Pentax 17

Published: 2024-09-28

A view of the London skyline looking over the Milenium Bridge and St Pauls Cathedral. — London - Pentax 17, Kodak Gold 200

Over the summer I picked up a Pentax 17, a new half-frame film camera. It has been an absolute delight to use.

Coming from (D)SLR cameras, the first thing that struck me was how quiet the camera is. I’m so used to the clunk of the mirror moving when taking a shot that the silence of the Pentax 17 was disconcerting. For a while I thought it was broken.

Some first impressions:

I love the default portrait format that comes with shooting half frame. This was one of my biggest worries with the camera. In reality it has just felt natural.
Loading the film is really easy (in comparison with my Pentax MX). I’ve not had any issue with getting the camera to take up the end of the film first time.
Focus zones are a nice simplification, but took some getting used to. I tend to assume that things are closer than they are.
I haven’t used exposure adjustments much. I wanted to get a feel for how the camera exposed images before pushing things a little.
I’ve predominantly shot on ‘P’ or ‘Bokeh’ with no flash.
The ability to get 72 images out of a roll of film is incredible. I’d love to print some contact sheets using these negatives.

A colour photo of the Great Wall of China. The photograph looks alone a walkable section of the wall which curves round and upwards to a turret on the left of the frame. To the right, green tree covered mountains fall away into the distance. — Great Wall of China

If there was one downside, it’s that the controls are really easy to knock as you hold the camera. I’ve never had to worry about camera setting changing unexpectedly, but with the Pentax 17 it is very easy to accidentally jog the focus zone and the shooting mode.

All in all the Pentax 17 is a delightful little point and shoot. It is just about pocketable in a large jacket pocket and I find I’m carrying it with me far more as a result. I’m looking forward to using it as my primary camera on an upcoming trip to Shanghai.

A black and white photo taken in an underpass. The light at the far end silhouettes a figure walking down the centre of the tunnel. — the other side

A grainy black and white photo looking along a section of the River Thames in London. The image is taken from a bridge looking over to the river. The water is low enough that you can see the riverbed on the near bank. As you look at the image, the river curves around to the left. In the sky above the river a plane climbs to the right. — The River Thames

A crowd of people including two young boys look on as a man lowers a net containing a freshly caught fish to the floor. Another man reaches out to help take the net off him. — Catch

A photograph taken inside a subway train in Beijing. In the centre of the carriage stands a man looking off to the right of the image. We can't see what he is looking at. He appears to be smiling. — in thought

You can see more of my images shot on the Pentax 17 on Flickr: billgloveruk.

Note: images of family are only visible to Flickr contacts.