New Pentax Camera

[pdk42]

Film, half-frame, small, and cute (ish).

Hands On: Pentax 17 Film Camera Seizes the Analog Moment

Film photography is enjoying a comeback and Pentax is here to take advantage of the trend with its first film camera in decades. Our early impressions suggest Pentax chose its moment wisely.

uk.pcmag.com

 

[Oíche]

No comment, as an ex-Pentaxian still owning several film cameras and lenses I've spewed already on dpreview.

£499

 

[pdk42]

No comment, as an ex-Pentaxian still owning several film cameras and lenses I've spewed already on dpreview.

£499

My first “proper” camera was a Spotmagic II (if I don’t count a crappy Practika that broke on me!), so I have a soft spot for them.

 

[Oíche]

I bought a Casio compact 4MP in 2020 or so, still have 240p or 320p video from it. First ever proper camera was a Pentax K-30 in 2012 and then I got into buying legacy SLRs after this, including a full dark room setup.

When I was younger I badly wanted an SLR but beyond what my parents could afford. My millionaire cousin had a Pentax 110 in 1982 and I drooled over it at 7-8 years old. He went on to be a pro photographer and now a lecturer in some university in Liverpool.

I still have 3 good SLRs, a mint ME Super and 2x MX. I replaced the mirror box foam in all of them and the ME Super got a pro CLA. Any of these are superior compared to that new toy camera and I paid £20 for the ME Super, less for the better MX and got the other MX free with a lens. I doubt these have any more value now as there were millions of them and others on Ebay.

 

[Richard Wong]

I feel it's a weird but cute camera.
It's not for everyone but I really appreciate their effort of creating a brand new film camera in 2024 for a very niche market. Price I think is acceptable considering the R&D cost vs tiny market they could sell to.
I got a few "new" film cameras that I haven't shoot yet, otherwise I would have already ordered one myself

 

[Quentinquirelino]

The new Pentax 17 seems very expensive to me, for what it is. I would rather go for a used camera for a fraction of that price. But I'm not even using my old Canon AE-1 (my first proper camera) anymore.

 

[JohnnyMauser]

My canon A-1, iheritet from my father, feels supperior looking at the specssheet. I honor that they try it, and of course there is the benefit of beeing new, but it feels crazy that there is a camera for 500€ which does not even have manual control.

 

[Oíche]

My canon A-1, iheritet from my father, feels supperior looking at the specssheet. I honor that they try it, and of course there is the benefit of beeing new, but it feels crazy that there is a camera for 500€ which does not even have manual control.

Expensive toy!

 

[Lsake]

I have a minolta XG-M, sometimes I shoot a roll of film on it.

This pentax camera looks fun. I want one… but it’s £499

I think it will sell, there are a lot of younger people who are interested in film, the zone focus system and program modes might convince them. I think theres far more chance of the “younger audience” buying this than the £1800 S9.

 

[PJD]

What's old is new again -- always!

The attached low-quality photos were taken in the 1930s by my late Uncle Joe using his then relatively new Mercury half-frame camera. My family no longer has the camera (it was long gone by the time I was born), but I have some of his negatives. The close-up of the camera is an extreme crop of a much larger image. It's how I figured out what camera it was. He took many photos with it before & after WWII, including those attached here taken at the 1939 NY World's Fair. Also shown are a photo of his mother & my mother with their pet dog, and a self-portrait of the photographer as a young man. I scanned, repaired, and cropped these images from his negatives.

Mercury - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

camera-wiki.org

 

[PJD]

More of my late uncle's 1930s-1940s half-frame images ...

 

[PJD]

Last one I promise ... the photographer as a young man (self portrait), c1939.