This was a huge undertaking by Pentax with zero promise of financial return. I do question the decision to make it a half-frame, but we’ve gotta give credit where credit is due-the only major manufacturer beside Leica currently developing new film cameras. I just pre-ordered and hope everyone else will see this is an investment in preserving analog photography, and hopefully moving toward a new Pentax medium format body
Considering the cost of film and processing these days its an economical way to shoot film especially if you are a beginner and new to the hobby. Also the protrait orientation shooting is perfect for today's social media use which is what most young people will be using the scans for.
My Yashica Samurai is more useful than this for half frame. Zoom, AF, landscape orientation, SLR. I appreciate the effort but this is like a fancier Kodak half frame. And the zone focus and slow shutter speed don’t make any sense. The announcement video made it sound like they had to find the masters of the ancient arts to build this thing. The only thing that is technically difficult is the AE stuff. And Pentax/Ricoh currently make AE/AF cameras.
I dont know where the myth of 'we dont know if a new film camera will sell at all' came from. Kodak, Fuji and the likes sell boatloads of film. Film is bacm on the rise. New filmstocks are coming out. A new camera less than leica money, full frame, SLR or rangefinder will sell
It’s heavily worth noting that Pentax ran multiple public surveys that were Japan exclusive that helped decide the early direction of the project. It’s likely the youth community in Japan is more open to half frame. I’ll be buying this under the pretext of future cameras coming from Pentax.
Actually, just based on my observation in my local film store, people (younger audience/new to film) much prefer half frame and the cheapest cameras they could buy
@@omxga.xt30ii ya, that's not surprising at all... half frame through the cheapest camera you can find, is actually going to look like film. Shoot Portra through a Nikon F6 and compare it to a Fujifilm Xpro2 with a film simulator... 99 percent of people (maybe more) wont be able to tell which is film and which is digital.
@@johnkaplun9619 there is no sense at all: if you'd like to save some money on half-frame than 500$ is not in you economy. There is number of vintage half-frame which is the same or better than this in 100$.
I don't have the spare cash to do that right now but I'm totally with you on the sentiment. Pentax deserves major kudos for following through on this project, it's exciting. I wonder what will follow...
I’m a 50 year photographer. I shoot a variety of cameras and formats from subminiature to large format … and I love my new Pentax 17. I can carry it anywhere and when I don’t want to worry about light meters, messing with lenses and exposure settings .. I can pull out the 17 and just shoot for fun. Its perfect even for us long time film shooters!
You should get a commission for me buying one. I couldnt get through three separate cutsie videos...I just wanted a common sense review to the point. Bingo.
Resolution is tied to display size and viewing distance. Half frame is as big as the Super 35 movie format which is already a bit bigger than the gauge used for most movie up until the late 80s. You just need to expose and especially scan well, than the resolution of half frame is more than enough for casual to semi serious work. Depending on the film stock used you’ll get between 8 and 2 megapixels of really resolution out of half frame. Two doesn’t sound like a lot but if you what you’re pushing against is grain, instead of pixels it’s pretty good. And 2K is what was used as the standard in theaters for 15 years basically. Just don’t expect to print any very big prints without seeing some grain
Personally I love the grain and after a few years of shooting full frame I picked up a Pen-FT and it's been a blast shooting it. I think higher resolution scans and good film stocks really make the format sing.
@@gavinjenkins899 Honestly I think that's more often down to mediocre transfers and video compression. Paused still on a good 4k scan will look quite nice.
and just like digital distortion vs analog distortion in the audio world (analog distortion is still very musical with lots of natural overtones, digital distortion sounds like literal noise) analog grain vs digital noise is a good analogy. Analog grain is very pleasing visually. Even when it gets blown up to ridiculous proportions it just starts to take on it's own look, almost like a comic book being zoomed in on.
This is my first time watching one of your videos and I have to say I love your amazingly dry sense of humor. I laughed several times - all this, while getting important information. Thanks so much - I am a fan
I get wanting it to be made for the die hards, but as a proof of concept that film can survive and wanting to recoup costs it does make sense. I’m hoping this sells well enough that they move forward with more cameras
@@gavinjenkins899 I guess the people who happily pay 700 to 1000 for the latest model smart phone every 2 or 3 years don't mind paying 500 for something that can be expected to last for at least a couple of decades. Young people these days spend incredible amounts of money for "trendy" things and film photography seems to be in fashion again.
Honestly not the experience I was expecting out of this Pentax project but like he said, excited to see what's coming down the line now that the first move has been made. I'd love for this camera to find it's audience so that other companies see its worth it (another contax tvs anyone???)
Current film enthusiast community is not big enough to justify starting serial production. I salute the effort, plus they have revived the factory floor knowledge needed for something more serious in the future.
I enjoyed your video and the shots that you showed. Pentax do have plans to make more enthusiast orientated cameras in the future. Their stated goal was to launch a basic compact camera first and as they re-learn how to go about making a film camera, to then launch a basic SLR followed by an advanced SLR. This comes across as a sensible approach - walk before you can run. In that vein, this is actually a lot better than I thought it would be. It fills a niche for street photography that I think will have more advanced users interested as well as novices. The zone focusing seems to have been implemented well and it just seems a lot better than I initially thought that it would be. When the funds open up, I fully intend to buy one.
I don't understand the format. Why come out with a 17mm? Why not a new 35mm? Or hell, with XPAN prices where they are, why not come out with a new film panoramic? People would lose their mind if they could get a new film camera in that format.
@@Edmund_Mallory_Hardgrovebecause it’s cheap (one of the main things that stops people shooting film is the cost) it’s vertical which is what most social media is now. And mainly, if you try and market something very niche to a wide market it’s just not going to go well. Better to sell something that more people are likely to buy than something only some people will want
My thoughts exactly. I have enough old cameras to last me the rest of my life even if some of them may crap out at some stage. And even my dirt cheap Zenits and Zorkis will outperform this, not to mention my Pentax ME Super I bought second hand in the early 90:s or my KM which I paid less than 100 euros in near-mint condition a few years ago. But it's still great to see new film cameras being introduced to the market.
