Comments were updated by 9:48 ET this morning
Pentax 17
This is kinda funny: Hugh Crawford complained about the unaligned slot-heads on the screws on the front of the Pentax 17 in a comment here. Then Samuel Dilworth found a marketing presentation for the Pentax 17 in which, rather remarkably, Pentax has a whole panel acknowledging that the screw slots are not aligned, and explaining why!
This must be a first—never seen such a thing before.
But hey, asked and answered, right? As Samuel points out, there are lots of other tidbits in that presentation that are of interest, if you are interested in the Pentax 17, including several direct confirmations of some of our speculations.
Jaguar Leica
Also in the coincidences department, I hope you didn't miss the fact that a.) I happened to choose this link to an old Leica commemorative model when I was making fun of the Lux app the other day (or rather, not the app itself, but the overblown language and over-the-top claims used to market it)—it's a Jaguar XK50 Leica M6, with green engraving and green leather covering harking back to the famous "British racing green" of vintage Jaguars. And b.) it turned out that none other than John Maries, formerly of Jaguar, the bloke (as he put it) who initiated the XK50 Leica project, is a regular TOP reader and chimed in in the Featured Comments! He gave us a link to a backgrounder piece written about the project by Stephen Gandy at CameraQuest. When Stephen's page first appeared in 1999, it was the only page on the XK50 Leica on the internet.
Of the 50 cameras made, half were bought within Jaguar, and the other half sold quickly via a press release. (There are Jaguar collectors too.)
Great that John is a reader. Over the years there have been many coincidences, confluences, and connections made made in association with writing this blog, and it's always fun when those things happen.
Keith Haring Pentax
Hugh Crawford, mentioned above, once had a Pentax that was decorated by his friend the late artist Keith Haring, with Keith's trademark little line figures. But Hugh decided the camera was a tossoff for Keith and not meant to be cossetted—a valid decision, though not the one I would have made—and he used the camera until the artwork wore off. I can only wonder what an original camera decorated by Keith Haring would be worth today...not in the millions, but certainly the tens of thousands.
Maybe Hugh will tell us more of the story in a comment, hint hint.
Mike
Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)
Featured Comments from:
Thomas Mc Cann: "In the joinery trade in England the highest standard is known as 'Pub and church Work' and in which the screw heads are all most definitely aligned as a mark of the skill of the operator."
Mike replies: I recall that the Gandolfi brothers, on their traditional field view cameras, made certain the screw heads were precisely aligned. You can even see it in this picture.
ASW: "When we bought our house a few years ago, one of the first small but necessary jobs I tackled was aligning the screw heads in the many light switch and electrical outlet covers. My wife questioned what I was doing and why I was doing it (as she often does). She not only didn't care, but she hadn't noticed and probably never would have. Even after I pointed out the random alignments she couldn't understand why it mattered. It's a good thing she made me say 'for better or worse' back in 2017 while checking that I wasn't crossing my fingers behind my back, or I would have been out the door that day! (Satire.)"
Terry Letton: "I’ve been resisting commenting on aligning screwheads but I ultimately can’t. I spent many years refinishing and building grand pianos. On a piano it is (was?) considered mandatory to align the screwheads, especially the ones on the hinges joining the two sections of the top as they are right in the musicians line of sight as he is playing. One difference of course is the material the screws are threaded into. On a piano this is wood where for an experienced person it is pretty straightforward to tweak the screw to get the desired alignment. On a camera you are using machine screws in tapped holes in metal ,when they are tight they are tight, slot alignment be dammed."
When I fly in my spacecraft or drive my BRM type 15, I wish to be very, very sure that all of the screws and bolts that hold it together have been tightened to the correct torques, because if they come loose I will die, and if a shaft snaps I will die.
If the slots in the screws lined up I would simply refuse to get into the vehicle: it certainly would not have been built properly. I am willing to accept the unavoidable risks of going into space and driving the Nürburgring: I will not accept sloppiness like this.
There is a famous book whoch is not about motorcycles, really, where this is a significant point.
Posted by: Zyni | Sunday, 23 June 2024 at 04:17 PM
The best Pentaxes were made during the post WW2 golden era of the camera industry when manufacturers prided in making things to last and outlast.
