Pentax 17 to be Shipped on July 18 (in Japan at least)

 See this info in the Japanese Amazon. It seems that the date of shipment of the 17 has been fixed.

And, there are some additonal technical information of the 17, in pictures with Japanese, which are almost self-explanatory by themselves.

Pentax 17 - An Olympus Pen after 60 Years?

The vertical 135 half frame, the purely-guessed manual zone focusing, manual winding and rewinding, automatic electric-eye metering, a slow fixed wide-angle lens, the very limited speed of shutter.. Now I believe that Pen stands for Pentax in 2024. ;-p And recently, I have been able to find two excellent condition Pens (of different models) each of which only costs me about 1/4th the cost of a brand-new Pentax 17, should I still need to go for the 17? :-D The Oly Pens could select the aperture which is impossible for the Pentax. In the mean time, it's time for me to pick my Canon 17 to shoot again shortly. Thank you, Pentax (Ricoh)! At the end of the day, the Canon 17 is a much more precise rangefinder anyway.

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