Pentax 17 - Expensive or not?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2024
- I see online a lot of debate about the price of the new Pentax 17, but is it really too much?
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I’m a long time Pentaxian, and as always Pentax is still offering great brand quality that we all trust and they have built their reputation on. Your summation of this camera is very clear concise and one of the most balanced and informative on TH-cam. Thank you for sharing this with us all Sir.
Thank you very much!
Thank you for this excellent analysis of the cost of the new Pentax. So many people give opinions that are not backed up by data. I agree that this excellent new camera is well worth the price. I’m sure that back in the days when all parts of the Pentax cameras were made in Japan it would have cost much more. I think it is quite a good deal for a newly developed and unique camera. I hope to get one, mainly to enjoy, but also to support the risk-takers at Pentax/Ricoh. I always enjoy your content. Thanks！
Thank you very much. I hope to have one to test soon. Pentax deserves our support on this project, they are good visionaries!
Some youtuber got a sample camera, opened the box and shouted the bottom plate was plastic before checking ... 😢
@@mipmipmipmipmip I noticed that too and I wondered how Pentax chose their testers!
A couple of them said the film loading was electronic...
Another interesting video - thanks Luigi. It made me wonder how much my first proper camera (an ME Super with 50mm f1.7 lens) would cost now. I was a teenager at the time and saved up and bought it in 1983. UK inflation since then means that the £120 it cost me at the time would now be roughly £510 - almost identical to the £499 that the Pentax 17 costs here. I was thinking that makes the Pentax 17 rather expensive (a 17 or a full-blown SLR for the same price?). However, then I thought that the ME Super was just churned out by the 1000s and was based on other cameras that Pentax had already released too. It simply would not have been as much effort or expense for Pentax to make it compared with building the Pentax 17 from the ground up in 2024. So, I agree with you, I think the price is reasonable and I really hope Pentax has great success with it.
Thank you. It's pretty interesting compari inflation in different countries for different years. The pond was very stable for a long time... Getting in EU Italian currency with the EU change collapsed... Dollar was pretty stable until few years ago...
But yes the ME Super would be probably north of $550 now.
I hope the 17 will go well so will be just the first step for Pentax in the second age of the analog world.
I stupidly own ~100 old film cameras. What Pentax did here is a truly new approach to enjoyment of controls and OVF. Build quality seems from the best days of film cameras. Quality lens. It's a very carefully thought-out package.
I agree 100%. They did a very good job to modernize the point of approach to film photography.
I have it :D Quality wise it is a bargain. I was surprised, expecting something cheap and plastic but the build quality is really great. Handling is great, viewfinder is nice. Focus zones at first gave me problems, I am so used to autofocus that was forgetting to change when I was really close :) Image quality - don't know yet, but soon I will know. All I know it will be like 1/2 of normal frame, so not bad. I do not think I will be printing posters, maybe I print first roll big to check quality but it will be more snapshot camera then artistic or archival tool so both prints and low resolution prints should be excellent.
I think price is pretty personal, one can spent 1000 and not notice, other will turn every euro 3 times around and think if he can afford to spent it. For me 550 euro is good price for this camera. First - it is new, good quality camera. Second - to get same type of camera in same price (so Ricoh Autohalf or Olympus Pen-F) on ebay, used but pristine you need to give 1000 or more euro.
Glad to hear the camera feel solid.
Thanks for sharing your experience with it.
I like the project and I hope Pentax will continue to produce film cameras!
I agree with your point, I got in to film late last year. And I'm honestly exited about the camera, I have gotten burn too many times in my short experience with film photography from unreliable cameras, people bring the point that for 500 dollars you can buy X or Y 20-30+ year old SLR. But this people miss the whole point you can make an excuse for that for any camera on that matter. Why buy a Sony a7 IV when a used a7 iii is a 3rd of the price and probably no one will notice.
People buy new because they want to. And the pentax 17 is the first film camera that gives incredible results and you can get new.
