Very cool, thanks, and he shows that there are no intermediary focus positions because of how the focus ring is made 👍👍 (would have pref continuous but at least we know now)
Awesome to hear. Even thought it isn't a perfect camera, Pentax did a pretty great job on making us a tool that will surely keep an honest value on the second hands' market too.
Great review, thank you! The Ricoh Pentax site says that the macro range is 0.24 to 0.26 meters, so the zone of focus is only 2cm. I wonder if the issue is that they made the lanyard exactly 25cm but it should be some other length to account for the distance between the focal plane and the attachment point, plus the fact that if you measures from the attachment point to the subject while the subject is centered you're creating a right triangle to the focal plane (or maybe they did that math and made it longer than 25 cm but users are using it in a different way than they expected). When I inevitably buy myself a Pentax 17, which I definitely don't need, I'm going to have to do some experiments to determine exactly what lanyard length I need to measure in the way that I want and then modify the lanyard to match!
Thanks! Yes, it does need a bit of more work than how I tested it in macro, must say I kind of got frustrated by the impossibility of forcing a larger zone focus by means of manual aperture. The lanyard was a smart idea but isn’t reliable enough imho (e.g. a slightly moving object as an insect or flower in the wind is almost always going to leave focus…). Would love them to be able to update the firmware and change those programs on the dial, but that’s probably just wishful thinking from me.. ;)
@@zand A firmware update would be cool! As it is, it's not easy to test since you have to shoot 72 frames and wait for film to be developed and scanned to see the results!
I agree that the on/off selector is redundant (one of the few things that annoy me about the Nikon F3). I would prefer if the camera turned on in the first position of the film advance lever. However, while researching user impressions of the Nikon FE2, this exact feature-turning the camera on by moving the film advance lever-was the most common complaint. Users find it inconvenient when bringing the camera up to their face. I would add that the leatherette on the back of the camera improves the feel in hand. It’s fairly easy and inexpensive to do it myself (I did), but I would have preferred if the camera came that way from the factory.
Looking at your pictures I have the feeling that you perfectly understood all the program modes of the Pentax . You really used all the programms Even low light and the results look great for me. So why did you say the program modes are confusing and you never knew which mode you are actually in ? OK - if it‘s dark I sometimes van‘t find my cigatettes …. but that’s a different problem, isn‘t it ?
Thanks. Haha I see your point but I actually didn’t display the completely-missed photos because they basically are kind of black or blurry or not taken (e.g. when the mode was accidentally switched to the ‘yellow’ modes - with flash - the camera will simply not let you take a picture before flash is charged…). But while the results are cool, I did find myself missing some desireable photos I wouldn’t have missed with an old Olympus Pen EE or a Pentax PC35AF. I did have maybe a 5% rate of getting annoyed by my 17 being in the wrong mode or markedly over or under exposure-compensated because of the lack of lock and the fact I could not read where the dial was after getting the camera out of my pocket. Pentax could have simply added a bump on the dials at the 12 o clock position too and that would have done the trick. Doesn’t make it a bad camera for sure, but really annoying that they went that far to forget the basics of the user experience of their own camera heritage.
I’m really curious to see what comes out of my test of the Rollei. I do think for sure these are not the same kind of animals and that Pentax has done a pretty impressive job considering the market context.
I fully agree. Almost no issues with the Pentax, sturdy built, excellent quality and an ultra sharp lens with a precise exposure meter. An extra plus which is unusual for point and shoot cameras: the pictures taken in close-up mode are extreme sharp. Great camera.
I find it laughable that for 500$ you can buy a 2nd hand Nikon F3/FM2, which is far superior to this toy. More FILM should be made not these novelty toys.
And a great lens included too! But to be honest I don't think however it is really comparable because of the type of tool it is, not the same experience nor same form factor, and the Pentax will have a warranty for the next two years in most countries. It will be interesting to see how the second hand market price will be in a couple of years. Evan Dorsky did a teardown ua-cam.com/video/sioAN8w_Ew8/v-deo.html and it really seems Pentax has gone the respectful way in building the 17, and hopefully this success will enable them come up with a modern reflex or medium format :) .
You should also watch the video of the guy who disassembled this camera and showed how bulletproof this camera is made.
