After posting the results of the 4 rolls I put in the Pentax 17, I think it's time for a post about what I think about the camera.
I'm happy I got the camera. I really like the idea of a company like Pentax trying to rebuild the knowledge how to design and produce a film camera before the old guard retires. They managed to make a camera that is pretty unique.
The half frame format results in an economical use of film, in practice I got 76 frames out of a roll. It's very light. Initially it feels a bit plasticky, but after carrying it for an hour I appreciated the lack of weight. It's a great little camera to go around and take snapshots of things. I didn't really have to care about how much film I was using, so I could take a couple of tries and experiment. The lens has a good viewing angle and is pretty sharp, and I was happy with the results.
There are also some downsides. First one is that it uses a weird battery. It still works, but I have yet to find one in a store. It has this weird zone focus thing where you have to guess the distance to your subject and set it manually. But it's biggest sin is that it focuses electronically, resulting in a split second set-up time before it actually takes a picture. Half press reduces that time, but because the viewfinder is separate there is no feedback.
Which makes it not as exciting to use compared to other cameras in my collection. Every camera I have has tradeoffs. My Canon (D)SLRs are bulky, but are great workhorses. The Leica M4 is getting worth too much for comfort, but is brutally responsive. The Zorki 4 is very Soviet, but is cheap and rewards your hard work. My main gripe with the Pentax 17 is that it's a decent camera that doesn't have a massive advantage to make me forget the downsides.
Basically I don't think it's bad, but it's not excellent either.
Would I recommend this camera? If you are using your smartphone to take a lot of pictures, want to shoot film but you're a bit intimidated by (manual) focus and correct exposure, and have the disposable income. Go for it. It's a great camera for taking snapshots.
However, if you want to really learn film photography this camera is probably not for you. You can get a pretty good used SLR with a decent 50mm lens for less than the 17. And it will allow you to learn about using aperture and shutter speed to properly expose the film. It will also force you to slow down and think about subject and composition, because you can only take 36 photos.
For me it's a good addition to my collection. I'll probably use it as a secondary camera, to try out weird/expensive film, or on a trip where I don't want to take a big camera.
