After all the excitement of the launch of the Pentax 17 a couple of years ago, things have gone very quiet in terms of any new 35mm film cameras.
You may remember that Ricoh was promising another Pentax film model, but that looks to be on the back burner for the moment. Yet the volume of 35mm film being processed at commercial labs around the world continues to steadily rise – as do, logically, the sales of both color and B&W film.
Darkroom equipment and materials continue to tick along, too, so shooting film continues to grow in popularity. But what are these film fans actually shooting with?
The Pentax 17 – quite a curiosity in some respects – was primarily designed to appeal to a particular audience who were not only new to film, but new to using a camera rather than a camera phone.
Consequently, interesting though it is, it doesn’t have any appeal to more experienced photographers who either want to return to shooting film or who want to try it for first time. Either way, what’s needed is a more mainstream design – and that’s either a more conventional compact camera or, better still, a 35mm SLR.
The Pentax back-catalog should provide rich pickings for recreating the latter, assuming that there’s basic tooling still available (which the main chassis of the 17 suggests is indeed the case), so why has Ricoh’s film camera project seemingly pressed pause? And, subsequently, is anybody else in a position to make a new 35mm SLR?
It’s no secret that, after being in very high demand initially, sales of the Pentax 17 have slowed. Much of that early demand was driven by the curiosity factor, and people bought the camera because of its historical significance and because it was “something different”.
However, it was always one of those products that would reach the point where everybody who wants one has got one.
My opinion is that Ricoh should have kicked off with a more mainstream 35mm design and followed with the quirky half-frame camera. I suspect the potential customers for the former are far larger in number than whatever unit sales the Pentax 17 has achieved so far.
That said, Ricoh is reportedly happy with how the 17 has sold, and it’s still available with only a smallish reduction in price compared to when it was launched. But would the balance sheet have looked a lot better with a 35mm SLR or a full-frame film compact?
Ricoh says it hasn’t dismissed the idea of a revived 35mm R/GR series compact, which perhaps makes more sense given just how big the line’s following is now courtesy of the last few digital models (including the new Ricoh GR IV). Nevertheless, I still feel what’s really needed now is a 35mm reflex.
It needs to be priced at under $750 body-only and, while a fully mechanical and manual design has some appeal, I think it should have automatic operations – such as exposure, focus and film transport – because that’s what we’re all so used to now. Okay, manual focus is probably fine. But too much nostalgia might just be too much, period.
If you’re a purist, there are plenty of pre-loved classic mechanical cameras available to scratch that itch. But a reasonable degree of automation – backed by a new camera warranty and, of course, with manual overrides – would make jumping into film less of a culture shock.
There is the question of the lens mount, but the ubiquitous K bayonet would seem the obvious choice given the huge reservoir of lenses available, old and new.
Right now, though, we seem to have reached an impasse. An affordable 35mm SLR is what’s needed to kick the film revival up a gear or two, but the current numbers probably look a bit marginal in terms of profitability. I’m convinced that "build it and they will come", but somebody somewhere needs to take a leap of faith.
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