Posted by: Dan Khong | Sunday, 23 June 2024 at 05:12 PM
Mike,
My friend James Tocchio of Casual PhotoPhile did a hands-on review of the Pentax 17. He also kindly included a sample gallery of some of my first photos shot with it using Portra 400 and Tri-X 400. I’ve been testing the 17 for almost a month. And, although I still shoot 12-16 rolls of film a year with my lovely Pentax MX, I have to say this new half-frame camera is a lot of fun, especially if you like to print diptychs which I’m planing to do. Here’s a link to the article, in case you’re interested in reading his take on the camera.
https://casualphotophile.com/2024/06/17/pentax-17-new-film-camera-review/
Posted by: Ned Bunnell | Sunday, 23 June 2024 at 05:48 PM
Mike: This is kinda funny: Hugh Crawford complained about the unaligned slot-heads on the screws on the front of the Pentax 17 in a comment here. Then Samuel Dilworth found a marketing presentation for the Pentax 17 in which, rather remarkably, Pentax has a whole panel acknowledging that the screw slots are not aligned, and explaining why!
Wabi-Sabi.
Posted by: Chris Kern | Sunday, 23 June 2024 at 05:49 PM
I'm sure that this screw-alignment thread will auto-feed itself forward for weeks unless Mike stops it. Before that happens, I want to share this video of a WEBER Screw Driving System.
WEBER Principle: Feed while you drive
Posted by: Speed | Sunday, 23 June 2024 at 06:40 PM
Good for Hugh. That's what a camera is for- to be used. Especially when the decoration was done BY a friend FOR a friend. To just put such a camera on the shelf would, to me, be to say the gift made the camera less useful. Wear the art off, brass the finish, need new leather... otherwise why bother?
As for screws: In gun making, it used to be very common to make the gun so that when the screws were tightened to their proper torque they would be lined up just so. It was a point of pride for a good gun smith to have the screw heads like that and they would remake any screws that didn't line up correctly. Of course, those were guns being made for millionaires, royals and the like so cost was literally no object and time even less of an issue. I have never worried about it personally.
Posted by: William Lewis | Sunday, 23 June 2024 at 07:24 PM
I appreciate Hugh's comment, though Zyni has a very good point about the tightness of screws and bolts. But I can think of a couple of other ways (neither practical) to get all the screwdriver slots lined up which can give the correct torque.
Either several (probably many) screws are tried in the threaded hole until one lines up, or the threads on the screws and the threads in the holes are all carefully made to the correct orientation every time.
It could be done, but then the time and expense involved would have to be taken from the rest of the project for no practical gain. In a vehicle you might trust your life to that would be a bad sign; what other poor decisions had been made?
Posted by: Roger Bradbury | Sunday, 23 June 2024 at 08:26 PM
Oh my
“PENTAX 17:Features
Harf size format film camera,”
That’s kind of unfortunate.
Anyway
If my life depended upon some screws holding something together , I’d insist on them being safety wired.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak wristwatch has all the screws with their slots at 90 degrees to the center of the dial, but they charge almost $80,000 for one. And don’t get me started on those hexagonal holes that they are in.
But really, slot head screws? I would certainly expect some of those wonderful JIS screws (Not to be confused with hideous Phillips head screws. Space and time do not permit a full accounting of how hideous Phillips head screws are. With, of course, an accompanying digression about what I think of Henry Ford)
Posted by: hugh crawford | Sunday, 23 June 2024 at 10:49 PM
The green leatherette is rather handsome...
On that note, the Lumix S9 in green is also a great looking camera, a bit more attainable perhaps.
It has access to the Lumix Lab app which is free, where you can create your own LUT (style) and upload to the camera for direct use, or download premade ones from other creators.
You can import photos and videos directly from the camera, or import them from your phone, apply your preferred and edited preset LUT, for immediate sharing on social media.
Perhaps only a matter of time before someone copies over the Leica look as a LUT.
A camera shares a lens mount with your Sigma FP. A great looking combination with the 45mm f2.8. Shame it lacks an EVF in this current iteration.
Posted by: Cliff | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 06:18 AM
The 17 has a "note holder" on the back. It made me smile to see one of these again. I never knew it was called a note holder. I had one once on a body but it caused me some grief because I would forget to change it when I changed film, leading to confusion. A tool is only as good as the person using it, I guess.
Posted by: Robert Roaldi | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 07:05 AM
Amusing to see in print the Pentax 17 promotion saying 'Easy Roading' which is how many Asian speakers might say 'Easy Loading' when speaking english. Was this just a typo?
