Pentax 17 - First Shoot

[Rob MacKillop]

I got this in a Black Friday reduction from Wex Photo, and it came with two free rolls of Tri-X 400, which I pushed to 800 for fun...I've never used Tri-X before. It was a cloudy day, but sometimes the sun would peek through. Some shadow detail hidden.

Just a reminder, it's a new film camera from Pentax/Ricoh, half frame, so 72 shots. Here are the best from my first shoot. Next up will be the first colour film from Ilford, the Phoenix 200. With 72 shots, you do find yourself spray shooting. But, with a bit of discipline it does halve the price of expensive film.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Verdict: Not awful. Fun to play with. Half-price film. Zone focussing takes a little getting used to, but for the most part works very well.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Great stuff! I have to admit to being temped by half frame, but not yet 'dipped my toe'. Looks like good fun, though. My son bought one of those Kodak H35N cameras. I was pleasantly surprised how good it is.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Here's member @Paul Taylor's first roll using colour film: https://realphotographersforum.com/threads/anyone-else-order-a-pentax-17.26232/

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Great stuff! I have to admit to being temped by half frame, but not yet 'dipped my toe'. Looks like good fun, though. My son bought one of those Kodak H35N cameras. I was pleasantly surprised how good it is.

Cheers, Ralph. The H35N is considerably cheaper! And probably just as much fun. The Pentax is so well put together, though, I imagine it's hard to beat. I'm quite impressed with its output.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

PS The first image at the top of the page, the two runners, has scrolling marks down the right-hand side, the only image to show these. I can take them out in post, but left the images largely untouched, with maybe a little shadow lifting here and there. Tri-X 400 pushed to 800 gets really gritty. I look forward to trying something cleaner next time (after the colour Phoenix), to compare.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Cheers, Ralph. The H35N is considerably cheaper! And probably just as much fun. The Pentax is so well put together, though, I imagine it's hard to beat. I'm quite impressed with its output.

Yes, it does look very well made with high quality optics. Hats off to Ricoh/Pentax for such a bold move

 

[Paul Taylor]

This reminds me I need to dust off mine and run some film through it. It is a great little camera. I need to rummage around the film fridge and see what I haven't shot in a while.