Well it’s kind of a bad press for the Darkroom cause the scans are not that great actually.. I’m really surprised with the bad quality of the scans given by Pentax themselves too. Half frame is nothing new and not that complex to scan, it’s actually a big medium compared to super8 and 16mm film. At some point they should have wet printed negatives from the P17 and THEN scanned the prints, giving us a better look at what the HD coating can do with a triplet lens. Well too bad, I’ll have to buy one and do these tests myself ✨🍿
They're bad quality because half frame is bad quality, they can't squeeze blood from a stone. There just isn't quality to be had without lying and showing a different camera's photos. That doesn't mean the lens is not good, it's bottlenecked by 17x24mm film surface area whether it's good or not.
@@gavinjenkins899 That’s actually not true, there is film and film, Tmax 100/xtol in a half frame will give a different result than let’s say rollei 80s/stand rodinal, this is a huge factor. Most half frame tests are being done on grainy film and badly scanned. If you have 6 elements in your glass taking lens, a good apo lense on your enlarger and great film well developed you get mind-blowing results. But hey, pictures show how much care and time you give to them. If you think half frame stinks you haven’t seen the real thing !
@@gavinjenkins899Half frame isn’t “bad quality” necessarily, you can can superbly sharp low-grain pics from 35mm, this is just the left or right half of that frame, same film. Check out the “Shoot film like a boss” review of this camera where he shoots black and white, really impressive images.
Thank you Pentax for making this camera. That said, it feels like you designed a camera for a market that doesn't really exist at the $499 price point. I wish you would have built a camera for a market that we know 100% exists. The people that kept film alive are the enthusiasts. They are cheap and easy to market to... just give them free cameras on TH-cam. All you have to do is look at the used cameras that are selling in the $300 - $400 range and then build a clone and charge a significant premium. I'm thinking Olympus Mju II for example. Either way, I hope you keep making new film cameras so thank you.
@@42crazyguy Sending you hugs. You sound like you're having a bad day. In a few months this Pentax will have to compete with the Rollei AF 35 in the enthusiast market. It's clear what the enthusiasts want at this price point.
If we keep it to Pentax and point and shoot, there are so many for loads less, the 928 (with excellent 28mm-90mm) and loads of controls, can be gotten for $40.
This seems like the perfect camera for slides. The exposure meter will take care of the narrow latitude and the half frame of the too-sharp expensive film!
Good point about the potential audience. The camera has more features than I was expecting (like exposure compensation) which is a nice surprise for enthusiasts but other choices (like zone focus) may be too much for beginner film shooters, and yet they want to introduce film to a new generation.
I was astounded! There was my 1st Pro camera! Oympus Pen-S! Yup! I loved it! 1/2 frame is bigger than the numbers! Negatives fit paper sized way better than full frame!Add extra depth of field. Vertical format as and is great. Resembles phone images today, in my time, magazine page format! I addded a tiny flash that used AG-! bulbs.I cut film out of camera, if reqd! Bravo Pentax!
Personally this camera is perfect for someone like me who already owns a vintage half frame and would love a modern version. Definitely going to be getting this camera as soon as I can.
You’re right. I think this camera is for people who want to get into film photography more, with double the amount of exposures it’s better due to the price of film spike. I find this camera to be up my alley when I get back into film
I love half frame format, I shot a lot on FED micron (Soviet equivalent of Olympus pen ee) and I got rare Soviet medical half frame SLR with M42 lenses, so much fun! Half frame in the goat, especially with film prices.
I just really wished they had made it square format on 35mm. That would be an almost unique offering. But totally agree need to support this and applaud loudly. 🎉
Square format doesn’t work on lab scanners for 35mm. There have only been a handful of square 35mm cameras ever made. Half frame can be scanned much easier.
@@NandR yeah I thought about this, but surely they can just build a different mask for most scanners, like my lab does for my xpan negs. I must ask them. Can’t be that hard surely!
@@khairulhelmihashim2510 IG started out exploring this aspect ratio. Instax square is very popular. It’s only hard if you’re really trying to achieve deep compositions, which I think all of us in this thread are. Of course I understand why they went with the half frame, I get it. Peace
Jason, a great video I think what Pentax has done is great, kudos to them We need to support this work and hope this will lead to something new Preordered one and still waiting for the Mint camera also Awesome
1) Good on Pentax for making a new film camera in 2024, I hope they pursue some other film models in the near future. 2) Props to you guys for braving slow smoker heat to make this video. Nice work and always entertaining! 3) Will the next ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ Sign World Championships be televised? 4) Is your tetanus shot current? Some of those abandoned places you shoot seem pretty sketch.
I see alot of people complaining about the halfframe format and it not yielding enough resolution. The advantage of this camera is that it is relatively more affordable to shoot slide film (2 times the amount frames, 1 time developing costs). Should be sufficient to make decent prints. Also the lens seems to holds up quite well. Also on half frame the dof is so big that it's quite hard to misfocus actually, 3 zones of focus would probably have been enough.
Why would you ever shoot slide film on a camera without proper exposure control? It's literally the most expensive film to buy and develop with the narrowest exposure latitude.
At the 9:06 mark of this video I farted while watching this video and you immediately said "smells like shit over here" and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thought you should know.
I think half frame is a really cool format! It's good for holidays or travelling when you might wanna photograph lots and not worry about how many shots are left. OFC it's not as sharp, but if you cared about that the most, then just switch back to digital 🤷🏻
Halfframe is great. It ain’t a dirty word. DOUBLE the amount of shots, great film economy. Halfframe grain can be really beautiful if leaned into. Zone focus… eh… okay that’s not the most fun, but I guess it’s a freeing way to shoot, point and shoot style with a bit of control. Well done Pentax 👌🏽❤️
Not for me, but really excited for folks getting into film, or even getting into street photography. This camera is perfect to learn from and is a good mix of auto and manual controls to make anyone take a great photo. Pentax did a great job with the design, but more so creating a hit list of what to have on the camera for the market they are targeting. I really hope this takes off and gets more people involved with film. Stoked to see images from these out there.
