a "by your leave!" 🤣
You my friend, are a much needed antidote to all the top knotted and bearded “what’s up guys” hipsters out there - and not a square space in sight ….. more power to your elbow.
Thank you Pentax Pete, always enjoy your videos
Brilliant as always 👌
Pete, you and I, and I imagine most people watching your channel, will have no issues playing around with fully manual SLRs. Pentax could have saved themselves a bunch of effort and money just re-releasing the Spotmatic. But that wouldn't get new (young) people into film photography. The 17 is an exercise in very clever marketing. I'm not one for programmes or anything that takes control out of my hands. But that's because I've been setting up my own photographs since the 1980s. This is exactly what people like my daughter, who have grown up with smartphones need, to get them to lose their fear of film.
A solid little camera with wacky controls 😁 So glad to see you having fun with it Pete!
It's aimed at the youngsters who are used to using their phones, not photographers😂 although being a 1/2 frame fan , I like it, pity I can't afford it!
A really fun ramble! Thank you!
Great review, Pete! Thank you.
I'm glad film cameras are making a comeback. Pentax 17 was sold out in many stores the day before yesterday when I went to get one.
I hope other manufacturers reconsider them, especially Contax and Fujifilm Klasse. It'd be nice to have a premium full frame point and shoot with f2.8 or wider aperture.
Great video sir! And really enjoyed 😊
The black and white prints looked surprisingly detailed.✔
That said, I don't really see any point in buying a new film camera. You can buy used ones very cheaply, most of which are full frame and with better user controls.
In my point of view, the reason to buy this over a used camera is that you can be sure that it works, you get warranty, you get service and you also pay as a way to show support. But yes, of course, this is not the best camera you can buy for that money.
I think the biggest selling point of P17 is still supported by the manufacturer. Let's be honest that most of us use old gears which are not supported anymore (unless you use Leicas), or already dead. Of course ignoring inflation, we can get more capable cameras on lower price.
It was so nice to hear a human speaking normally with no special effects or BGM. I’m so tired of extraneous effects and sounds when I want to know something about a camera. Your take on the camera is exactly what I guessed, though I don’t have one. I would be baffled not knowing what the camera was choosing for shutter speed or aperture. That being said, the photos in black and white looked great. I’m happy with my Pentax MX and other smaller film cameras, but am certainly cheering Pentax on for making such an interesting new film camera.
What a sweet gentleman . Full of character
I enjoyed this review Peter ☺️
While I prefer the full frame SLR’s, I am happy that Pentax has introduced a film camera, and this camera will also inspire more people to shoot film. I think it’s a well made camera, and is new with a warranty and should last a while.
Thanks Pete, I recently bought a Pentax LX, luckily enough it is in very good condition.
You should like an Eastender, but I could be wrong. I just looked at a picture of Deer on your RUclips channel and it looks like Harold Hill.
Thanks.
Yes I originate from East Ham , Manor Park area, Started Photography at East Ham Grammar School in 1952. YES that IS Deer at Harold HIll - a Camera Club Mate took me there
So glad it found it's way to you! (Cheers Rog!!).
I used a lot of HO5 half frame, developed with a good staining dev, I find the grain is acceptable (at least for 8x10). Definitely has a retro feel, but it's not gross.
Thank you, sir! Quite an amazing video. I miss Pentax since early 1990s :( They made a perfect optics back then :(
Recently acquired a Pentax P30n body for £11.99. After a bit of tinkering and new batteries, it's working fine!
Great vid, took me back years
I hope this is a successful camera because, who knows Ricoh/Pentax may create a SLR 35mm film camera. But at what price, I wonder...
Put some 400ASA in and take and go to a pop concert Pete. Crop since its a fixed lens. Lovely grainy pictures, like back in the day! Hahaha
And Peter - you are _amazing_!
I hood this is a successful camera because, who knows Ricoh/Pentax may create a SLR 35mm film camera. But at what price, I wonder...
It looks a bit like my Voigtlander Bessa L, though in half frame. I was always dubious about getting a decent 10 x 8" print from a half frame camera, however there's a chap on Flickr who has some perfectly sharp scans from old 110 negatives, which are about half as small again.
I looked up the price out of curiosity and I nearly fell off my chair, €549 for a camera with no user control over aperture or shutter speed and using zone focusing with mountains and flowers like a Holga? Wow!
To me the lens and body look cheap as do the controls, and the settings appear to be painted on rather than etched?
I also tried to look up where it's made but couldn't locate any information?
You could buy a lot of quality film gear for €549, and TBH if I was offered one of these for €100 tomorrow I wouldn't buy it.
