Hey it's Dave and Christopher from the Camera store and today we're talking About a brand new Pentax film camera the Pentax [Music] 17 all right Chris a little while ago we Did an episode on a brand new film from Harmon called Phoenix film and I said to Myself hey I will give film another shot And not long after that Pentax comes out With a brand new film camera something We haven't seen in a long long time What's this all about well like you said This is uh just about our first film Camera in almost 20 years following some Of Pentax previous naming conventions It's the Pentax 17 this is a half-frame Camera meaning that you're only getting Half of that frame a 17x 24 mm negative Hence the name so there are a bunch of Film cameras on the market I mean There's millions of film cameras from The past that are still out there you Can find and we do have some new Generation cameras but they generally Are really sort of low quality sort of Almost disposable quality film cameras So what's the what's the big deal with This camera well this one we've got an Actual premium compact so while we've Got a lot of used cameras on the market Certain shooting film isn't hard this is The first premium compact we've seen in A long time it's absolutely packed with
Features I'm really excited about this One let's get into it okay so here it is The Pentax 17 which my favorite feature About this is how pocketable it is it's Super small it really fits into that Compact range of cameras and go into a Jacket pocket really it's no bigger than The phone you're carrying right now this Can be taken with you anywhere it's a Really easy to use fun camera but it Doesn't feel cheap it feels in fact Really nice we've got a magnesium top Plate a magnesium bottom plate it's got A good weight to it and I really like The grip it handles well we've got a Zone Focus we've got a mode select dial Up top that's going to let you do a Switch between Flash and program modes We don't have a full manual mode but we Get pretty close to it we've got a film Advaned lever that is the one you Forward this one in fact is almost Exactly the same as the one from the Pentax 110 camera we've also got a Traditional rewind uh we don't rely on Motors to Bing those out ISO select dial As well um so you do select your ISO Manually this does allow you to push and Full pull film with this camera and We've got a wonderful nice big Viewfinder I think that's probably my Favorite feature up on the top plate Here we've got an exposure compensation Dial which is a feature you don't see in
A lot of more point and shoot oriented Cameras Pentax has really put a lot of Very classic features into this camera It's light weight it feels premium it's Easy to bring around with me I'm very Excited about this release now in a Recent episode I said I would give film Another shot and try it out and I'm Going to be shooting some Phoenix film Today in this great place here in horses You Canyon here just outside of drum Herer but what it's like to shoot film Again I mean I don't get that instant Feedback so it's a whole different Experience with this camera though I do Have the ability to go into full auto And just sort of walk around and just Sort of Click whatever I want I'll take A look at and make that work but if I Want to play with the limited controls Of this camera I certainly can I flip Over to the program side on the white Dial here and now it allows me to change My focus if I want to specifically shoot Macro or specifically shoot landscape I Can certainly change a lens over and Make that work now it is a 25mm Equivalent lens so it is pretty wide so Keep that in mind now we do have a boka Mode on the dial here but basically all That does is lock the lens wide open at 3.5 it is a wide angle lens so don't Expect beautiful creamy background blur Like you're going to get it on ice 85
1.2 but that's just the nature of this And the fun part of it of something I'm Really enjoying on this camera sounds so Simple but it's so beautiful is this Film lever here you take a shot it's Very quiet I don't have that annoying Motor sound as Chris was mentioning when I push the button down as we had so many Point shoot cameras we had through the 80s you push the button you hear this Annoying worring sound this camera is Incredibly quiet and it's somewhat Satisfying to click that film lever over Get that next frame ready to go now Something I'm finding when I'm shooting With this camera that's taking me some Time to get used to is that I see the World in much more horizontal kind of Pattern this camera here is shooting These 17x 24 frame hence the name of the Camera but it's all vertical when I look Through the viewfinder here it's up and Down and it's very interesting because Half-frame cameras weren't really that Popular way back in the day they've Tried a bunch of different models over The years and they've never really Caught on but that was back before the Days of cell phones and social media now Everybody watches the world in a Vertical kind of format so I think this Is going to adapt really nicely to Modern photography so if I want to shoot Horizontal I have to hold the camera
