What’s not the weirdest thing about the Pentax is that it’s the first 35mm film camera to enter the market in decades. It’s that Pentax chose to make it a half-frame camera, meaning that it takes two 17mm x 24mm pictures within a single 35mm (36mm x 24mm) frame.
And it takes them vertically. And that’s, well, pretty goddamn strange.
vertically minded
You know that person who takes pictures on their phone but doesn’t turn it sideways? The Pentax 17 does that. You’re not exactly locked into taking vertical pictures, since you could turn the camera itself 90 degrees, but who wants to shoot like that all the time?
The Pentax 17 is for you if you can get comfortable with the funky shot layout. There’s no way to force it to take full, horizontal 35mm pictures like a regular camera. The upshot is that because the Pentax 17 divides each 35mm shot vertically, you get two shots per 35mm frame.
Take the number of shots on a roll of 35mm film and double it to determine how many pictures you’ll get out of it on the Pentax 17. Ricoh, which owns Pentax (and makes the upcoming GR IV), says the Pentax 17’s 25mm F3.5 lens used in its half-frame shots is the equivalent of a 37mm lens used in the 35mm format.
It’s still very much an analog camera, unlike the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo that blends digital controls with film prints. Just about everything on the Pentax 17 is controlled by analog mechanisms: the zone-focus mechanism, the film winding, the film advance lever, exposure, and ISO sensitivity.
It’s a funky camera. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but then I can’t remember the last time film photography was this much fun. And hey, I know exactly what kind of 35mm film you can shoot through it.
The post Where To Find the Pentax 17 Half-Frame 35mm Film Camera appeared first on VICE.