If you sort out the "features", you can conclude that the designers installed some features and omitted others in a cynical mix to imply that this a more significant creation than it is. Sort of coasting on the meaningless impressions of buyers who do not know better. Examples: Important cameras have manual focus; cheap point-n-shoots use autofocus. So no autofocus, but it still uses a power focus mechanism. It would have literally cost them nothing more to use an active infrared autofocus module off the shelf, like a $20 Mju. Then, they installed a half dozen "modes" for exposure in lieu of standard controls. Some of them require maximum depth of field or other specific focus to function. They know that their average buyer is going to screw that up every time, so those modes override the manual control and set focus automatically. So, you discover you really do have an autofocus camera, it's just a half-ass mess. The lens is a three element 25mm. Even an Olympus Pen manual half frame from the late 1960s used a four element 28mm 3.5 lens to obtain minimum sharpness and color correction; used: about $40. Pentax 17: "We don't't need no stinking sharpness." Ricoh has given away dozens of the Pentax 17 to social media types, who have paid back their gift with YT postings of reviews of the "Boy, I sure like it!" class. The price will insure that sales will die as soon as the media hype bloom is off the Pentax 17 rose. So who will buy? The same hype-sponges who paid $900 for a used Pentax 67 system 105mm lens, which sold for $125 for years. And this little piece of marketing hype was supposed to be the Phoenix rising from the ashed of past glory to save the future of film photography? (I sigh!)
Surprisdingly good and if people are prepared to pay the asking price good luck to em
BTW, as far as I remember - Kodachrome 25 was very well suited for old scripts on old parchments... It allowed a lot of pull process - even showing sraped older texts...
The flash should throw further if you can adjust the ISO with exposure compensation.Would you agree?
The best use of these built-in small flashes is to trigger a second flash with an optical slave.
I snap with the Pentax LX & MX for traveling. 35mm full frame worth the investment for delayed gratification. P is for program & Pete! : )
Just noticed here about the landscape orientation. LOL
I do remember -3 photos by carefully rewinding the film. And... Without these contacts you could use custom 35mm cuts of cinema film.
Pentax has taken photography to the dark ages, they probably found their nice.
AGFA100 was perfect for old documents.. AGFA50/75 was better but much more expensive.
I came here thinking he was talking about Tampax.
Ha Ha ! My British Accent again !
pentax pete, you are a legend sir.
Not surprised at all. Pentax is now Ricoh. So it really should have been named Ricoh17, it would have been more honest. As much as I love film cameras, thes ehalf frames have neve rdone anything for me, least of all one with a fixed lens at nearly £500.00. You can spend you money moe wisely me thinks. Just for information, an absolutely first class used Nikon F3 + 50mm F1.8 AI or AI-S lens would cost you the same money perhaps a bit more TBH, and will probably outlast this thing. Which one would you rather have?
What if I already have F3 (and "few" more great "FF" film cameras) and sometimes I just want to snap color photos without costing me an arm and a leg? Will my F3 outlive the P17... that's questionable... there are already masses of broken F3's (lcd and electronics are breaking down). I prefer the F3, it's my favorite camera right now, but P17 is good enough and it allows me to save some money on photos that would be "just snaps".
The only complaint I have is that they didn't put a leatherette on backplate of camera, but I solved that myself for a couple of euros and now it feels much better in the hands.
Have a nice day
@@nikoladimitrijevic8172 What if this and if that? To be perfectly honest, unless someone is paying me to use colour film for any reason, then I will not be going near it. I do have a few rolls of Gold 200, a couple of Ultramax 400, even Vision 3 250D and some Ektar 100 120 which i bought a few years ago for my own use, but I will not be touching any of the Portars at the present asking prices unless someone else was paying for them. If I wanted colour, I use my digital cameras. B&W film is another matter. It is as simple as that. I doubt very much if a piece of plastic camera made by Ricoh is going to outlive a well looked after F3. Film photograhy is not about ' cost ', otherwise Digital wins hands down. A simple calculation, I use on average two rolls of 35mm or 120 films each week. In a good year it could be about 130 rolls. At present cost and not using the ridiculous Kodak films, that 130 rolls cost me about £2300.00 in film, chemicals and what we call ' consumables each year. If I went and got a used Leica M Monochrom ( I already have Leica Ms and M lenses ) that would cost me about £3500.00 ~£4000.00 . Meaning at present prices I get my money back within two years, and probably much sooner the way both Kodak and Ilford are pushing prices up. So it is not the cost saving excercise that prompts me to shoot film. It is the satisfaction, fulfillment and to a very large degree nostalgia that makes me haul a 4X5 outfit up the Peak District to shoot film with. If they meant this camera to be used by the iphone content creator generation, there may be a case for its existance, otherwise words fail me.
@@nikoladimitrijevic8172I agree with you, I also have a very good condition F3 with HP finder and it is a great camera, but it’s also 40 years old and electronics can fail at anytime. The advantage of the Pentax 17 is new camera, lower film cost, it should make great 5” x 7” photos and decent 8” x 10”.
@@CalumetVideo I totally agree! Almost everyone is talking about how this is an instagram camera... but my idea is to fill albums with 5 x 7 photos, 17x24mm ratio is nearly perfect for that 👍And if "FF" 35mm can be printed with excellent results on A3 than "half frame" would certainly be great for 8x10.
I rarely fall for marketing, but this project really seems like a legitimate attempt to keep the film alive, P17 is not some toy without legit use value.
Those cameras cost the better part of a thousand bucks. That's a lot of money for a camera where you can't even adjust the shutter speed or aperture and is not even an SLR. You could buy a pristine Spotmatic for a quarter of that and you'd have a better camera too.
Overpriced. I'm sorry, but there is no way in hell I would pay around £500 film camera. I recently bought a Chinon CX body, built like a tank and in full working order, for £30.