Fantastic video!! I was film when film wasn’t cool, and I have ordered. Use my grandfather’s old zone focus cameras frequently, so it’s no biggie. Have to support so they will make more.
This camera is a bit weird and expensive… but actually looks really good and is promising for the future. I hope it does well so they can also release a better a SLR. Personally I would prefer it without autofocus to keep the classic feel and reduce the cost. K-mount would be good. 👍
I'm a half-frame diehard, I think it's an obvious choice given that as you point out film ain't so cheap these days. Also with the zone focusing I think it's easier for a beginner to grasp and fudge rather than full control, plus if they put in autofocus I bet this would be like $100 more expensive or something. Frankly I would've been happy enough with fixed focus.
@@RainCatDog007 No, in Auto mode the focus is fixed at infinity and aperture is f16 so depth of field is about 1m to infinity. Camera controls shutter speed to set exposure, adding flash if needed.
Thanks for your review. Its worth noting that while the camera may not be titanium, which would admittedly be cool, the top and bottom are magnesium, which isn't half bad. As you mentioned, this camera isn't aimed at the experienced film photographer, its for people who perhaps are just getting into film photography, and making the transition from their cell phones. Pentax has suggested that if this camera is a success in the market it may produce a full-featured film SLR. Since Pentax is proving willing to take risks for niche markets - the monochrome Pentax K3 III is another example - we can only hope the company finds enough support to move ahead with that.
Really hot camera but as you said it should really have autofocus for beginners. The half-frame is awesome, 72 shots and all Instagram ready portrait format.
This kind of manual focus is easy enough for beginners. It teaches them to pay attention, and to take things slow. This system worked well in the past, no reason why it couldn't work today. The problem here is the price. €550 is what I have seen and it's just too much for such a basic camera if it's aimed at young buyers.
@@olavl8827I'm wondering, hoping perhaps, that enough trendy Instagramers will buy it. There's enough cash-rich kids out there that need the latest gear. I read elsewhere that Pentax did their research on the young Japanese market and HF was a popular choice. I'm certainly not the target audience but I want this to work for Pentax and hope that they've done their research properly.
@@olavl8827I'll pay $650CAD to get a point and shoot I can rely on, that I won't need to send to repair in a year, that I don't have to worry about damaging a vintage piece of kit at a party
Interesting. I was just north of Baker in Tecopa, Ca. on a day trip from Vegas over the weekend. Some interesting things around there that might interest you photographically if you haven't been there yet. When I saw you on the wobbly step ladder, I had a vision of you towing one of those scissor-lifts behind your car in the next video. Very enjoyable presentation, thank you for the laughs.
i hope they come out with a new interchangeable slr after this. as a pentax guy id be very excited to see it, espically cuz they have some great glass and every single lens theyve ever made will be able to work on anything they make. a new slr that looks like this guy would be a dream
I like the idea of half-frame for THIS camera. It's economical, and the vertical format is perfect for social media. The vast majority of people in this day and age consume content on vertical screens.
Stoked to see a new film camera dropping. I've got an Olympus PenD2 that takes *fire emoji* half frame shots for diptychs and even triptychs. Which I have to shoot in order to make it through a roll in less than a full calendar year. As far as resolution, 35mm movie film was printed horizontally as half-frame and we blow that up to gigantor sizes on a big screen with pretty great resolution. I've got no legitimate complaints about resolution with my Olympus. All the shots I've seen from this thing so far are grainy as hell so I'm not sure if that's an artifact of the lens design or materials (is it glass or plastic?).
Glass lens. Did you mean grainy or soft? A poor quality lens will produce a soft image, and film grain can obscure details rendered by a sharp lens, but I don't think a lens can introduce grain.
I've seen a few comments comparing the half frame format to movies shot on super 35, since they are very similar in size. The reason movies are much sharper than half frame cameras is because they use much sharper (and more expensive) lenses than consumer lenses, have professional focus pullers (which in this case in comparison to the P17 is going to result in MUCH sharper images than zone focusing), print/scan at higher quality than your local lab, and use the highest quality film developed perfectly. Each of these makes a huge difference to the final image quality. There is also more of a disparity between cine lenses and consumer lenses on smaller formats, not just because of the extra resolution of larger formats on the sensor or film, but because larger formats have an advantage optically and look better by default than smaller formats. You could say it takes a lot more work/money to make a small format lens look good, so you'll generally get more optical bang for your buck as a consumer by using the largest format you can afford. I also just don't think the P17 lens is particularly good even within the world of consumer lenses, and is definitely at a disadvantage at 25mm compared to something like the (much older) Olympus Pen F with a 38mm lens as standard (have a look at photos taken with the F. Zuiko Auto-S 38mm f/1.8, or the G. Zuiko Auto-W 25mm f/2.8). Again the zone focusing is letting down the Pentax (Pen F is an SLR with manual focus), but I prefer the Olympus lenses, and the 38mm in particular with the advantage of being longer produces excellent, sharp images on half frame that are clearly much better than the Pentax.
Great video, as ever. Love the channel! Slightly surprised at this lukewarm review-though. Pentax?Ricoh should get lots of love for putting this out imo. Seems it's well built, has great lens and metering, compact enough and 72 shots from a roll of film is very welcome to me. BTW I can't agree about the quality of half frame, it's perfectly adequate for prints up to 10"x8" - I believe Olympus used this format to great effect many decades ago ( Pen F). So yes, you may see a little more grain, but -for most of us -that's one of the attractive features of film, isn't it? ...or you always could buy an X100 lol
I actually got started shooting Holgas. So zone focusing is what I got used to. This camera just seems like you can shoot it quickly. Especially the high number of shots. It would encourage you to shoot more, so if you take it on a vacation or with family you wont hesitate as much. Better to just take the shot and keep going. I think this is a great camera for that.
