The illusion of the Pentax 17
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00:00Pentax's new 35mm camera, the $500 Pentax 17, has gone everywhere with me for the last
00:06month.
00:07And what sets it apart from other easy-to-use, sort of entry-level 35mm cameras is that this
00:12camera comes with a warranty.
00:15Which if you know, you know, it's actually a pretty big deal for a film camera, at least
00:18in 2024.
00:20The problem is, it also comes with the illusion of control.
00:23I'm Becca, this is my personal channel, so if you're not subscribed, it would mean
00:26the world to me if you were.
00:29Let's talk about the Pentax 17.
00:36The first illusion is focusing.
00:39On top of the lens, there are icons that equate to set distance ranges that you can focus
00:43to.
00:44The mountain is far, the flower is close.
00:45And when you look through the rangefinder-style viewfinder, a small magnifying window shows
00:50you what icon you are set to, which is simply great analog design.
00:55The Pentax also chose to note the median distance for each zone under the lens, which
01:00I have spent far more time looking at than the pictorial images.
01:04And if you're decently good at judging distance, this all works well.
01:08The lens is surprisingly sharp for its size and weight, and the falloff, it ain't no
01:12medium format, but it's there.
01:14Far more than you would get with something like Ilford Sprite or like Kodak H35, I think
01:20it's called, or like Double Film makes one of them, basically reusable, disposable cameras,
01:26which are exactly what they sound like.
01:28The problem is, on the Pentax 17, zone focusing isn't active all the time.
01:32For example, if you're in full auto mode, the camera automatically sets its focus to
01:36a predefined distance that pretty much puts everything into focus, kind of like a disposable
01:41camera.
01:42And even though this camera has a sharper lens than those cameras, it's disappointing
01:46that you have no further control over it in a mode, like auto, that I think most folks
01:51will spend the most amount of time in, because this camera's controls are confusing.
01:57Pro image 100 by Kodak, I've never shot this before, I have no idea what to expect or what
02:02to shoot for, but you know what?
02:05Today is the day we learn.
02:08I think today is also the day that I finally learn what all of these things mean.
02:13So when taking a photo, there's a few knobs you can usually literally turn to get a proper
02:17exposure.
02:18That's like your aperture, your shutter speed, and your ISO.
02:21So on the Pentax 17, you load your film, you set your ISO, and that control for the most
02:25part is locked.
02:26And then the aperture on the Pentax 17 is controlled by the shooting mode, which means
02:31that it's ultimately left up to the camera.
02:33And last but not least, you have your shutter speed, which can be set to fast, slow, or
02:38bulb via the shooting modes.
02:41And yes, there is an exposure compensation dial, which allows you to underexpose by up
02:45to two stops in either direction.
02:47Or you can use the ISO dial, if you know what you're doing, to do sort of the same.
02:51And then there's no real way to understand what decisions the camera is making in real
02:56time.
02:57So you have to wait until you get a bunch of rolls of film back and you have to remember
02:59what settings you were on to really start to learn the camera.
03:04Now there are two indicator lights.
03:07The orange light means that the flash is going to go off.
03:10And then the blue light warns you of a problem, like there won't be enough light for a good
03:13exposure.
03:14If all of this sounds confusing, it's because it is.
03:17It's like so, so terribly confusing.
03:21And the times that I enjoyed this camera the most are when I just gave up control and I
03:27shot in full auto and I just had a good time with it.
03:30And you can trust it to take good shots when you do this.
03:34But for the most part, it's just a solid point and shoot camera.
03:38Which raises the question, why would anyone pay $500 for it?
03:42And there's two, I think, good reasons.
03:45The first one is that you want Pentax to keep making film cameras, which, yes, I really
03:51want that.
03:52So you'd buy this one to support them making more.
03:56Okay.
03:57Number two is that you understand how amazing it would be to have a warranty on a film camera.
04:05I have so many broken film cameras and it's because all the parts in them are over 20
04:09years old.
04:10So I kind of gave up on buying vintage point and shoot cameras.
04:14Instead, I started buying those reusable disposable types that I talked about earlier.
04:18But even with those, you're lucky to get a year out of them before, I don't know,
04:22some part breaks because they're entirely made out of plastic or the flash just stops
04:26working.
04:27So to have a film camera that can be sent back and repaired for up to three years is
04:31huge.
04:32It's also just better for the environment.
04:33Got it.
04:34But even with a warranty, $5 is expensive for a point and shoot camera.
04:39So what you can count on to save you money is the half frame format.
04:42A half frame camera only exposes half of a typical 35 millimeter frame.
04:46So you get double the amount of photos per 35 millimeter roll and your camera will natively
04:50shoot in a vertical orientation.
04:52But this also means you're getting half of the resolution.
04:55For folks just posting to social media or folks who aren't going to necessarily be
04:59printing or blowing images up, this shouldn't be a problem though.
05:02This was my first time shooting with a half frame camera and to get 72 shots per roll,
05:08I mean, that's insane when you're used to only getting 36.
05:12I was far more loose about what I took photos of and it feels kind of liberating.
05:19Of course, there are other half frame cameras out there, just none that are as new and as
05:24like semi premium feeling as this, which brings me to my last point.
05:29The Pentax 17 sits in this really nice middle ground of not being, hold on.
05:37It's not as heavy as something like the Nikkormat FT or like a Canon AE-1 that is like, I mean,
05:46that is full metal.
05:47You could literally kill somebody with this, I'm sure of it.
05:51But it's not nearly as plasticky and cheap feeling as the Ilford Sprite.
05:58That's rough.
05:59That's really rough.
06:03So that's the Pentax 17.
06:05I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and I trusted it once I gave up on trying to make
06:09it more than it is, a very solid point and shoot camera.
06:14And if you want just that without the worry of something breaking or the need to know
06:19really anything about aperture or f-stop or ISO, it can be yours for the not so low price
06:25of $500.
06:26I'm Becca, I appreciate you so much.
06:30I think you should be seeing more of me around here real soon, so stay tuned and subscribe
06:37for more of that.
06:38See you on the next one.