Posted by: james wilson | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 09:25 AM
Just to add another level of itchness: are the screws on the Pentax 17 unaligned because of actual human craftsmanship of because a machine, trying to mimic human craftsmanship, puts them like that every time?
If every camera they make has those same screws pointing in the same directions then they annoy me again.
Posted by: Gaspar Heurtley | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 11:26 AM
My harf-size camera is a Univex Mercury II CX ….
Posted by: Bob G. | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 01:26 PM
Glad to see B&H has sold enough 17s to make it a "top seller" among its film cameras (though that could be a small number indeed). But I'm possibly more pleased to see that they also sell "refurbished" Pentax K1000s with SMC 50mm/2 lenses. And for 95 cents less than a new 17!
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1810367-REG/pentax_clk1k_k1000_with_50mm_f_2.html
Posted by: robert e | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 02:16 PM
Hi Mike
I’ve been resisting commenting on aligning screwheads but I ultimately can’t. I spent many years refinishing and building grand pianos. On a piano it is (was?) considered mandatory to align the screwheads, especially the ones on the hinges joining the two sections of the top as they are right in the musicians line of sight as he is playing.
One difference of course is the material the screws are threaded into. On a piano this is wood where for an experienced person it is pretty straightforward to tweak the screw to get the desired alignment. On a camera you are using machine screws in tapped holes in metal ,when they are tight they are tight, slot alignment be dammed.
Posted by: Terry Letton | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 03:11 PM
I enjoyed reading the marketing presentation for the Pentax 17. Fun how they are highlighting the physical/tactile experiences that only a 35mm camera can deliver. I especially like the parts about advancing and rewinding the film. There’s one experience they left out that only a 35mm camera can deliver. That’s opening the camera back before rewinding the film into the cassette. We’ve all done it, and know that special feeling, right?
Posted by: Glenn Allenspach | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 03:15 PM
Second time in two days that I read about aligned screw heads: https://gwsrcarriageandwagon.blogspot.com/
Where have i been in the past 59 yeas???
:D
Posted by: Christoph | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 04:04 PM
In precision machining, I see how you could get the screw heads all aligned, but I'm actually not sure I like it. It looks artificial, and it's not safe in most ordinary work (where the screws and/or holes and tapping aren't custom-made for each unit!).
For electrical cover plates—definitely not. Those aren't custom-made to precision, they should be tightened until the right torque. More is bad, less is bad!
This is a topic of discussion right now in the Facebook "Dull Men's Club" group :-) .
Posted by: David Dyer-Bennet | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 05:07 PM
Hmmm...just how many unclocked screws are there on the Pentax 17?
I immediately thought of this blog post by Christopher Schwarz on Lost Art Press:
https://blog.lostartpress.com/2019/04/18/the-church-of-the-clocked-screws/
...after which, of course, I had to stop and see it myself and it is simply amazing.
Merle
Posted by: Merle | Monday, 24 June 2024 at 11:49 PM
More Pentax news: for those who think that film photography really is passé: the Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome is on offer, at least in the European Pentax store (minus € 300,-).
Posted by: Nico. | Tuesday, 25 June 2024 at 06:30 AM
In the 1930's brothers named Hafer made exquisite wooden speed boats on the shores of lake Okobojii in Iowa.
There is a maritime museum up there with a lovingly restored Hafer speedboat and it has like a zillion Philips head screws on it and every one is perfectly aligned.
Never gave alignment a second thought until I saw that fantastic boat.
On this issue I am now ruined for life.
Posted by: Mike Plews | Tuesday, 25 June 2024 at 06:51 AM
Lack of full manual control puts this one in the realm of toy, which is a shame. Was there an engineering need to cripple this camera? Or just a marketing itch?
Posted by: Joseph Reid | Tuesday, 25 June 2024 at 01:53 PM
I was looking to see if my favorite camera has misaligned screws but I could not find any screw heads on the exterior of my Leica SL or SL2. Maybe Leica just puts the cameras together with some special glue...
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 25 June 2024 at 09:53 PM
Forgive me but I have to say this. Why would screw slot alignment matter on a camera as ugly as this?
[Yes, non-alignment fits the aesthetic better. --Mike]
Posted by: Bob Johnston | Thursday, 27 June 2024 at 01:39 AM