I actually think this would be super useful. If I’m walking around trying to cover something, I can keep this on hand and just fire it at anything that might be good. In a street or documentary sense, I see a lot of value there. I might need to move through a crowd, maybe I know I have a time crunch and I can’t setup to take a perfect shot, you can just whip out a camera like that and catch whatever you get. That’s really appealing.
I think this makes sense to me - for anyone interested in getting into film photography you can buy the only brand new camera on the market (that isn't just cheap plastic, or Leica money), and get more bang for your buck with half frame. Plus the advantages of a decent lens, this kind of puts the current plastic half frame cameras to shame and is a perfectly acceptable step up over disposable cameras at parties - with the benefits of more manual functions. Speaking of the zone focusing, I think this will encourage users to slow down and focus (pun intended) on what they're photographing - and 'slowing down' is part of the appeal of film photography for young people in a world of instant gratification.
I agree as a newbie in the film world I was really hoping it would be a camera I would want to use. Fixed lens would have been fine but I want the manual focus not zone focus like they put on toy cameras
re: not what the community wanted I think that's true of the camera, but mostly what we in the community want is to keep film alive, and I think that *that* is really what this camera is about. Bringing more people in to the community, increase the demand, and in turn maybe inspire other companies to build more cameras. Arguably a new k1000 would not have achieved that. And also, this camera *is* something different. It's an auto-exposing half frame camera, no one has done that before, that in itself is an achievement! This isn't a camera for "us", and I'm fine with that. Ask yourself what camera would have actually passed the "grab an X on ebay" test, I can't think what would have. A brand new k1000 would have just been a very expensive k1000. A 35mm range finder wouldn't really beat a zorki. They made a funky mostly-auto compact that is easy to shoot for people wanting to get in to film. Good on them!
Agree with other comments that Pentax made the right move making this half-frame (economically better) and relatively dummy proof. The enthusiasts who want manual cameras with huge lens selections are shooting vintage SLR's or Leica's. Vintage SLR sets can be bought for a fraction of the cost of what Pentax can make them for new. This camera is not one I'll be picking up, but Pentax made the right move with this camera and kudos for releasing a 35mm camera in 2024.
110+ Degrees but we must have all black and a beanie to let others know we shoot film before they even see the camera.
Real
😂
Nothing beats the urban sombrero, though.
@@Biosynchro Ansel would be proud!
@@Biosynchro😂😂
This was a huge undertaking by Pentax with zero promise of financial return. I do question the decision to make it a half-frame, but we’ve gotta give credit where credit is due-the only major manufacturer beside Leica currently developing new film cameras. I just pre-ordered and hope everyone else will see this is an investment in preserving analog photography, and hopefully moving toward a new Pentax medium format body
selling some of my digital camera collection to fund this. I want this to succeed so that more film cameras come out.
Considering the cost of film and processing these days its an economical way to shoot film especially if you are a beginner and new to the hobby. Also the protrait orientation shooting is perfect for today's social media use which is what most young people will be using the scans for.
You do have the rollei 35af coming soon
My Yashica Samurai is more useful than this for half frame. Zoom, AF, landscape orientation, SLR. I appreciate the effort but this is like a fancier Kodak half frame. And the zone focus and slow shutter speed don’t make any sense. The announcement video made it sound like they had to find the masters of the ancient arts to build this thing. The only thing that is technically difficult is the AE stuff. And Pentax/Ricoh currently make AE/AF cameras.
I dont know where the myth of 'we dont know if a new film camera will sell at all' came from. Kodak, Fuji and the likes sell boatloads of film. Film is bacm on the rise. New filmstocks are coming out.
A new camera less than leica money, full frame, SLR or rangefinder will sell
It’s heavily worth noting that Pentax ran multiple public surveys that were Japan exclusive that helped decide the early direction of the project. It’s likely the youth community in Japan is more open to half frame. I’ll be buying this under the pretext of future cameras coming from Pentax.
I know film is a lot more expensive there so would make sense
Actually, just based on my observation in my local film store, people (younger audience/new to film) much prefer half frame and the cheapest cameras they could buy
@@omxga.xt30ii ya, that's not surprising at all... half frame through the cheapest camera you can find, is actually going to look like film. Shoot Portra through a Nikon F6 and compare it to a Fujifilm Xpro2 with a film simulator... 99 percent of people (maybe more) wont be able to tell which is film and which is digital.
If you look at the design of the camera, it seems like there is enough space in the middle to change it to full frame 35mm.
@@johnkaplun9619 there is no sense at all: if you'd like to save some money on half-frame than 500$ is not in you economy. There is number of vintage half-frame which is the same or better than this in 100$.
Jason: "it's hot as gooch sweat"
Also Jason: *wears all black in death valley*
Gooch sweat is a combo of words I have never read together. I hate it, hahaha!
Also Jason: wearing a woolly hat
And while complaining about the heat.
The king of Film Yappers
OI OI, Budget Ryan Gosling back at it
He indeed does look like Ryan Gosling...
More like Tim Roth
We have Ryan Gosling at home
@@visionfugitivethis
Lmao
This is the most unhinged grainydays we've seen so far
my favorite self deprecating millennial youtuber
You're not a Walmart Ryan Gosling, you're a Costco Calvin Harris
Love this. I'm going to pick one up just for the support for Pentax
I don't have the spare cash to do that right now but I'm totally with you on the sentiment. Pentax deserves major kudos for following through on this project, it's exciting. I wonder what will follow...
I’m a 50 year photographer. I shoot a variety of cameras and formats from subminiature to large format … and I love my new Pentax 17. I can carry it anywhere and when I don’t want to worry about light meters, messing with lenses and exposure settings .. I can pull out the 17 and just shoot for fun. Its perfect even for us long time film shooters!
