Film Well, How 'Bout This: Ricoh/Pentax Film Camera Development?

Some interesting info - I wondered why the battery was so big but it looks like it drives the LED's, metering + actually does shift the lens around (but maybe I'm misinterpreting the zone-focus commentary). Lens looks pretty good. Weirdly, without the grip, the thing it looks like the most to me is a Pen EE in the hand. Kind of like the top-plate and stumpy winder.


Romping Bronco is a bit more subdued/critical in terms of pros/cons (he does a lot of Pentax film-camera repairs and is a big fan of their stuff)


Kamerastore - the Finnish guys that refurb a lot of film-cameras

 
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Oof…I just finished with some YouTube videos myself on this, and even if it was half the cost I don’t think I’d be interested. No manual mode, no aperture priority, zone focusing, some Pentax weirdness with two Program modes, two bulb modes, limited shutter range…I just don’t know where to begin with this one. I wish them well, but this is not for me.
 
Oof…I just finished with some YouTube videos myself on this, and even if it was half the cost I don’t think I’d be interested. No manual mode, no aperture priority, zone focusing, some Pentax weirdness with two Program modes, two bulb modes, limited shutter range…I just don’t know where to begin with this one. I wish them well, but this is not for me.
The lack of a way to control shutter speed (or at least prioritize fast shutter) is disappointing. But, with a 1/350 max shutter this isn't for action shooting anyway. Again, as has been said many times already, we're maybe not the target market. I'd all but written off interest in this first Pentax film camera just based on their messaging. It never sounded like it would be for me. It's a testament to their design and execution that I'm even reconsidering that (sorta). It could be much less than it is and still fulfill their original goal. I think the theories are correct that this has been somewhat planned as a shareable chassis for future models.
 
Another review, kind of liked this as its the first I've seen where someone compared the size to something I'm familiar with (still below). I quite like a theme I've seen in a couple of videos about shooting dyptics - pairs of images that are related, I also hope if this takes off that someone will come out with the old 12 or 18 exposure film rolls (for 24 or 36 images rather than 48 or 72). I also wonder, based on the view of the back, if Pentax are testing the waters to expand the frame-gate to be full-frame, certainly enough space in there in the same form-factor if they re-orientate the viewfinder, wind-gearing etc.


I'm guessing the Camerasize website won't be doing a side-by-side anytime soon 😃

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Ricoh is offering a "kit" with film, film processing vouchers, and mailer envelopes. What year is this??

$100 additional is a lot to pay for two rolls of film, though, for many people, the logistics of getting film and developing it are much worse than they are for me. I have a scanner at home, and am a half hour drive from a good lab which charges $6.95 a roll for C41 film (closer choices which cost more), not to mention three camera stores where I can pick up film. I'm curious whether the film processing vouchers offer prints, and/or scans?

To be fair, there's an extended warranty as well. So maybe it's not as bad a deal as it appears on the surface.
 
That lens looks kind of gross to be honest, but I'm sure it would capture more detail than a half frame camera. I wouldn't personally buy this one, because the resale value on that lens will be bad with the scratch and inter al dust. But if all you wanted was a fully mechanical camera with no meter to keep and use, not move on from and resell, it would probably be nice.
 
That lens looks kind of gross to be honest, but I'm sure it would capture more detail than a half frame camera. I wouldn't personally buy this one, because the resale value on that lens will be bad with the scratch and inter al dust. But if all you wanted was a fully mechanical camera with no meter to keep and use, not move on from and resell, it would probably be nice.
Well I'm definitely not in the market, so it's neither here nor there and I think we (I) have thread jacked this long enough.

Cheers
 
I watched Kai Wong's video, which was appropriately silly but informative at the same time. He does ridicule the build a little bit, mostly for the number of completely different textures - which is something I noticed, especially the texture on the back film door, which is markedly different from the front. He also indicated that it felt light, not particularly dense or solid, and that the magnesium alloy might be very thin. I suspect that'll be open to interpretation in the hands of different people. Kai is known to run around handling massive DSLRs and other very dense and solid cameras single-handed without a strap, so he might find this one overly light. Guy has a strong right hand, if you know what I mean (tasteless humor only because it seems appropriate if you know Kai's style).
 
I watched Kai Wong's video, which was appropriately silly but informative at the same time. He does ridicule the build a little bit, mostly for the number of completely different textures - which is something I noticed, especially the texture on the back film door, which is markedly different from the front. He also indicated that it felt light, not particularly dense or solid, and that the magnesium alloy might be very thin. I suspect that'll be open to interpretation in the hands of different people. Kai is known to run around handling massive DSLRs and other very dense and solid cameras single-handed without a strap, so he might find this one overly light. Guy has a strong right hand, if you know what I mean (tasteless humor only because it seems appropriate if you know Kai's style).

As someone who doesn't shoot film, I imagine that nearly any film camera will feel light compared to a digital camera.

FYI, according to Pentax, they are suspending pre orders - at least in Japan- as demand is outstripping their initial production capabilities.
 
Quite a positive review over on Casual Photophile: https://casualphotophile.com/2024/06/17/pentax-17-new-film-camera-review/

I have to say, my hot take after seeing some videos along with the Japan Camera Hunter video on the Rollei 35AF is that I prefer the looks & ergonomics of the funky Pentax over the small brick that is the Rollei, carrying over the bricklike ergonomics of the original Rollei 35 cameras. The Rollei (judging by the 35 SE that I handled yesterday in a shop) really has strange ergonomics, and my hands don't like it at all. I get that it's learnable, and actually considerably more pocketable than the Pentax due to the lack of protruding parts. I just don't love it. I am coming to like more and more the complicated and weird looking top plate of the Pentax.
 
While scanning film yesterday, I was curious to see about scanning speed and quality of a half-frame image, which I could only simulate by cropping a full frame in half vertically and scanning only the selected area in Silverfast. This was shot on Fomapan 400 with the Pentax-FA 50mm f1.4 around f2.8-4, so it's not the sharpest rendition. But it has the kind of characteristics I would probably aim for, i.e. grainy B&W film with plenty of contrast. I scanned it at the highest resolution the scanner offers (10K DPI, I don't know for sure whether this is true optical resolution or not).

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For reference, here's the full image.

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While this doesn't represent the kind of lens quality you would or wouldn't get with a camera like the Pentax 17, it's probably not sharper due to the performance of this lens at wider apertures, and is a realistic representation of the grain if this were half frame. I honestly think it doesn't look too bad given the film and lens. Also the scans, even on the slowest 10K DPI setting, were nice and fast since the scanner is only taking the time to scan the selected area.
 
A couple of half-frame shots from my Pens over the years.... I got default scans from the photo-shop, nothing fancy... also, I think Google Photos 'archived' these so possible compression artifacts going on too...

Pen FV + Fuji Superia 200 - no meter or electronics at all...
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Pen EED + Arista 400 - fully electronic meter & shutter I believe (probably the last/most-advanced of the non ILC Pen line)... Arista is pretty grainy...

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