Pentax 17 modes explained - Page 2 (2024)

Loyal Site Supporter

The guy on the B&H interview also added that Bulb fixes the lens wide open.

And the flash is the one from the KP, according to the same chat, so presumably the same strength…

-Eric

Loyal Site Supporter

It would if you had an f0 lens. Lol. But yes with the f3.5 lens built in it’s not very long range.

Pentaxian

Original Poster

But while the Pentax KP has a wide range of ISO settings to choose from, the Pentax 17 is limited to the one film that is loaded into the camera. For the whole 70-ish frames, which is a lot.

That increases the probability of needing the two flash-enabled modes on the mode dial at some point during the film roll. How to mitigate that? Use short fim, 24 exposures ---> 48 half frames, with somewhat reduced probability of needing flash.

Or use black and white negative film, expose whatever way the camera wants to, then use stand-development in Rodinal. This method is meant for scanning/digitizing anyway.

The flash-enabled

P mode could be augmented / improved by using an external flash in optical slave S1 mode, triggered by the inbuilt one.

S2 is used to ignore the preflash, if there is one. The Pentax 17 will use a fixed shutter speed and then either adjust flash power for an aperture that may depend on the focus zone or a preflash evaluation. We can't know or find out what aperture will be used. So one way to work with this limitation is to go with the other flash-enabled setting next to P mode, now counting on a wide-open aperture of f/3.5---------- Post added 06-18-24 at 04:11 PM ----------Question: is there a preflash in P mode? How, exactly, does the camera select the aperture in this mode?

Last edited by CristiC; 2 Days Ago at 06:08 AM.

Pentaxian

I don't know the answer, but I noticed there are two holes in the exposure sensor "port". The second one could be for flash. Then no preflash is needed.

Loyal Site Supporter

If that’s the flash sensor, it’s likely just like an old-school auto flash, and the camera likely has an aperture it picks based on the film speed.

If it’s really fancy, it might change that aperture based on the focus distance and adjust the flash output accordingly. Like an old-school program flash. I hope it does that…

It seems pretty clear it isn’t TTL-OTF like the LX

-Eric

Pentaxian

Where did you get that diagram from? Is there a manual you can download? I couldn't find one.

Pentaxian

Original Poster

"ISO sensitivity dial lock release." see minute 0:55 . The official source: How to | PENTAX 17 | RICOH IMAGING---------- Post added 06-19-24 at 11:02 AM ----------But to stay on-topic in this thread about the mode dial, I still have several questions that would help me get the most out of this tool.

Mode

AUTO does not care what the current focus zone is, it automatically goes to a predefined distance setting, called "pan-focus". Which distance is it, precisely, in meters?

The question is how the Depth Of Field (DOF) covers what is near. I suspect that you can, of course, shoot in

AUTO mode but you may get a slightly sharper, better, image if you change the dial to "P" mode and also use the focus ring with the proper close-up zone for such subjects.

This is the limit of the

AUTO mode. Some DOF numbers per aperture would help.

Also the ambient light matters, if there is not enough light. In technical terms, the lightmeter of the Pentax 17 works upwards of EV 2.5 to automatically give a shutter speed of 4s or faster, at aperture f/3.5. If there is not enough light then the flash will fire in

AUTO mode. But the flash is small and has a Guide Number 6, which means it doesn't have much power. It is good enough for portraits, but you might want to select another mode for portraits in low light.

Another limitation is shutter lag, a small amount of waiting time between shutter button press and actual shutter action. The workaround for avoiding shutter lag is to half-press the shutter. There is a focus-by-wire action that is noticeable. It happens every time at full shutter button action. If you pre-focus with a half-press, then you can avoid the lag.

Loyal Site Supporter

I'm a little confused... this is a manual focus camera. There is no focus-by-wire anything.

Pan-focus usually refers to using a lens at its hyperfocal setting -- about the same as "focus free" for compact cameras.

I think I heard the guy on the B&H interview say if you set the camera to AUTO and have the lens focused for a close-up, it will blink at you. If you have the focus set to something a little farther off, it won't. In either case, I expect it will try and select an aperture to put "everything" in focus, subject to available light.