You should get a commission for me buying one. I couldnt get through three separate cutsie videos...I just wanted a common sense review to the point. Bingo.
i need more of these random ass mid day video drops
I feel exactly the same. Loved every minute if it
Resolution is tied to display size and viewing distance. Half frame is as big as the Super 35 movie format which is already a bit bigger than the gauge used for most movie up until the late 80s. You just need to expose and especially scan well, than the resolution of half frame is more than enough for casual to semi serious work. Depending on the film stock used you’ll get between 8 and 2 megapixels of really resolution out of half frame. Two doesn’t sound like a lot but if you what you’re pushing against is grain, instead of pixels it’s pretty good. And 2K is what was used as the standard in theaters for 15 years basically. Just don’t expect to print any very big prints without seeing some grain
Personally I love the grain and after a few years of shooting full frame I picked up a Pen-FT and it's been a blast shooting it. I think higher resolution scans and good film stocks really make the format sing.
Movie stills look generally terrible when taken from the actual footage (not a guy with an SLR on set separately taking stills)
@@gavinjenkins899 Honestly I think that's more often down to mediocre transfers and video compression. Paused still on a good 4k scan will look quite nice.
Cope harder
and just like digital distortion vs analog distortion in the audio world (analog distortion is still very musical with lots of natural overtones, digital distortion sounds like literal noise) analog grain vs digital noise is a good analogy. Analog grain is very pleasing visually. Even when it gets blown up to ridiculous proportions it just starts to take on it's own look, almost like a comic book being zoomed in on.
This is my first time watching one of your videos and I have to say I love your amazingly dry sense of humor. I laughed several times - all this, while getting important information. Thanks so much - I am a fan
Your excitement is always exhilarating.
I get wanting it to be made for the die hards, but as a proof of concept that film can survive and wanting to recoup costs it does make sense. I’m hoping this sells well enough that they move forward with more cameras
What non die hard pays $550 for a film camera?
@@gavinjenkins899There are a lot of people with more money than sense out there
@@gavinjenkins899 Social media influencers who can convince their followers to buy anything
@@gavinjenkins899 I guess the people who happily pay 700 to 1000 for the latest model smart phone every 2 or 3 years don't mind paying 500 for something that can be expected to last for at least a couple of decades. Young people these days spend incredible amounts of money for "trendy" things and film photography seems to be in fashion again.
Wake up babe, new Grainydays camera review
Hey, what an original comment.
@@whothennow24 ikr
@@whothennow24 first
Womp womp
Honestly not the experience I was expecting out of this Pentax project but like he said, excited to see what's coming down the line now that the first move has been made. I'd love for this camera to find it's audience so that other companies see its worth it (another contax tvs anyone???)
Current film enthusiast community is not big enough to justify starting serial production. I salute the effort, plus they have revived the factory floor knowledge needed for something more serious in the future.
I enjoyed your video and the shots that you showed.
Pentax do have plans to make more enthusiast orientated cameras in the future. Their stated goal was to launch a basic compact camera first and as they re-learn how to go about making a film camera, to then launch a basic SLR followed by an advanced SLR. This comes across as a sensible approach - walk before you can run.
In that vein, this is actually a lot better than I thought it would be. It fills a niche for street photography that I think will have more advanced users interested as well as novices. The zone focusing seems to have been implemented well and it just seems a lot better than I initially thought that it would be. When the funds open up, I fully intend to buy one.
I am so glad they started to build new cameras. I wont buy one as I have enough cameras but I am glad new cameras exist.
I agree. I've been meaning to get a Pentax for years, but never got around it. They make good stuff even if they can't compete with the top dogs.
I don't understand the format. Why come out with a 17mm? Why not a new 35mm? Or hell, with XPAN prices where they are, why not come out with a new film panoramic? People would lose their mind if they could get a new film camera in that format.
@@Edmund_Mallory_Hardgrovebecause it’s cheap (one of the main things that stops people shooting film is the cost) it’s vertical which is what most social media is now. And mainly, if you try and market something very niche to a wide market it’s just not going to go well. Better to sell something that more people are likely to buy than something only some people will want
My thoughts exactly. I have enough old cameras to last me the rest of my life even if some of them may crap out at some stage. And even my dirt cheap Zenits and Zorkis will outperform this, not to mention my Pentax ME Super I bought second hand in the early 90:s or my KM which I paid less than 100 euros in near-mint condition a few years ago. But it's still great to see new film cameras being introduced to the market.
@@Edmund_Mallory_Hardgrove If the 17 is successful, the plan is indeed a 35mm one.
Well it’s kind of a bad press for the Darkroom cause the scans are not that great actually.. I’m really surprised with the bad quality of the scans given by Pentax themselves too. Half frame is nothing new and not that complex to scan, it’s actually a big medium compared to super8 and 16mm film. At some point they should have wet printed negatives from the P17 and THEN scanned the prints, giving us a better look at what the HD coating can do with a triplet lens. Well too bad, I’ll have to buy one and do these tests myself ✨🍿
They're bad quality because half frame is bad quality, they can't squeeze blood from a stone. There just isn't quality to be had without lying and showing a different camera's photos. That doesn't mean the lens is not good, it's bottlenecked by 17x24mm film surface area whether it's good or not.
@@gavinjenkins899 That’s actually not true, there is film and film, Tmax 100/xtol in a half frame will give a different result than let’s say rollei 80s/stand rodinal, this is a huge factor. Most half frame tests are being done on grainy film and badly scanned. If you have 6 elements in your glass taking lens, a good apo lense on your enlarger and great film well developed you get mind-blowing results. But hey, pictures show how much care and time you give to them. If you think half frame stinks you haven’t seen the real thing !
