Pentax 17: First Roll
A few years ago, I bought a half-frame camera off eBay—one of my earliest (and only) eBay purchases, and I learned the hard way: a camera can be in great condition and still not work as it should. All in all, a $65 lesson. However, that camera, an Olympus Pen EE S, was the one that first piqued my interest in adding a half-frame camera to my ever-growing collection. So when Pentax debuted its new film camera—the half-frame Pentax 17—in June 2024, I debated, researched, and then decided to purchase it that August, nearly a year ago. For the next few months, the camera found its way into pocket on walks, in my bag at work, and alongside other cameras during a trip down to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts. By the time I finished the roll of 36 exposures—72 frames!!—I had forgotten what was on the roll. Ah, the joys of film.
And now, SEVERAL months later, I’m finally getting around to posting my favorite images. Looking back through the images, I’m reminded of just how much I like them—and the camera. I had my lab develop and scan the full frame instead of splitting the frame into two images; that way, I could see the diptychs and crop later. I wasn’t keeping track of images, so seeing the pairings was a fantastic surprise—some were obviously connected while others were a bit more random. In the future, I’d love to pay more attention to the film counter and be intentional while composing the diptychs.
While I don’t necessarily gravitate to vertical orientations, I do love the way the vertical shots came out. I have a few landscape (horizontal) frames, but I found myself shooting more vertical images, probably because when holding the camera as I naturally/normally would, the default orientation is vertical.
There are plenty of technical reviews out there in the form of blogs and videos, so I won’t go into any details on the camera itself. What I will say is this: for me, buying a brand-new film camera in 2024 was an investment. Is the camera worth $500? I’m not sure; but what I do know is this: I wanted to buy the camera as a good-faith gesture of support for more film cameras to come, and I’m excited for the future of the Pentax film project. And until then, I’ll be happily carrying along the Pentax 17.