Thanks. I agree with you. Too many people are comparing with used camera prices. It's not the same.
As an old head have to say that a decent film camera back in the day was expensive.Considering that Pntax had to design (and not remake) Pentax 17 think that price is about right.Building 1/2 frame from the scratch is engineering wise more espensive then re-using FF stuff from the past.
too many people continue to confront the price of the 17 with old used cameras forgetting the price when they were new. "
Pretty sure in 30 years will be possible to buy a used 17 for $40...
@@LuigiBarbano Yeah, that is wrong compare to my opinion and looking to those old camera’s now days even good old Olympus XA will run for over 150 euro. They probably forgetting it is a new camera.
That 500$ price can be justified just by comparison of current money value - as your did, Luigi. If we take into account, that Ricoh has hardly any competition on the current market - it looks even better 🤔
I'm already saving for that little beauty, the Pentax 17🥰
I hope competition will start soon, it'll mean more companies believe in film photography.
Interesting commentary on inflation and buying power. Yes, our wages are higher but we are taxed more. One thing to think about is “productivity”. We are much more productive, so prices should come down because things are easier to make ?
Yes but let me think... here in Italy 22% is the VAT tax, ~35% income tax, 27.7% mandatory state managed retirement plan... yep, easier to produce but with a partner at 80% who spends all the money in alcohol and prostitutes and doesn't work a single day... no, is not that, sure the prices are higher 'cause we are more social responsible lol :)
Thank you for a balanced appraisel of price. I like the Pentax 17 and am wondering wether to hang on until there is a full frame version.
Thank you. Wait or not... is the Pentaxians most asked question :)
There are still a lot of old and full frame pentax K in good condition. I got recently beautiful and fully functional K2 for only 40$. Wow. I am very hapy with it
@@Xitrun I'm happy with my 20 years old Honda... doesn't mean has the same value of a new one... I will hate a new one with all the electronic and internet crap in it but some people love those things and cannot drive an old car. Value s personal and $500 for the 17 is not a bad value at all.
There is a point to be made about adjusting for inflation however there is also the fact that at half the cost there are many used full featured film cameras on the market. A person new to film photography (the target market) would be much better served buying something else.
Why? A used camera can be less reliable, is sure more complex to use and a good used camera with a good lens can have a cost similar to this one.
It's a matter of choice. I learned to drive on a very old Fiat 500 and learned how to reattach the gas tube that was pissing on the hot escape pipe at my expenses... and I loved that, but a lot of people preferred to lear on a new reliable car. It's just a matter of choice and personal preferences and for people liking new and simpler stuffs this camera is a very nice option with a fair price.
@LuigiBarbano Exactly. I own the advanced Yashica Samurai half-frame camera. It's broken, attempting to repair not worth it.
@@mipmipmipmipmip yep.... and one in mint conditions is not that cheap to buy.
Greetings Luigi!
I will be honest; the first time I went to look at the camera, I was a little surprised by the price. But then, when I started looking at how it functions, the quality of the lens, hd coating, the mechanical nature of the camera, the fact this is brand new and with all the R&D they put into it....
I realized that Pentax is asking a very fair price for something I trust will function reliably and have the Pentax quality we all have come to appreciate.
This is a HUGE win for photography and a great way to bring new people into it, but also excite some of us who have been doing it for longer. I am buying one.
Take care Luigi, looking forward to your next video.
-PS- Where did you get your t-shirt? I want one too!
Hello to you.
I agree 100%!
The t-shirt was produced by Photomax, a shop in Italy specialized in Pentax. I can ask him if he has some to sell.
@@LuigiBarbano Please do, I would appreciate that!
@@GODSPEEDseven Wrote him, waiting for an answer :)
@@GODSPEEDseven size?
It is priced to sell and it justifies its existence with real image quality and proper quality of design and construction from scratch. It is a bargain offer for what has happened to bring it to market. I think it will appear as a full frame variant judging by its size. There will be four cameras in production eventually so let’s see what happens next.