Vertical so this is something that's Kind of messing with my brain but I'm Getting used to it more and more now When looking through the viewfinder a Really nice touch if I want to get it Out of the auto mode is when I look Through the viewfinder here it shows the Very top of the lens here and it tells Me which focal mode I'm in and I can see Am I in the right mode that I want to be In when I'm taking the picture it's a Really nice touch and it's a very classy Feature from Pentax now something else I Appreciate about the design of this Camera when I'm using it and I'm looking Through the viewfinder here are the two LED lights just to the right of the Viewfinder a blue one and an orange one If everything is going great and it's Fine the blue light illuminates and You're ready to take a picture but if You've forgotten to wind your film for Instance that's a big problem with these Cameras and I've done it a few times Already today the yellow light will Flash warning you about this overall When it comes to using this camera and Playing around with it and the function Of this camera it's very simple but it's A lot of fun and I think that's the Whole point of this camera is that we Are having a lot of fun shooting film Again and I like what pentex got going Their form and function on this camera
They've really nailed it all right Chris You've had a chance to play with this Camera for a little longer than I have And you put a couple rolls through here Already I mean aside from taking 48 or 72 shots with takes a little longer than You might think actually um what are you Finding the results are like honestly Really good we've got a very very modern Lens design here with very modern Coatings that leads us to a very sharp Low flare low glare high contrast images That really punch and pop I've been Loving shooting black and white film I Mean part of the reason I think you love Shooting black and white film is the Ability you can put filters on it Absolutely you can slap a 40.5 mil red Filter on there and if you notice the Light sensor up here is actually going To fit into that filter so it's it's Going to meter for you and still be Correct now some features I didn't Expect on this camera was not just the Macro mode but they've actually done a Very cool thing the wrist strap itself Is the macro level this is how you Measure how far you need to be away from That just slightly past the end of the String here will give you where your Macro Focus distance is that's a very Trick little feature another feature You're going to see in this camera that You don't see on a lot of compacts is a
Bulb mode so you can do long exposures With maybe an ND filter get soft Waterfalls or moving clouds moving Prairie GR I think we might be doing Some of that on the way home yeah now The trick with that though is that the Camera is not going to help you out with That you need to meter it separately Whether you're using an iPhone app or Using another camera to kind of get the Exposure and then kind of playing with That on your own now with a half frame Camera you aren't getting as much Resolution as you would out of a full 35 Mil frame but with this modern lens with Its modern Coatings it's exceptionally Sharp and I've seen very good results All okay so overall I think you love This camera I I don't think I've seen You this excited I've seen you play with Like 100 megapixel CA cameras right and You're just like H yeah whatever oh this This camera shoots 40 frames a second Yeah whatever this camera shoots as fast As you can wind it and it takes a week To develop and even longer for you to Scan it but you're more excited about This camera than I've seen with a lot of Other cameras why is that absolutely It's something totally different than We've seen in a long long time uh and I've seen film go through ups and downs And mostly it's been Downs we've seen a Lot of cancellation of cameras we've
Seen cancellations of films and here Today I'm standing re reviewing a brand New film camera in 2024 which frankly is Something I never expected to be able to Do now how are you adapting to the Vertical format of the half frame it's Pretty cool once you've adapted to that Vertical shooting format you can make a Lot of really good images and you can Always flip the camera UPS over and Shoot a horizontal if you want to mean I Was joking uh I'm surprised they haven't Come up with a horizontal grip so it is A bit of a change of mindset when you're Shooting with this camera but I think The more you shoot with it the more you Start seeing the world in a vertical Kind of format and you can't wait to Watch it on your phone or share it with Other people through social media Absolutely and the vertical format Combined with the size and the shooting Modes I think this really could be a Camera you could take everywhere shoot a Roll of film for a month get it Developed and you don't have to edit Your photos to put them on your story I Think what Pentax is really tapping into Is sort of that modern generation who Are rediscovering film for the very First time and they're loving it and It's a format that they can identify With being that it's vertical and I Think we're going to see a lot of people
Really enjoying this camera absolutely David totally feel like a film camera For the modern generation I of course Want to know what you guys think of this Brand new film camera from Pentax the 17 Shooting half frame film are you going To ReDiscover film yourself or you going To be stuck in the digital age make sure You leave comments down below follow us Both on Instagram and please subscribe This has been Dave and Chris from the Camera store and we'll catch you again Soon Hey thanks for checking out this episode If you want to check out more of our Recent content click up here and if You're a Canadian you want to support Local check out the cameras store.com Down here
