In June 2024, Pentax launched their first new film camera in a long time. Leading up to its release, I was certain I was going to buy it, but never did.
Pentax drip-fed details about the camera to film shooters via charming YouTube videos. Film advance lever? Cool. Half frame? No problem. Zone focus? Not my favourite, but not a deal breaker.
The deal breaker turned out to be bad timing - the Pentax 17 launched a couple of days before I left for an overseas holiday. I didn’t want the camera sitting on my doorstep for a week or more, so I never ordered it.
In January 2026, I spotted a deal to grab it for just $509 AUD ($360 USD) and I couldn’t say no. This was considerably cheaper than the $899 AUD ($630 USD) launch price.
I’m very impressed with the results from my first roll with Kodak Color Plus 200. I made a few mistakes with the camera - see the missed focus in the image below - but that’s entirely down to me choosing the wrong zone focus setting.
I also don’t know what all the settings do, so I guess I better RTFM (read the flipping manual) before I load up a second roll.
The Pentax 17 is impressive. It’s not the best looking camera I’ve ever seen, but it’s a relatively compact and it’s light for its size. Image quality is great and it feels well thought out. To top it all off, I got a whopping 78 images from this first roll.
I shot a series of side-by-side images with the Pentax 17 and the Lomography MC-A on Kodak Color Plus 200. You can see the photos in the video below.
That’s it for this time, a new podcast and more videos are on the way soon!
Cheers
Matt
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