Ricoh’s classic photography brand, Pentax, is making a comeback with a new film camera project – some of the best film cameras ever have been made by Pentax.
Film Camera Project
Ricoh has launched a new ‘Film Camera Project’ that will involve the “research and development of new Pentax-brand film camera products”.
If you began photography with the Pentax K1000 (shown above) or just want to try out the tactile experience of 35mm film, this news is likely very exciting.
Ricoh’s Statements
Before you begin to create a darkroom in your shed, there are a few things to note. Primarily, Ricoh’s statement seems somewhat inconsistent, so this project is still in the preliminary phase.
“This announcement does not mean we will be releasing any new film cameras”, stressing the point.
Noboru Akahane, Ricoh President and CEO
Fortunately, this warning of the project’s complexity seems to be more than a lack of ambition.
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Ricoh Product Planner Takeo Suzuki has presented a launch video containing the roadmap for the film camera project. He stated that
“We intend to introduce more than just one type of film camera.”
“First, we’ll develop a compact film camera. Then while reviewing a range of technologies, we’ll move on to develop a high-end compact model, an SLR model, and finally and hopefully, a fully-mechanical SLR camera”,
Suzuki adds. While the latter could be a while off, the aim for the first camera will be to produce a film model with a “solid warranty” that “comes at an affordable price for younger users”.
Earlier Note of Caution
The earlier advice of caution was only given because the company is still in the process of determining how successful new film cameras will be.
“We also know how difficult it will be to restart the production of film cameras long after production was terminated. In fact, we’re only at the starting line right now”.
Akahane
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Even so, Ricoh and Pentax’s intention is unmistakable – they will “start researching the development of new Pentax-brand film camera products”.
This could possibly result in a new film camera and related services. But, why create such a project? It isn’t mere nostalgia – considering the improved popularity of film photography, making it logical for a few underlying reasons.
Resurgence
To start, a renewed interest in film cameras has been observed lately, which is more of a cultural and anecdotal consequence than a numerically-backed one since there is not much data on international film camera sales right now.
Demand
This is partly due to Fujifilm and Kodak not anticipating consumer demand, causing a shortage that supply chain complications have made worse.
Independent factories have emerged to resolve the issues, and if the ‘Pentax Film Project’ is successful in its mission, the situation should improve significantly in the future.
Younger Generation
Film cameras themselves are also increasingly popular, as Ricoh and Pentax have noted in their project. According to Ricoh, this is true
“especially among younger generations, who are “taking photos with film cameras, developing the film, and then uploading images in digitalized form to social media sites without making final prints”.
Competition
The last reason why the Ricoh and Pentax partnership makes sense is that there’s no existing competition from any of the companies with similar backgrounds as Pentax.
The company was an engine for Japanese film camera inventions from the 1950s. For example, in 1960 they released the revolutionary Pentax Spotmatic, which was one of the first cameras to offer TTL (through-the-lens) metering, so users no longer needed a separate light meter.
Conclusion
It is uncertain whether we will experience the return of the beloved Pentax K1000 SLR in the future, but if you are eager to use 35mm film cameras again, ‘Film Camera Project’ is one to keep an eye out for.
