Ricoh Imaging has apparently made enough progress in its Pentax-branded compact film camera project that it was able to unveil a prototype during a magazine interview published last month.
In an interview with the Japanese magazine Barfout!, Pentax’s product development manager Makoto Iikawa and product planner Takeo Suzuki unveiled the prototype during an interview with actor and model Riko, who is a film photography enthusiast.
“We have been working on this project for about a year, and as a matter of fact, today we brought a prototype that is currently in the review stage. We would love to hear your honest feedback on it!” Iikawa said.
The interview was the first time it was confirmed the project was advanced enough that a prototype had been constructed. Since it was unveiled in late 2022, Ricoh Imaging (which owns the Pentax brand) has released several updates on the project, but as recently as October drew short of confirming when or even if the camera would go ahead.
While no images of the camera were released as part of the interview, there are some details that come to light during the interview – such as the manual winding lever Ricoh Imaging said would be part of the design earlier in 2023.
“When building a new camera, we had to bring up old blueprints and assemble it from scratch, but it was difficult in many ways, as parts would get stuck and not work,” Suzuki said. “With the advice of former employees, and sometimes a lot of angry words (laughs), we have finally made it this far.”
The interview saw Riko talking about how she had come to film and some of the challenges shooting film in the 21st Century – such as broken cameras that are difficult to fix.
“With used cameras, there are times when they inevitably break and become unusable, right? I think there is a part of us that is hesitant to invest in it because it is an expensive purchase,” she said.
Ricoh imaging has been the first Japanese camera maker to divert resources into a new film camera project since the rebound in film sales
“If we could release a new camera that comes with a full warranty from the manufacturer, that would eliminate that problem,” Suzuki replied. “If this prototype that is currently in the review stage goes well, we are hoping to get it on the market as soon as possible.”
Ricoh Imaging has been the first Japanese camera maker to divert resources into a new film camera project since the rebound in film sales; if the compact camera ends up coming to market in 2004, it will be the first Pentax film for nearly 20 years.
The proposed Pentax compact comes as Hong Kong-based photography brand MiNT Camera has also unveiled a 35mm film camera project – the prototype camera appears to be heavily influenced by the innovative Rollei 35 model first released in the 1960s. The camera could make it into production as soon as this year, MiNT Camera has said.
In the last 18 months, Leica – the last legacy camera manufacturer still making film models – announced the return of the M6 M-mount rangefinder, which was first released in 1986.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
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