Agrred!
I am with you, the pricing is fair compared to back in the day. My issue though: Compare it with another zone focus camera from back in the days, say Agfa Optima Sensor models that were built over decades from 70s onwards. It had metal body with sturdy plastic layer above. This camera is indistructable. That is what I expect from a camera that wants 550€ from me in 2024 aswell.
Yet, Pentax doesn't deliver on that. Different kinds of plastic, especially cheap, thin plastic on the backside makes me wonder if this will hold up when it falls down. I have a half frame toycamera froim agfaphoto, that has cheap plastic aswell (totally different to the one back in Agfa Optima days). When that falls down, it's broken. But I only lost 40€ and not 550€.
Top and bottom are magnesium alloy. I didn't had it in my hands so I cannot talk about the robustness.
Yes, yu can got a plastic camera for $40 used. But how is the lens? How long will it last?
The zone focus was a choice to attract smartphone people... we will see if it works. Looking at the sales right now it's working pretty well.
That's one way to pt it. Another way to put it is:
Pentax 17 - €550
CANON EOS R100 + RF-S 18-45mm IS STM - €589
NIKON D3300 + AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm - €335
SONY A6000 + 16-50mm - €599
I’m sorry. Those appear to be digital cameras so is an empty comparison. Having recently helped a friend through a new mirrorless purchase, I’ve looked at these in some detail and these are all boring, dime a dozen cameras with nothing interesting or inspiring about them.
But as far as the real comparison, I haven’t seen any new film cameras from Canon, Sony or Nikon. All I see from them over recent years is more and more boring digital cameras with no soul. More automation of advanced functions, faster/better AF, more pixels. Boring stuff that’s not interesting to look at any more and doesn’t inspire or make you a better photographer.
@@shred3005 First "boring, dime a dozen cameras with nothing interesting or inspiring" is your opinion and, although I agree with it to some extent, it isn't a fact for many people. But that was never my point about the question "Pentax 17 -Expensive or not?"
Second, they are digital cameras and that should make them more expensive since a sensor costs a lot more than a hole.
@@luispnrf sorry, I should’ve said I find those cameras boring and not even worth taking pause over as they are just evolutions of previous volume models. Same old thing but a bit newer. The reason why they are dirt cheap is they are mass market entry level cameras.. The R&D was paid for by trickle-down from more expensive cameras in the range and just simply updates in evolution of older cameras. Even if they have a new body or a new sensor these things are ultra cheap in the volumes that they are made in. Last year Canon made 1.5 million Mirrorless cameras and Sony 1.2 million.. They are purchased by people who just want cheap efficient digital camera without having to think too much. Like buying a refrigerator or washing machine or an entry level car to get around in. They are not the sort of people who would even think that film exists any more. Let alone have any thought about buying something like a Pentax 17, of which I understand the initial manufacturing run was in the thousands. 1.5 million compared to thousands? It’s a low volume niche product in a limited market. On the other hand, sensors in those entry level APS-C are cheap courtesy of the being bottom of the range with hundreds of thousands (millions?) of them cut from wafers every year. But it is comparing apples with oranges. While, both a Canon R100 and a Pentax 17 both record photos, that’s where the similarity ends. I suggest that the market for both are very different people looking for very different experiences.
@@luispnrfCanon has a strategy of selling entry-level cameras at little or no profit (Pentax can't afford that) in order to lock new users into its system and they certainly succeeded with me. Now I have EOS R with several expensive lenses... mostly collecting dust. Now that's expensive, to sink a significant sum of money into something that is rarely used. Instead, analog cameras amuse me and I use them regularly.
I agree that the value is a bit lower, but with this camera Pentax (Ricoh) has to cover the costs of R&D and to provide funds for the development of the following models. It's 400$ for camera and 100$ donation for development, at least as I see it. And as far as I'm concerned, that's perfectly fine :)