Some Pentax 17 Reviews (with Sample Photos)

1. B&H:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/videos/photography/finally-a-new-film-camera-announcing-the-pentax-17/BI/2446/KBID/3285/SID/DFF/DFF/d50

2. Kosmo Foto:

https://kosmofoto.com/2024/06/pentax-17-first-impressions/

3. 35mmc:

https://www.35mmc.com/17/06/2024/pentax-17-review/

4. Casual Photophile:

https://casualphotophile.com/2024/06/17/pentax-17-new-film-camera-review/

5. Mobile 01 (in Chinese):

https://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=543&t=6975873

6. Cool3c (in Chinese):

https://www.cool3c.com/article/218393

My opinions on the camera it's fun and interesting. However, the guessing focusing is just not my cup of tea, especially for a $500 camera. I also have some doubt in the image quality of the 3-element lens. 

And, I just wonder why it is stated in the spec that rechargeable CR2 cannot be used, as I have been using a Chinese model in my Fujifilm instant film camera without any problem. The battery life for one single disposable CR2 for only ten rolls of film seems a bit too short. 

Lastly, the manual film speed setting would be a good idea as I usually set a lower speed to expose more to make grains less visible, especially for negatives. However, a DX coded system is yet more fool-proof for novices, though.

Read Also:

The Word First / Pentax First: My Obsolete Pentax Collection

More K-3 III Monochrome Samples at the "Pentax Official" Site

https://pentaxofficial.com/18527/

https://pentaxofficial.com/18482/

https://pentaxofficial.com/18512/

All in Japanese, but the pictures speak for themselves. Various Pentax original lenses were used for the tests.

More "Harubeni" Samples

https://pentaxofficial.com/18197/

(in Japanese)

"Harubeni" Samples

See:  https://twitter.com/ricohimaging_jp/status/1633634970702061568?s=20

for the newly released firmwares of K-1/II, K-3 III and KF.

Btw, "Harubeni" means the red colours of Spring.

Interesting Comparison of Different Pentax Custom Images

At the Malificent Images..

The new Custom Image "Satobi" is compared side-by-side against "Flat" or "Vibrant" which is also known as "Miyabi" as mentioned in the above blog post.  The camera body used is a K-3 III.

It seems that Satobi is a colour tone that one would not use normally, but only for creating an aged and nostalgic mood and feel.

More Sample Photos of the DFA 21 Limited (by Yaotomi)

https://www.yaotomi.co.jp/blog/walk/2021/10/hdpentaxd,fa21mmf24,limited.html

(in Japanese)

Both K-1 Mark II and K-3 Mark III were used to take the samples, but the posted pictures are just too small to tell about the resolution. The colour and 3d rendition as well as bokeh of the lens look nice this time. This lens seems very suitable to be used on both Full Frame and APS-C bodies.

Mapcamera Field Tested the DFA 21 Limited (with Downsized Samples)

https://news.mapcamera.com/KASYAPA/pentax_21_limited/

(in Japanese)

The test pictures were taken with a full-frame K-1 II, all posted sample photos are downsized to 10.7 mega-pixels. IMO, the image centre resolution looks good even when the lens is wide or near opened and that corner-to-corner sharpness is achievable when it is stopped down. However, I am not impressed with the dynamic range of the samples (which looks really bad) and neither the colour rendition of those. Let's see more samples to verify and judge in due course.

Comparison Test of Four Different Production Units of the FA 43 Limited

Found this interesting article (in Traditional Chinese, Google English translated page here) that's worth a read.

Side-by-side comparison tests were done with the MZ-S for film and the Fujifilm GFX50S digital cropped medium format body. To view the test pictures in their original size (which can be enlarged), just right click and select to view the pictures in a separate/new tab in browser.

Besides the comments made by the author of the article, you may find other differences by yourself. As for years, I blog, you decide. :-)

DPR's Sample Gallery of the D FA* 85 Published

https://www.dpreview.com/samples/1659227315/pentax-d-fa-85mm-f1-4-sample-gallery

Resolution wise, undoubtedly it is very good, near wide opened and from corner to corner for the whole image frame. Vignetting is also minimal at wide opened at F1.4.

