Description
Meet the latest film camera in the age of digital cameras, the Pentax 17 Film Camera (Dark Silver) is a 35mm half-frame film camera. This elegant point-and-shoot is the first from the Ricoh Imaging/Pentax’s Film Project.
The Pentax 17 Film Camera (Dark Silver) features an intuitive design with a wealth of influence from the long legacy from Pentax’s long legacy of past film cameras.
Half-Frame 35mm Film Camera
The Pentax 17 Film Camera (Dark Silver) is a 35mm half-frame film camera with a recording area of 17x24mm as opposed to the full-frame 35mm cameras with a 36x24mm format.
Some benefits of the half-frame format include that on a 36-exposure roll of film, you effectively have about 72 exposures as each frame takes up about 50% of the space on each frame.
Handling and Operation
One of the major attributes of the Pentax17 is the ease of use due to the point-and-shoot employing an accurate autoexposure system allowing you to focus on getting the perfect shot. You are also able to manually adjust ISO/ASA between 50 and 3200, you can adjust exposure compensation by +/- 2 EV, and use a mode dial where you can select between flash On/Off, there is also an auto mode that chooses to use the flash or not, depending on lighting conditions. With the flash off, Program auto, bulb, and slow shutter speed settings can be used, as well as a unique Bokeh mode that prioritizes the use of the f/3.5 maximum aperture for the shallowest depth of field.
On the top plate of the Pentax 17 Film Camera (Dark Silver), you will also find a manual film rewind knob, the shutter release button, the On/Off switch, film advance lever, and the film counter window.
In the top middle of the body, you will find the viewfinder with a simple window design with brightline frame lines.
A light meter can be found in front of the lens housing and it also features 40.5mm threads where filters can be added. The built-in flash features a guide number of 20′ at ISO100 and a recycle time of 9 seconds.
HD PENTAX HF 25mm f/3.5 Traditional Lens
Fixed to the Pentax 17 35mm Half Frame Film Camera is a slightly wide-angle HD PENTAX HF 25mm f/3.5 Traditional Lens which is equivalent to the field of view of a 37mm lens is full-frame.
The lens focuses using a manual six-stage zone focusing method:
- Macro/Flower: 0.25 m
- Close-Up/Knife and Fork: 0.5 m
- Single Person: 1.2 m
- Two People: 1.7 m
- Group of People: 3 m
- Mountain/Infinity: ∞
These icons can be seen on top of the lens and they can also be seen through the viewfinder as well.