The Pentax 17 camera is the brand new half-frame film camera from Pentax 🎉 and a highly significant launch for the analogue community. The first film camera to be produced by Pentax since 2003!
We also sell the camera in specially curated - get your hands on some extra goodies and an inbuilt discount 📸
Pentax 17 key facts
The Pentax 17 is the first new film camera to come from any of the big camera manufacturers for many years. It is half-frame film format, auto-exposure, with a fixed lens and an inbuilt flash.
The Pentax 17 camera shoots and you can set the ISO anywhere between 50-3200. This means you will be able to use all of your favourite 35mm emulsions straight away!
From close-ups to long distances, the Pentax 17 makes focusing a breeze with its six-zone focus system. Each zone is marked clearly, so all you need to do is select the one that matches your subject's distance on the zone focusing ring. For those stunning close-ups, the Macro focus zone allows you to get as close as 25 centimetres.
The top and bottom covers of the camera are crafted from a lightweight magnesium alloy - this gives the Pentax 17 body's a solid and secure feel, while keeping overall weight down to just 300g.
What's in the box
- the PENTAX 17 film camera with integrated lens and built-in flash
- 1 x Pentax lens cap
- 1 x CR2 battery
- 1 x wrist strap (note that the strap doubles as a measuring device for accurate macro photography!)
- 1 x 'quick start' instruction manual
Pentax 17 lens detail
The lens is an absolute gem. It boasts a newly developed 25mm F3.5 fixed-focal lens, giving you the equivalent of a 37mm lens in the classic 35mm format. Inspired by the much-loved PENTAX Espio Mini from 1994, it’s been redesigned to fit perfectly into the half-size format.
It has also been upgraded with all of the technological innovations that Pentax/Ricoh's digital division have developed over the past two decades. Specifically a HD (High Definition) coating, a top-tier multi-layer coating renowned for enhancing the clarity and sharpness of your half-size photos - and a SP (Super Protect) coating which helps to repel water and oil from the lens.
Taking cues from the RICOH Auto Half, a best-seller since 1962, the lens’s angle of view and focal length have been carefully chosen and designed to make your everyday snapshots effortlessly stunning.
Pentax 17 shooting modes
The Pentax 17 film camera has seven different shooting modes for different lighting situations and levels of creativity:
- AUTO - for full point-and-shoot operation. Exposure is calculated by the camera and focus set at 1.5m-infinity.
- PROGRAM (without flash) - an easy auto-exposure mode with manual focus
- PROGRAM (with flash) - as above, but with the flash always firing. Great for fill flash or in party mode
- MOON (without flash) - long exposure mode
- MOON (with flash) - long exposure mode, but with the flash firing to light up your near subjects and freeze them in time
- BOKEH (without flash) - perfect for macro and portrait photography, the aperture is kept wide open at f/3.5 for gorgeous subject separation
- BULB - keeps the shutter open for as long as you're holding the button. Night-time photography, light painting, and true creativity
Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Format | Half-frame 35mm |
| Shutter Speed | Variable, 1/350s to 4s |
| Aperture Range | f/3.5 - f/16 |
| Lens | HD PENTAX 25mm (equivalent to 37mm in full frame 35mm format) |
| Focusing | Manual, 6 zones: (∞, 3m, 1.7m, 1.2m, 0.5m, 0.25m) (∞, 10ft, 5.6ft, 4ft, 1.7ft, 0.82ft) |
| Battery | 1 x CR2 (included) |
| Tripod Mount | Yes |
| Filter Thread | Yes - 40.5mm |
| Flash | Yes - inbuilt with guide number 6 |
| Viewfinder | Albada bright-frame viewfinder - two sets of framing guidelines |
| ISO Range | Manual, ISO 50 - 3200 |
You can to see the full specifications of the camera.
Why the Pentax 17?
The launch of the Pentax 17 film camera is a massive moment for the analogue photography community. No global camera manufacturer has produced a premium film camera aimed at the 'consumer' market for two decades, which makes this camera already special. However it's more than 'just' a new camera: the Pentax 17 benefits from Pentax's long history of analogue design as well as the technological breakthroughs of the past twenty years. It is a camera that feels amazing in your hands, is simple and fast to operate, and produces outstanding images.
You can also read - we were lucky enough to be involved in the testing and marketing for the camera so have a lot of tips, tricks and sample photos for you to enjoy!
Pentax 17: it's time for film!
