Ricoh launches Pentax 17 half-frame fixed lens film camera

Probably in 1959 or so, I worked part-time at a camera store and they let me borrow display cameras sometimes. I remember going out with my girl friend and my best friend and his girlfriend. I took a newly released camera, I believe it was an Olympus Pen, which was a half-frame camera. I still have at least one picure of my friend and his girl (of the day) in one of my photo albums. It was a neat pocket sized camera. This sounds much the same.
 
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I like the design of the camera, but this is a swing and a miss for me. The maximum shutter speed is 1/350 is just not good enough. The camera's reliance on the automatic control and preset focus doesn't attract me at all. And $500! No thanks. One day my AE-1 and New F-1 will kick the bucket...but these work incredibly well to this day after 40+ years.
 
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I like it and I actually might buy it. It has some nice details, showing that Pentax put some thought into it (e.g. the "Food" distance scale, perfect for millenial / Gen Z food pictures). Of course it is a bit expensive, but it is a new camera with warranty - and that is also worth some money. Buying an older analog camera with circuitry (say Contax G1) always comes with the risk of it turning into a paperweight over night, with pretty much no chance to repair it.

I would guess that this is not the camera for people how already have their Nikon F3, EOS 1, K1000 etc. from years gone by but rather for newcomers to the analog hobby who don`t want to buy used.
 
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While I like half-frame cameras in general (I own and sometimes use two old Pen FTs with a couple lenses) I really don't understand this one.

It is pretty bare-bones for the extremely steep price they want and I can't imagine many people that want to try out film will go with it over a used film camera that can be bought for 1/10th of the cost including a 50mm lens or any lomo-plastic-abomination.
 
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While I like half-frame cameras in general (I own and sometimes use two old Pen FTs with a couple lenses) I really don't understand this one.

It is pretty bare-bones for the extremely steep price they want and I can't imagine many people that want to try out film will go with it over a used film camera that can be bought for 1/10th of the cost including a 50mm lens or any lomo-plastic-abomination.
It’s a swiping and a miss, at this price point. That’s my opinion. No full manual control, comically slow maximum shutter speed, and preset focus depth lens? It’s holding your hand too much while not offering enough control. Again, at this price point?!? I get that they’re going after casual photographers looking to take snapshots, but they would be better served with a disposable camera if that’s the case.
 
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Please pardon me for aiming a little off target here, but ever since this was announced and I remembered using a 1/2 frame camera in my youth (a long time passing) I have been thinking about another 1/2 frame camera which, I believe, had a spring action film advance and looked odd as it had a 1/2 circle protuberance (probably not the best description) on the top. Does anybody remember this camera and what its name was?
 
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Please pardon me for aiming a little off target here, but ever since this was announced and I remembered using a 1/2 frame camera in my youth (a long time passing) I have been thinking about another 1/2 frame camera which, I believe, had a spring action film advance and looked odd as it had a 1/2 circle protuberance (probably not the best description) on the top. Does anybody remember this camera and what its name was?
Do you mean the Robot Star II by any chance (or any of the other Robot models)? It wasn't a half-frame camera though, but took square photos (some on this site here would grumble about the brain damage done to the Instagram generation of the 1930s). Since you could use the viewfinder sideways and due to its spring mechanism, it seemms to have been popular in spy circles and been used as traffic cameras.
 
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Do you mean the Robot Star II by any chance (or any of the other Robot models)? It wasn't a half-frame camera though, but took square photos (some on this site here would grumble about the brain damage done to the Instagram generation of the 1930s). Since you could use the viewfinder sideways and due to its spring mechanism, it seemms to have been popular in spy circles and been used as traffic cameras.
Yes. That's it. Thank you so much. The minute I read "Robot" I slapped my head and spoke sternly to my memory. The store I worked at my last year or two of high school only had one...that they probably never sold. It wasn't half-frame....it was worse.
 
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