In a world drowning in digital perfection, the Pentax 17 crashes the party like your cool but slightly confused uncle. This half-frame 35mm film camera represents the first major film camera release in ages, a bold statement in our pixel-obsessed times.
Pentax built a camera that doubles your shots per roll by using half-frame format, wrapped it in nostalgic design elements, and then inexplicably stripped away full manual control. What. The. Actual. Hell.
Yeah, I get it, it’s aimed at “enthusiasts” and the Tik Tok hipsters who want to dive into film but if you are making a new film camera give us two options. One premium and one for fun. Anyone who picks this up as a first time film shooter will be doing a disservice to themselves by not having the option to learn how to shoot full manual. It’s an unnecessary crutch in my opinion.
But after months of shooting, I’ve developed a love-hate relationship with this quirky limitation. The zone focusing system (basically preset focus distances) forces you to think differently, and the manual film advance brings back that satisfying physical connection missing from digital.
The newly developed fixed lens delivers surprisingly crisp results, while thoughtful design touches like the film rewind crank inspired by the legendary Pentax LX show genuine respect for the brand’s heritage. The viewfinder is bright and the built-in flash is actually useful without being obnoxious.
I love the half-frame shooting and it’s great for sharing on social with the default view set in vertical format, but holy hell does it take forever to get through a roll of film. 36 exposures turns to 72! I’ll take the cost savings but I’m giving up the freedom of switching films and ISO and between black and white and colour for much longer than I would like to.
What’s brilliant is how Pentax recognised that half-frame’s vertical format aligns perfectly with our Instagram-obsessed world. Your photos are literally social-media ready straight out of the camera. Plus, doubling your exposures per roll makes the increasingly expensive film hobby somewhat more economical.
Is it perfect? Hell no. Will you miss manual control? Absolutely. But there’s something magical about embracing its limitations. Once you surrender to the Pentax 17’s quirks, you’ll find yourself shooting with an intuitive freedom that over-featured cameras sometimes prevent.
For both film veterans and curious newcomers, the Pentax 17 delivers analogue joy in a world that desperately needs to slow down and savour the process. It’s not revolutionary; it’s refreshingly rebellious.