Half frame bright sunlight 400 iso film with a max shutter speed of 1/320, everyone's doin their best with what they got lol
@@gavinjenkins899Half frame isn’t “bad quality” necessarily, you can can superbly sharp low-grain pics from 35mm, this is just the left or right half of that frame, same film. Check out the “Shoot film like a boss” review of this camera where he shoots black and white, really impressive images.
@@petermcgowan2973 Yes, but subject size matters. If you take the same picture at half resolution, that's exactly what you get.
Thank you Pentax for making this camera. That said, it feels like you designed a camera for a market that doesn't really exist at the $499 price point. I wish you would have built a camera for a market that we know 100% exists. The people that kept film alive are the enthusiasts. They are cheap and easy to market to... just give them free cameras on TH-cam. All you have to do is look at the used cameras that are selling in the $300 - $400 range and then build a clone and charge a significant premium. I'm thinking Olympus Mju II for example. Either way, I hope you keep making new film cameras so thank you.
Wow I didn't know it was so easy. You should tell pentax about your camera design skills.
@@42crazyguy Sending you hugs. You sound like you're having a bad day. In a few months this Pentax will have to compete with the Rollei AF 35 in the enthusiast market. It's clear what the enthusiasts want at this price point.
If we keep it to Pentax and point and shoot, there are so many for loads less, the 928 (with excellent 28mm-90mm) and loads of controls, can be gotten for $40.
mju ii is just overhyped overpriced
Apparently the design was heavily based on Japanese market research. Maybe consumers in their home market would prefer designs more like this?
Not found your channel before today. The 17 brought me here and I like what I found. Now I am a subscriber. Should be a fun ride.
One little thing, that shutter sounds awesome
Way to go Pentax. My first camera was a Pentax ME Super. Bummer that it's only 1/2 frame. I'll stick with my oldies.
yeah, they made clear that the first of the new series would be a Half, but they are planing a FF "soon"
Yes I got an ME Super back when I was a teen and it was new, used it for years in London I still use it!! It's an awesome camera!!
@@jahntraxler there wont be any FF if this does not succeed
My first own camera was a ME Super too, got it second hand in the early 90:s and still have it and use it. A great camera.
Good to see you are alive and well, Jason!
This seems like the perfect camera for slides.
The exposure meter will take care of the narrow latitude and the half frame of the too-sharp expensive film!
Good point about the potential audience. The camera has more features than I was expecting (like exposure compensation) which is a nice surprise for enthusiasts but other choices (like zone focus) may be too much for beginner film shooters, and yet they want to introduce film to a new generation.
If they read the instruction book they'll probably see that the focusing is really simple ,,,,even an idiot like donald trump could understand it 🤭
So pumped about this camera, I love how it handles and the results really impressed me
HIGH ENERGY MONDAY! I totally feel the energy of the monster guiness on this lovely monday.
I was astounded! There was my 1st Pro camera! Oympus Pen-S! Yup! I loved it! 1/2 frame is bigger than the numbers! Negatives fit paper sized way better than full frame!Add extra depth of field. Vertical format as and is great. Resembles phone images today, in my time, magazine page format! I addded a tiny flash that used AG-! bulbs.I cut film out of camera, if reqd! Bravo Pentax!
I love it when I wear my snuggy beanie when its 112F
Personally this camera is perfect for someone like me who already owns a vintage half frame and would love a modern version. Definitely going to be getting this camera as soon as I can.
You’re right. I think this camera is for people who want to get into film photography more, with double the amount of exposures it’s better due to the price of film spike. I find this camera to be up my alley when I get back into film
I love half frame format, I shot a lot on FED micron (Soviet equivalent of Olympus pen ee) and I got rare Soviet medical half frame SLR with M42 lenses, so much fun! Half frame in the goat, especially with film prices.
This seems like a modern day Pen W. Actually a brilliant, fun way to manually shoot film and beginner friendly.
That step ladder is the real mvp of this video
I just really wished they had made it square format on 35mm. That would be an almost unique offering. But totally agree need to support this and applaud loudly. 🎉
Square format doesn’t work on lab scanners for 35mm. There have only been a handful of square 35mm cameras ever made. Half frame can be scanned much easier.
tricky to get good compose in square format for typical casual snapshot (portrait, group shot, landscape).
@@NandR yeah I thought about this, but surely they can just build a different mask for most scanners, like my lab does for my xpan negs. I must ask them. Can’t be that hard surely!
@@khairulhelmihashim2510 IG started out exploring this aspect ratio. Instax square is very popular. It’s only hard if you’re really trying to achieve deep compositions, which I think all of us in this thread are. Of course I understand why they went with the half frame, I get it. Peace
F yea! Lets make film the standard again🔥🔥🔥
you know there's bangers afoot when Jason brings a stepladder to the photoshoot
Love the new talking head setup with the black background. Looks great.
i like the way this bro talks. subbed.
Noticed the small detail how you photoshoped out h***** out of the frame at 11:00 , love your videos, thanks for the inspiration Jason!
The most energetic I’ve seen him in a video yet. And it’s in the 112 degree heat.
Lizard person, confirmed. 🦎
"live ,Laugh and Love world championship" You are killing me !
For macro photography a good tip is to use the Strap to measure, it's exactly 25 cm away from the film play at full length.
Jason, a great video
I think what Pentax has done is great, kudos to them
We need to support this work and hope this will lead to something new
Preordered one and still waiting for the Mint camera also
Awesome
1) Good on Pentax for making a new film camera in 2024, I hope they pursue some other film models in the near future.
2) Props to you guys for braving slow smoker heat to make this video. Nice work and always entertaining!
3) Will the next ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ Sign World Championships be televised?
4) Is your tetanus shot current? Some of those abandoned places you shoot seem pretty sketch.
I see alot of people complaining about the halfframe format and it not yielding enough resolution. The advantage of this camera is that it is relatively more affordable to shoot slide film (2 times the amount frames, 1 time developing costs). Should be sufficient to make decent prints. Also the lens seems to holds up quite well.
