Over 1,000 images: Pentax 17 is cheaper per shot than the Ricoh GRIII, Fuji Instax Mini Evo

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

The Perfecting Equilibrium Digest, August 28-Sept 3, 2024

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??

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
• The Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo hybrid digital/instant camera
• The Fujifilm Instax Mini 40 Instant camera

Easter Eggs

I've given up on the Easter Egg roundups on LinkedIn. Ever since LinkedIn changed how it handles embeds almost all music videos fail. You can still see the roundup on Substack, if you like.

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