But, it seems that the lens does lack some micro-contrast. The images in gallery do not look that three dimensional or "airy" after all. The colour rendition is also not that exceptional, IMHO. The old FA* or A* might look better in those two specific image quality aspects. My two cents, though. YMMV.

Direct Comparison of D FA*85/1.4 against Zeiss Otus 85/1.4 (Tested in the Field)

A Pentax user at the Chinese Xitek Pentax forum shares his friend's sample photos for a direct side-by-side comparison made between the Pentax D FA* lens (put on a K-1 body) and the Zeiss Otus 85/1.4 lens (put on a Panasonic S1R). Here we go:

(Left: Pana+Zeiss, Right: Pentax; Click to Enlarge in around 2000 to 3000 pixels in width)












EXIF data are partially preserved in the original samples in the original post. Despite that the Pentax pics tend to be darker (and the tester also made some exposure adjustment by himself for some pics) and that the Pana pics tend to be over-exposed a bit, the resolution of the Pentax lens seems to be better when the lenses are wide-opened but yet the Pentax Star lens does exhibit some obvious purple fringing at large apertures, however.

Btw, I prefer the colour rendition of the Pentax gear over the Zeiss on Pana combo. :-)

For other standalone samples of the D FA* lens (with key EXIF), they can be found in this post in the same forum thread. I just downloaded them all and have re-uploaded them here for fast and easy viewing:

(Click to Enlarge to around 2000 to 3000 pixels for the longer side, without EXIF)

Mapcamera Tested the D FA* 85 F1.4 (with Medium Sized Samples)

https://news.mapcamera.com/KASYAPA/588%e3%80%8ehd-d-fa%e2%98%85-85mm-f1-4-ed-sdm-aw%e3%80%8f/

(in Japanese, Google translated English page here)

Test camera body used was an upgraded K-1 to Mk II. Medium-sized samples in 11MP are available.

Colour Reproduction Lab Test: K-1 II Ranked #6

https://www.pdnonline.com/gear/cameras/the-best-cameras-for-color-reproduction-ranked/

A Practical K-1 Vs Mark II Shootout (with Real Scenes)

http://blog.hisway306.jp/entry/2018/05/15/080000#K-1-Mark-II-vs-K-1-%E3%82%AC%E3%83%81%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B3%E5%AF%BE%E6%B1%BA
(in Japanese)

IMO, the images from the Mark II have dull colours as what DPR suggested. However, the resolution difference is not as huge, ditto for the noise difference.

Colour Tendency of the LCD Monitor of K-1 Vs Canon 5Dlll's

http://forum.xitek.com/thread-1633920-1-1-1.html

(in Simplified Chinese)

Related:  Tuning the LCD Display of the K-1

Tuning the LCD Display of the K-1

The default LCD display settings produce too bright colours and it has a blue cast. I therefore corrected it with the following settings, after checking against my carefully calibrated professional monitor, which is calibrated internally with an external colourimeter.

I checked two units of the K-1 and found that they are more or less the same and the above settings work. See if it would work for you and produce better and more accurate results! :-)

Official K-1 Full Size Samples Posted

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/japan/products/k-1/ex/index.html

Latest Official K-1 Samples (Up to ISO 25600)

http://www.pentax.com/en/k-1/expression/

First "User" Samples of K-1 with FA Limited and A50/1.2 Lenses

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/190-pentax-k-1/315416-very-first-k-1-vietnam-some-sample-pics.html

The colours look a bit cold indeed.

K-1 Official Full Samples

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/k-1/ex/index.html

Resolution is superb, but the colour rendition is just not my cup of tea, it's too Sony and Tamron alike, bad! :-(

Shootout Again! 645D Vs A7R

I think I have been for long not posting shootout test and here it is, for my old cameras! ;-)

Measurbate and discover by yourself, for all the differences! Original photos are available for viewing by clicking the "Download" option per photo under album! :-D

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48733800@N06/sets/72157651768054944

EXIF data is available for all photos. Pairs of test shoots were taken at almost the same time for the same scene.

Lens used for A7R is a Canon EF35mm F2 (AE and AF adapted) and a FA645 45mm F2.8 for the 645D, for almost identical FoV.