Also on half frame the dof is so big that it's quite hard to misfocus actually, 3 zones of focus would probably have been enough.
Why would you ever shoot slide film on a camera without proper exposure control? It's literally the most expensive film to buy and develop with the narrowest exposure latitude.
At the 9:06 mark of this video I farted while watching this video and you immediately said "smells like shit over here" and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thought you should know.
Some great points made here that I agree with. It's cool they put time into it but half frame is such a weird route to take. Great video as usual!
I'm thinking the thinking was "let's make this somehow different so folks don't just go out and buy the wonderfully basic K1000".
I think half frame is a really cool format! It's good for holidays or travelling when you might wanna photograph lots and not worry about how many shots are left. OFC it's not as sharp, but if you cared about that the most, then just switch back to digital 🤷🏻
I really like how this camera looks! Fun to see new film cameras on the market.
Very cool to see some progress in this field.
Halfframe is great. It ain’t a dirty word. DOUBLE the amount of shots, great film economy. Halfframe grain can be really beautiful if leaned into.
Zone focus… eh… okay that’s not the most fun, but I guess it’s a freeing way to shoot, point and shoot style with a bit of control.
Well done Pentax 👌🏽❤️
Not for me, but really excited for folks getting into film, or even getting into street photography. This camera is perfect to learn from and is a good mix of auto and manual controls to make anyone take a great photo. Pentax did a great job with the design, but more so creating a hit list of what to have on the camera for the market they are targeting. I really hope this takes off and gets more people involved with film. Stoked to see images from these out there.
The two besties in photographer duo history ( Caleb + Jason)
Fantastic video!!
I was film when film wasn’t cool, and I have ordered. Use my grandfather’s old zone focus cameras frequently, so it’s no biggie. Have to support so they will make more.
Solid review. Love your videos. This camera makes me wanna hold onto my Hexar AF forever though lol
That yield photo at 14:57 is (perhaps unintentionally?) a great remake of the Pearl Jam album from 1998. Nice photo Jason.
This camera is a bit weird and expensive… but actually looks really good and is promising for the future. I hope it does well so they can also release a better a SLR. Personally I would prefer it without autofocus to keep the classic feel and reduce the cost. K-mount would be good. 👍
I'm a half-frame diehard, I think it's an obvious choice given that as you point out film ain't so cheap these days. Also with the zone focusing I think it's easier for a beginner to grasp and fudge rather than full control, plus if they put in autofocus I bet this would be like $100 more expensive or something. Frankly I would've been happy enough with fixed focus.
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@@RainCatDog007 No, in Auto mode the focus is fixed at infinity and aperture is f16 so depth of field is about 1m to infinity. Camera controls shutter speed to set exposure, adding flash if needed.
Thanks for your review. Its worth noting that while the camera may not be titanium, which would admittedly be cool, the top and bottom are magnesium, which isn't half bad. As you mentioned, this camera isn't aimed at the experienced film photographer, its for people who perhaps are just getting into film photography, and making the transition from their cell phones. Pentax has suggested that if this camera is a success in the market it may produce a full-featured film SLR. Since Pentax is proving willing to take risks for niche markets - the monochrome Pentax K3 III is another example - we can only hope the company finds enough support to move ahead with that.
Really hot camera but as you said it should really have autofocus for beginners. The half-frame is awesome, 72 shots and all Instagram ready portrait format.
This kind of manual focus is easy enough for beginners. It teaches them to pay attention, and to take things slow. This system worked well in the past, no reason why it couldn't work today. The problem here is the price. €550 is what I have seen and it's just too much for such a basic camera if it's aimed at young buyers.
@@olavl8827I'm wondering, hoping perhaps, that enough trendy Instagramers will buy it. There's enough cash-rich kids out there that need the latest gear. I read elsewhere that Pentax did their research on the young Japanese market and HF was a popular choice. I'm certainly not the target audience but I want this to work for Pentax and hope that they've done their research properly.
@@olavl8827I'll pay $650CAD to get a point and shoot I can rely on, that I won't need to send to repair in a year, that I don't have to worry about damaging a vintage piece of kit at a party
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Interesting. I was just north of Baker in Tecopa, Ca. on a day trip from Vegas over the weekend. Some interesting things around there that might interest you photographically if you haven't been there yet. When I saw you on the wobbly step ladder, I had a vision of you towing one of those scissor-lifts behind your car in the next video. Very enjoyable presentation, thank you for the laughs.
i hope they come out with a new interchangeable slr after this. as a pentax guy id be very excited to see it, espically cuz they have some great glass and every single lens theyve ever made will be able to work on anything they make. a new slr that looks like this guy would be a dream
Can anyone tell me what tripod ruler mount thing Grainyboy is using at 14:38
Was literally driving back from Vegas and passed baker lmao this was impeccable timing
A Mad Greek cameo! Those strawberry milkshakes are fantastic.
What’s the rig you have for those shots of you using the camera ?
How does this affect the legacy of the Minolta Explorer Freedom Zoom?
PENTAX the Coolest Camera Company Ever ❤🎉❤
New film camera 🎉 diptych jokes😂
Anyone know the Crop factor for half frame?
Does this camera have a "W" setting for Wumbo?
Why are the prints so grainy ?
The ones he took indoors look underexposed and it's also half frame which doesn't have the same resolution as a full frame 35mm cameras
I was thinking of getting this, but I’m gonna stick to my vintage Pentax lenses adapted to my A6000, always sick vids!
what do you call the camera pount for your camera, the one so you get stabilized shot of your camera movements?
I like the idea of half-frame for THIS camera. It's economical, and the vertical format is perfect for social media. The vast majority of people in this day and age consume content on vertical screens.
Stoked to see a new film camera dropping. I've got an Olympus PenD2 that takes *fire emoji* half frame shots for diptychs and even triptychs. Which I have to shoot in order to make it through a roll in less than a full calendar year.
