NewsBy FilmFocus
RICOH Officially Announces the PENTAX 17 Film Camera, Preorders Now Open
This is an AI translation of an article originally published in Japanese. If anything reads oddly, the Japanese original is the authoritative version.
RICOH has officially announced its PENTAX 17 film camera, and preorders have opened at various online stores. The scheduled release date is July 12. So far, the only color announced is "Dark Silver." At the time of writing, the official online store is already showing it as "Out of stock."
Product image (from the official website)
The retail price is ¥88,000 including tax. Purchases from the official online store come with an "original wrapping cloth." As announced earlier, the camera uses the half-frame format on 35mm film, and details of its zone focusing system have now been revealed as well.
Zone focus specifications (from the official website)
The official website describes the zone focusing as follows: "Six zones, from close range to long range, are shown as icons on the zone focus ring, and you choose the icon that matches the subject you want to shoot." This also reveals the minimum focusing distance. The zones are listed below. In addition to zone shooting, setting the dial to "AUTO" switches the camera to pan focus, giving a wide range of sharp focus.
- Macro: 0.24m - 0.26m
- Table photo: 0.47m - 0.54m
- Very close range: 1.0m - 1.4m
- Close range: 1.4m - 2.2m
- Mid range: 2.1m - 5.3m
- Long range: 5.1m - infinity
With the Rollei 35 AF also announced this year, it looks like this could be a banner year for new film cameras. Since the PENTAX 17 could have a major impact on the future of the film camera market, it will be interesting to see how well it sells.