Very cool, thanks, and he shows that there are no intermediary focus positions because of how the focus ring is made 👍👍 (would have pref continuous but at least we know now)
Thank you for this thoughtful review, your experience using the camera and conclusions match mine.
Awesome to hear. Even thought it isn't a perfect camera, Pentax did a pretty great job on making us a tool that will surely keep an honest value on the second hands' market too.
Great review, thank you! The Ricoh Pentax site says that the macro range is 0.24 to 0.26 meters, so the zone of focus is only 2cm. I wonder if the issue is that they made the lanyard exactly 25cm but it should be some other length to account for the distance between the focal plane and the attachment point, plus the fact that if you measures from the attachment point to the subject while the subject is centered you're creating a right triangle to the focal plane (or maybe they did that math and made it longer than 25 cm but users are using it in a different way than they expected). When I inevitably buy myself a Pentax 17, which I definitely don't need, I'm going to have to do some experiments to determine exactly what lanyard length I need to measure in the way that I want and then modify the lanyard to match!
Thanks! Yes, it does need a bit of more work than how I tested it in macro, must say I kind of got frustrated by the impossibility of forcing a larger zone focus by means of manual aperture. The lanyard was a smart idea but isn’t reliable enough imho (e.g. a slightly moving object as an insect or flower in the wind is almost always going to leave focus…). Would love them to be able to update the firmware and change those programs on the dial, but that’s probably just wishful thinking from me.. ;)
@@zand A firmware update would be cool! As it is, it's not easy to test since you have to shoot 72 frames and wait for film to be developed and scanned to see the results!
I agree that the on/off selector is redundant (one of the few things that annoy me about the Nikon F3). I would prefer if the camera turned on in the first position of the film advance lever. However, while researching user impressions of the Nikon FE2, this exact feature-turning the camera on by moving the film advance lever-was the most common complaint. Users find it inconvenient when bringing the camera up to their face.
I would add that the leatherette on the back of the camera improves the feel in hand. It’s fairly easy and inexpensive to do it myself (I did), but I would have preferred if the camera came that way from the factory.
Looking at your pictures I have the feeling that you perfectly understood all the program modes of the Pentax . You really used all the programms Even low light and the results look great for me. So why did you say the program modes are confusing and you never knew which mode you are actually in ? OK - if it‘s dark I sometimes van‘t find my cigatettes …. but that’s a different problem, isn‘t it ?
Thanks. Haha I see your point but I actually didn’t display the completely-missed photos because they basically are kind of black or blurry or not taken (e.g. when the mode was accidentally switched to the ‘yellow’ modes - with flash - the camera will simply not let you take a picture before flash is charged…). But while the results are cool, I did find myself missing some desireable photos I wouldn’t have missed with an old Olympus Pen EE or a Pentax PC35AF. I did have maybe a 5% rate of getting annoyed by my 17 being in the wrong mode or markedly over or under exposure-compensated because of the lack of lock and the fact I could not read where the dial was after getting the camera out of my pocket. Pentax could have simply added a bump on the dials at the 12 o clock position too and that would have done the trick. Doesn’t make it a bad camera for sure, but really annoying that they went that far to forget the basics of the user experience of their own camera heritage.
Thanks from all the reviews the Pentax 17 is above the rollei 35af
I’m really curious to see what comes out of my test of the Rollei. I do think for sure these are not the same kind of animals and that Pentax has done a pretty impressive job considering the market context.
I fully agree. Almost no issues with the Pentax, sturdy built, excellent quality and an ultra sharp lens with a precise exposure meter. An extra plus which is unusual for point and shoot cameras: the pictures taken in close-up mode are extreme sharp. Great camera.
I find it laughable that for 500$ you can buy a 2nd hand Nikon F3/FM2, which is far superior to this toy. More FILM should be made not these novelty toys.
And a great lens included too! But to be honest I don't think however it is really comparable because of the type of tool it is, not the same experience nor same form factor, and the Pentax will have a warranty for the next two years in most countries. It will be interesting to see how the second hand market price will be in a couple of years. Evan Dorsky did a teardown ua-cam.com/video/sioAN8w_Ew8/v-deo.html and it really seems Pentax has gone the respectful way in building the 17, and hopefully this success will enable them come up with a modern reflex or medium format :) .