Ricoh launches Pentax 17 half-frame fixed lens film camera

[Canon Rumors Guy]

Yes, you read that right, and no, you didn’t get into a time machine back to the 1990’s. Ricoh has launched a new Pentax 17 half-frame film camera, stating that they feel that younger photographers will appreciate getting 2 images per 35mm exposure. It is all manual and has 6 focus presets from .25m to

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[John Wilde]

Meh. I have a Pentax K1000 around here somewhere. With that, I got genuine full-frame.

 

[Del Paso]

Is this camera supposed to be some kind of a corpse reviver?
Come on, Pentax, you can do better!

 

[skrubol]

$500 for this? Seems a little steep.
Weren\'t these cameras like $25 in the 70\'s and 80\'s?

 

[Old Sarge]

Probably in 1959 or so, I worked part-time at a camera store and they let me borrow display cameras sometimes. I remember going out with my girl friend and my best friend and his girlfriend. I took a newly released camera, I believe it was an Olympus Pen, which was a half-frame camera. I still have at least one picure of my friend and his girl (of the day) in one of my photo albums. It was a neat pocket sized camera. This sounds much the same.

 

[LDS]

The standard portrait orientation shows the brain damage \"smart\"phones did.

 

[LSXPhotog]

The standard portrait orientation shows the brain damage \"smart\"phones did.

No, not at all. That's how half frame cameras have always worked. Instead of a single full-frame landscape image, it splits the frame into 2 vertical frames.

 

[LSXPhotog]

I like the design of the camera, but this is a swing and a miss for me. The maximum shutter speed is 1/350 is just not good enough. The camera's reliance on the automatic control and preset focus doesn't attract me at all. And $500! No thanks. One day my AE-1 and New F-1 will kick the bucket...but these work incredibly well to this day after 40+ years.

 

[Dragon]

The standard portrait orientation shows the brain damage \"smart\"phones did.

At least, they are 3x4 so you can get a little more than a selfie into the frame.

 

[Dragon]

My Olympus XA still works and it is a much better camera.

 

[Anon]

I like it and I actually might buy it. It has some nice details, showing that Pentax put some thought into it (e.g. the "Food" distance scale, perfect for millenial / Gen Z food pictures). Of course it is a bit expensive, but it is a new camera with warranty - and that is also worth some money. Buying an older analog camera with circuitry (say Contax G1) always comes with the risk of it turning into a paperweight over night, with pretty much no chance to repair it.

I would guess that this is not the camera for people how already have their Nikon F3, EOS 1, K1000 etc. from years gone by but rather for newcomers to the analog hobby who don`t want to buy used.

 

[LDS]

No, not at all. That's how half frame cameras have always worked. Instead of a single full-frame landscape image, it splits the frame into 2 vertical frames.

Yes, but the few models that had vertical film transport. Still, if they were a niche market there was a reason....

 

[PerKr]

The standard portrait orientation shows the brain damage \"smart\"phones did.

It does look like smartphones did some damage... meanwhile, "portrait" and "landscape" formats have been a thing for quite a while and vertical grips exist for reasons beyond carrying extra batteries.

 

[Groundhog]

While I like half-frame cameras in general (I own and sometimes use two old Pen FTs with a couple lenses) I really don't understand this one.

It is pretty bare-bones for the extremely steep price they want and I can't imagine many people that want to try out film will go with it over a used film camera that can be bought for 1/10th of the cost including a 50mm lens or any lomo-plastic-abomination.