As far as resolution, 35mm movie film was printed horizontally as half-frame and we blow that up to gigantor sizes on a big screen with pretty great resolution. I've got no legitimate complaints about resolution with my Olympus. All the shots I've seen from this thing so far are grainy as hell so I'm not sure if that's an artifact of the lens design or materials (is it glass or plastic?).
Glass lens. Did you mean grainy or soft? A poor quality lens will produce a soft image, and film grain can obscure details rendered by a sharp lens, but I don't think a lens can introduce grain.
Do you an your friend always coordinate hats and water bottles? Nice human Tri-pod, what model is that?
I've seen a few comments comparing the half frame format to movies shot on super 35, since they are very similar in size. The reason movies are much sharper than half frame cameras is because they use much sharper (and more expensive) lenses than consumer lenses, have professional focus pullers (which in this case in comparison to the P17 is going to result in MUCH sharper images than zone focusing), print/scan at higher quality than your local lab, and use the highest quality film developed perfectly. Each of these makes a huge difference to the final image quality. There is also more of a disparity between cine lenses and consumer lenses on smaller formats, not just because of the extra resolution of larger formats on the sensor or film, but because larger formats have an advantage optically and look better by default than smaller formats. You could say it takes a lot more work/money to make a small format lens look good, so you'll generally get more optical bang for your buck as a consumer by using the largest format you can afford.
I also just don't think the P17 lens is particularly good even within the world of consumer lenses, and is definitely at a disadvantage at 25mm compared to something like the (much older) Olympus Pen F with a 38mm lens as standard (have a look at photos taken with the F. Zuiko Auto-S 38mm f/1.8, or the G. Zuiko Auto-W 25mm f/2.8). Again the zone focusing is letting down the Pentax (Pen F is an SLR with manual focus), but I prefer the Olympus lenses, and the 38mm in particular with the advantage of being longer produces excellent, sharp images on half frame that are clearly much better than the Pentax.
Great video, as ever. Love the channel! Slightly surprised at this lukewarm review-though. Pentax?Ricoh should get lots of love for putting this out imo. Seems it's well built, has great lens and metering, compact enough and 72 shots from a roll of film is very welcome to me. BTW I can't agree about the quality of half frame, it's perfectly adequate for prints up to 10"x8" - I believe Olympus used this format to great effect many decades ago ( Pen F). So yes, you may see a little more grain, but -for most of us -that's one of the attractive features of film, isn't it? ...or you always could buy an X100 lol
Gorgeous! What camera and lens did you use for filming this video?
I was second hand sweating watching this. Heat is miserable. The camera looks fun.
Why have you taken off the distance strap that comes with the camera 😂
I'm curious as to the longevity and if it is possible to repair and parts available...
I actually got started shooting Holgas. So zone focusing is what I got used to. This camera just seems like you can shoot it quickly. Especially the high number of shots. It would encourage you to shoot more, so if you take it on a vacation or with family you wont hesitate as much. Better to just take the shot and keep going. I think this is a great camera for that.
I actually think this would be super useful. If I’m walking around trying to cover something, I can keep this on hand and just fire it at anything that might be good. In a street or documentary sense, I see a lot of value there. I might need to move through a crowd, maybe I know I have a time crunch and I can’t setup to take a perfect shot, you can just whip out a camera like that and catch whatever you get.
That’s really appealing.
its often recommended with half frame to use lower ISO film to reduce grain. either way half frame is fine for social media etc.
I think this makes sense to me - for anyone interested in getting into film photography you can buy the only brand new camera on the market (that isn't just cheap plastic, or Leica money), and get more bang for your buck with half frame. Plus the advantages of a decent lens, this kind of puts the current plastic half frame cameras to shame and is a perfectly acceptable step up over disposable cameras at parties - with the benefits of more manual functions. Speaking of the zone focusing, I think this will encourage users to slow down and focus (pun intended) on what they're photographing - and 'slowing down' is part of the appeal of film photography for young people in a world of instant gratification.
You went hard with the jokes in this one my guy... I like it
Does it have build-in Wifi or Bluetooth function for transfer pics?
Where is the short leather strap from my friend ? :)
I have a couple of half frame cameras. Use iso 125 or lower for less grainy photos. Where's that 50D Cinestil when you need it?
what camera do you use for your videos?
I don't think this camera is for me, but it has me excited for the SLR version. Looks promising.
So when are they going to make the Pentax-35 then :p for those who are a bit more into it, or have already got film cameras
I agree as a newbie in the film world I was really hoping it would be a camera I would want to use. Fixed lens would have been fine but I want the manual focus not zone focus like they put on toy cameras
7:35 HD is a coating designation (replacing SMC)
10:25 have you ever seen a Pentax camera featuring autofocus?
re: not what the community wanted
I think that's true of the camera, but mostly what we in the community want is to keep film alive, and I think that *that* is really what this camera is about. Bringing more people in to the community, increase the demand, and in turn maybe inspire other companies to build more cameras. Arguably a new k1000 would not have achieved that.
And also, this camera *is* something different. It's an auto-exposing half frame camera, no one has done that before, that in itself is an achievement!
This isn't a camera for "us", and I'm fine with that.
Ask yourself what camera would have actually passed the "grab an X on ebay" test, I can't think what would have. A brand new k1000 would have just been a very expensive k1000. A 35mm range finder wouldn't really beat a zorki. They made a funky mostly-auto compact that is easy to shoot for people wanting to get in to film. Good on them!
Agree with other comments that Pentax made the right move making this half-frame (economically better) and relatively dummy proof.
The enthusiasts who want manual cameras with huge lens selections are shooting vintage SLR's or Leica's. Vintage SLR sets can be bought for a fraction of the cost of what Pentax can make them for new.
This camera is not one I'll be picking up, but Pentax made the right move with this camera and kudos for releasing a 35mm camera in 2024.