It’s not always the best-selling or most capable gear that lives in the memory, and if I’m to pick one particular camera highlight of 2024 it would have to be a surprising retro snapper that gave me the feels – the Pentax 17. Sure, it’s not the best camera around, but hear me out.
The Fujifilm X100VI rightly grabbed 2024’s headlines; it’s the most pre-ordered camera in memory, and nine months later, it’s still on backorder. It’s an incredibly popular premium compact for all the right reasons, even if it was TikTok influencers that gave the series the leg up. I really, really enjoyed reviewing the X100VI at its launch in Tokyo – you have to experience it to appreciate it.
Canon’s EOS R5 Mark II also blew me away, and deservedly gained a five-star review and TechRadar’s Camera of the Year 2024 award – its Eye Control AF is a treat, as are its innovative in-camera editing skills.
Other personal highlights were the Nikon Z6 III full-frame all-rounder; the GoPro Hero 13 Black, with its new Lens Mods that are the future of action camera design; the Insta360 X4, which is a super-versatile 360-degree camera; and the DJI Mini 4K, which sets the bar for affordable beginner drones. Technically I was also still testing the powerful Sony A9 III in 2024 too, even though it was announced in November 2023.
All of those cameras were personal favorites in 2024. However, if you were to ask me what was the most memorable camera of the year, I’d have to go for that other charming snapper, the Pentax 17. It’s the first new camera of its kind from one of the big names in film photography in decades – a half-frame compact film camera that was a Pentax Film Project labor of love.
I wasn’t overly enamored at first, but the Pentax 17 won me over, and its charm has endured – here’s why.
A simple compact film camera that’ll win you over
The Pentax 17 isn’t the best camera I reviewed in 2024; it’s not even the best of its kind, nor is it one that I particularly liked at first. However, when you’ve spent years of reviewing the best camera gear there is, as I have, a camera has to be something special to stick in the memory months after you’ve used it – and that’s the effect the Pentax 17 had on me.
Its launch was timed to perfection – a camera in tune with what people want today, especially young people (of which I am not one). For me, this was the first time I’d properly used a film camera in over a decade, and I’d have to go back another 10 years to the time when I was last regularly shooting on film, as a student.
Despite my past experience with film, and plenty of general technical know-how with digital cameras, I benefitted from the 17 being a simple model with automated features that helped to ease my way back into shooting on film.
Throughout my time with the Pentax 17 I shot virtually no frames that I had to discard due to exposure issues or questionable framing – the 17 has all the tools to help you get the shot, including auto exposure, framing assist, and zone focusing. Pretty much the only thing you need to concentrate on is capturing the moment.
Some of my favorite photos taken with the Pentax 17
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You also get double the number of shots for your money on a roll of 35mm film – two vertical half-sized shots per frame – and given the high cost of film and development, that’s a win in my book.
As a camera it feels cheap in the hand at first, and its functionality is limited. But oh boy is the 17 fun. It’s also easy to handle, which isn’t an easy thing for film cameras to be, given they’re foreign to so many of us in 2024.
It was the camera that freed me from instant image playback in 2024; the camera that put the biggest smile on my face, and one that piqued the interest of friends and family the most.
It was the camera that got me curious to try film in other formats, and I consequently had a lovely time reviewing the Leica MP, an altogether different experience.
I can understand why the Pentax 17 isn’t universally admired – it’s fairly pricey for what it is – but I think Pentax has been really smart in launching this particular camera now. It’s a film camera for today that’s easy to use and produces lovely vintage vertical photos that are sharper than I expected. And although it feels overpriced, there aren’t a lot of options at this price point for newbies and enthusiast photographers.
Crucially, the Pentax 17 is a new and reliable film camera, and Pentax says the necessary infrastructure is in place should you run into any issues and need support; you can’t say the same for a cheap 30-year-old film camera that you picked up on eBay.
This is the first camera produced by the Pentax Film Project, and if the 17 is anything to go by I can’t wait for the next installment – it’s rumored that there could be fully mechanical film SLR in the pipeline!