Over 1,000 images: Pentax 17 is cheaper per shot than the Ricoh GRIII, Fuji Instax Mini Evo
Dancin' in September
The Perfecting Equilibrium Digest, August 28-Sept 3, 2024
Do you remember
The 21st night of September?
Love was changin' the minds of pretenders
While chasin' the clouds away
Our hearts were ringin'
In the key that our souls were singin'
As we danced in the night, remember
How the stars stole the night away, oh, yeah
Hey, hey, hey
Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember?
Ba-dee-ya, dancin' in September
Ba-dee-ya, never was a cloudy day
One of the fun things about life in Tejas is the way the seasons turn on a dime. Two Tuesdays ago it was 103; last Tuesday 97. Today it’s 75. Welcome to September!
Comment of the Week
Lynn W Gardner on A Perfect Pair-Ektachrome 100 and the Pentax 17:
Great images, and what color… nice
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Is Film Worth It in 2024?
Over 1,000 images: Pentax 17 is cheaper per image than the Ricoh GRIII, Fuji Instax Mini Evo
By cjfeola in Articles and Tips on Aug 31, 2024
I was dropping off film from the Pentax 17 review at Legacy Photo Lab in Fort Worth, Texas, paying extra for high-res scans for the review, buying more film, when two thoughts occurred to me while paying:
Well, that was certainly a couple of bucks
On the other hand, I could run a metric crap-ton* of Tri-X through the 17 before the cost caught up with my daily driver, the Pentax K-3 III Monochrome. (*Approved USArmy measurement of ridiculous quantities.)
My next thought was to run the numbers and see how they actually work out. I wanted to set up something reasonably fair with pricing available to most everyone. While I love love love my Monochrome, I don't think it's a natural competitor for a compact half-frame fixed lens camera. Indeed, these days I'm carrying the Monochrome accompanied by the 17 loaded with Ektachrome 100 for color work.
And I wanted to figure out the cost of shooting over a reasonable period. Comparing costs after one roll of film is silly; why buy a camera and only run one roll of film through it?Â
So here's what I came up with for this challenge:
The cost per image over 1,000 shots
The cost per print over 1,000 prints
And here are your contestants:
The Pentax 17 loaded with Fujifilm 400
The Ricoh GR III
Easter Eggs
My brain is a peculiar place; it likes to play word association, and then play back songs with those words. Here are the songs playing in my mind as I wrote these articles.
Next on Perfecting Equilibrium
Friday September 6th - Foto.Feola.Friday VLog: More film from the Pentax 17
Sunday, September 8th — Full Review of the Pentax 17 Half-frame 35mm film camera