The shutter lag you noticed comes from somewhere, but it won't be focus... could it be aperture setting? The PC35AF did that (so annoying). Flash charging would also qualify... if you were in that mode...

On my KP, the flash has enough juice for small groups with 200 ISO (where I usually shoot) or larger ones at 400 ISO, which is perfect for this kind of camera.

-Eric

Site Supporter

From Jersey’s comments elsewhere, it isn’t focussing, but it is moving from a neutral position to the set focal distance.

Which, of course, suggests that the same basic system will be used for the next camera, presumably incorporating AF.

Loyal Site Supporter

Wait… so moving the focus ring doesn’t actually focus the lens… it just tells it where to focus and then it’s motor driven?

That’s a really weird way to do things…

OK. So then my assertions about focus lag are also probably wrong… Sorry, Cristi…

-Eric

Site Supporter

As I indicated, it may seem weird, but it’s probably pointing to a future film camera with AF, thereby minimising the resources needed, to that extent, and sharing a parts list, as well as shortening development time.

Loyal Site Supporter

It is my understanding, from reading & watching the many reviews that have posted the last couple days plus some supposition on my part, that the focus ring acts like a rotating switch, it doesn't physically focus the lens. The "lag" that is apparent when you press the shutter is the camera electronically taking the zone focus setting you "input" and focusing the lens for the shot. I get the impression that the camera may also focus to different points given your zone focus selection and the metered aperture in order to maximize DOF and give you the best chance of getting an in-focus shot for your selected zone. It is also my impression that the "pan-focus" used in the Auto mode doesn't take your zone-focus input from the focus ring, but instead sets the focus at varying positions depending on metered aperture in order to maximize your DOF within some constraints (probably similar to hyperfocal distance practice). So, in Auto mode, it is sort of a smart fixed-focus camera, one with auto exposure and auto flash operation.

All in all I really like this new release. You can't argue with the many good images posted by reviewers. I've read many reviews since release, and nearly all were positive.

Anyone have different information on the modes?

---------- Post added 06-19-24 at 10:02 PM ----------

Weird, yes - or maybe innovative? If it operates the way I supposed (above) then it could be using the physics of DOF and hyperfocal distance in order to maximize a satisfactory outcome for the user for their selected focusing zone, or to maximize in-focus subjects for the given combination of light levels and film ISO in the auto mode. That way it could be better than the traditional zone focus cameras, where your zone focus selection was actually changing the lens focus point to a specific spot, not taking advantage of the given aperture. Furthermore, it could be better than simple autofocus systems, which are often fooled into focusing on high-contrast, patterned backgrounds rather than on your friends fuzzy face in the foreground. Look at how many times you see fuzzy faces on TV commentators on their at-home AF video set-ups while the bookshelves behind them are sharp! You don't see that in the TV studio hosts because the camera crew is their to make sure the faces are sharp.

Pentaxian

Original Poster

Pentax 17 may have smart solutions to a practical problem. It needs to focus the lens anyway. It does that in a focus-by-wire way, motor driven, based on multiple "inputs" of information:

• the user intent - the zone, selected via a decoupled focus ring, in other modes than AUTO;
• the metered aperture - as set according to the current mode;
• the known hyperfocal distances (plural) in AUTO mode, depending on each aperture.

Just like with a DSLR with AF at half-press of the shutter button, the Pentax 17 does a motorized "focus" action before each shot, going from a default / neutral position to the final distance setting. This induces a certain, noticeable, shutter lag. It can be mitigated with the said half-press of the shutter button.

I think it is a very good idea to go to a preset distance (as in a predefined table) thus ensuring maximum depth of field (DOF), no matter what aperture is automatically computed after metering.
This way you avoid user error, as in turning a helicoid too much. It also ensures precision of reaching certain hyperfocal settings. Manually focusing old manual-focus lenses would not reach this level precision.

In the end you get more frames that are acceptably sharp, DOF-wise, compared to the classic way of performing manual focus.