Back to the roots with the new analogue Pentax 17 camera

One of last year's most talked-about photo products is finally here - Pentax's newly developed analogue camera, the Pentax 17.

 

Many people were surprised when Pentax announced just before Christmas 2022 that it was starting its analogue "Film Project", a project that includes a new production of analogue cameras. A compact point-and-shoot camera should be the first to be released, followed by an SLR camera.

The project was greeted with much excitement as the interest in analogue photography has been growing rapidly over the past few years. Both senior and junior engineers within the company, as well as engineers who have retired from the industry, have come back and provided insight into the design work, so that knowledge is passed on.

Today Pentax proudly presents the first camera in the project - a new analogue half-frame point and shoot camera, the new Pentax 17.

 

The camera produces images in the half-size format, in which two 17mm x 24mm pictures are captured in a single 35mm-format frame (36mm x 24mm). When positioned in the normal way, it captures vertical-format pictures, identical to the familiar images captured by smartphones which is the most common medium we use today to take pictures.

 

The camera has a newly developed 25mm F3.5 fixed-focal lens, equivalent to a 37mm lens in the 35mm format. The lens is based on the Pentax Espio Mini that was introduced in 1994. It has 3 elements in 3 groups and a HD multi-layer coating, enhancing the clarity and sharpness of half-size images. The lens features an 40.5mm filter mounting thread.

 

Pentax 17 comes with a manual film winding mechanism inspired by those used in Pentax-brand SLR film cameras. The film advance lever offers users the tactile pleasure of winding the film and hearing the satisfying wind-up sound after each shutter release. The easy-loading system is specifically designed to minimize film-loading errors, making it particularly user-friendly for first-time film camera users.

Focusing is set via a zone-focus system and the system is divided into six focus zones. All the user has to do to set the camera’s focus is to select the mark best suited for the subject distance on the zone focusing ring. It is also easy to see which zone has been selected thanks to the bright, Albada-type viewfinder.

Exposure can be made automatically and in addition to the Full Auto mode, in which all exposure settings are selected by the camera, the user can choose from several other shooting modes; Standard shooting, Aperture Priority shooting, Daytime Synchro shooting maximum 4 sec, Slow Shutter speed shooting and Slow Synchro shooting maximum length 1/30 sec.

An exposure compensation dial also allows the user to swiftly shift the exposure level to accommodate different types of subjects.

 

Pricing and shipping

 

The new analogue camera is available for immediate shipping

Recommended selling price is:

Pentax 17 Dark Silver body kit EUR 579.90,-

For further information, please contact karsten.rath@focusnordic.com

 

Key specifications

 

• Fixed focus lens equivalent to a 37mm lens in the 35mm format
• Camera produces images in half-size format, 17mm x 24mm
• Albada-type viewfinder
• ISO can be set between 50 and 3200
• Top and bottom covers are made of a solid lightweight magnesium
• Optional CS-205 cable switch can be used when shooting in bulb

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