Pentax: Two new compact film cameras planned - Pentax 17 announced June 2024

Henning Serger · Sep 30, 2023

Further positive news from the Pentax film camera project:
Due to an official Ricoh/Pentax statement, the film camera project makes significant progress. So much that it is planned to introduce even two compact film cameras already next year.
So far they have only talked about one compact camera to start with. Now it seems they will start with two.
My assumption:
The cameras will be "twins": Same body, but with different lenses, e.g. one with a normal focal length, the other one with a wide angle lens.

Here the details known so far:

Pentax film camera project: interview with Ricoh Imaging Europe - PentaxForums.com

A few days away from the Salon de la Photo in Paris (5 - 8 October) Fautpaspousserlesiso.com ("don't push the isos dot com" ), a French-speak

www.pentaxforums.com

I wish you all a nice weekend ,
Best regards,
Henning

4season · Sep 30, 2023

Wow! I wonder if it will be available in Japan in time for "Golden Week", which begins in late April?

If the premium compact turns out to be a Ricoh GR, I predict pandemonium

Pioneer · Sep 30, 2023

I have been stashing a little cash each week since I first heard this rumor.

removedacct3 · Sep 30, 2023

Pioneer said:
I have been stashing a little cash each week since I first heard this rumor.

... and you're not the only one!

Alan Johnson · Sep 30, 2023

The Pentax PC35af cost $89.95 in 1983, that is $277 in 2023 dollars. But they sold a lot in '83.

Pentax PC35 AF - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

camera-wiki.org

Ernst-Jan · Sep 30, 2023

Great news, because, to my understanding, in the last update Pentax gave, it was still uncertain if they would make a camera at all.

Lachlan Young · Sep 30, 2023

A manual wind GR1v evolution would not be a massive surprise - but will likely do very well indeed.

Henning Serger · Sep 30, 2023

Directly from the responsible engineer, who is leading the design and construction team (with English subtitles):

Best regards,
Henning

Henning Serger · Sep 30, 2023

By the way:
Camera manufacturer Mint in HongKong (very well known for their instant film cameras) is also intensively working on a 35mm film compact camera.

Best regards,
Henning

cmacd123 · Sep 30, 2023

Henning Serger said:
Directly from the responsible engineer, who is leading the design and construction team (with English subtitles):

Best regards,
Henning

thanks Henning. that is the video that they posted a couple of months ago. my fingers are crossed.

armadsen · Sep 30, 2023

4season said:
I wonder if it will be available in Japan in time for "Golden Week", which begins in late April?

I will likely be back in Japan around that time. What a treat it would be to be able to bring home a brand new Pentax film camera!

In any case, I plan to buy one to support the project if nothing else. I actually don’t have a true point and shoot (Rollei 35 is as close as I have) so it’d be a nice addition to my gear anyway.

Agulliver · Oct 1, 2023

I hope the translation is correct. The original French refers to "premier jet" which could be translated in several ways to English. It's not so long ago the Japanese end of Pentax, where the work is actually taking place, were saying that the project was ongoing but there was no guarantee they'd ever release anything to market

What's a reasonable price for a decent compact film camera today? The new Polaroid with a degree of manual control is something like £600. Which, allowing for inflation, is about that the SX-70 cost when new. I just hope people aren't hoping for a 200 dollarpound camera, because I fear there will be a huge disappointment when something costing twice that amount is released. When that's realistically the minimum a decent quality 35mm compact camera might sell for.

4season · Oct 1, 2023

Agulliver said:
What's a reasonable price for a decent compact film camera today? The new Polaroid with a degree of manual control is something like £600. Which, allowing for inflation, is about that the SX-70 cost when new. I just hope people aren't hoping for a 200 dollarpound camera, because I fear there will be a huge disappointment when something costing twice that amount is released. When that's realistically the minimum a decent quality 35mm compact camera might sell for.

Nevertheless, that's exactly what I expect: Prices for consumer electronics tend to be deflationary.

Lachlan Young · Oct 1, 2023

Agulliver said:
What's a reasonable price for a decent compact film camera today? The new Polaroid with a degree of manual control is something like £600.

The general impression Pentax are giving is that it's supposed to be 'high end', so upper 3-figures at a minimum I reckon. It'll also boil down to how much of it is mechanical or purely electronic.

Pioneer · Oct 1, 2023

If it starts to get up around Leica territory I may have to save my pennies a little longer than I thought.

But seriously, if Pentax does bring a brand-new 35mm camera to the market I WILL be supporting their efforts. We need someone out there besides Leica, some reusable disposables, Holga and a few Lomo brands or pinholes selling something new. I'm fine if it is mid-market as long as it is supported by a Pentax warranty for at least a year.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if you want something new all we have right now is somewhere in the stratosphere or down in the sub-basement. I know Pentax is not Canon or Nikon in the public's mind anymore but they still have a reputable and well known name brand.

4season · Oct 1, 2023

Ah, I overlooked the part about "two compact cameras with high-end features, but relatively affordable price". Perhaps a feature set like Yashica T4's would qualify as such, with one model being equipped with a prime lens, and the other, a zoom. And there's also potential for a couple of 2023-esque details such as charging via USB-C. Maybe I should buy a few extra rolls of color negative film before these things are officially launched.

Agulliver · Oct 2, 2023

4season said:
Nevertheless, that's exactly what I expect: Prices for consumer electronics tend to be deflationary.

Everything Pentax has said points to these not really being simply "consumer electronics". There's a lot of mechanical work going on. These will be more electromechanical devices, with the mechanical parts completely designed and built from scratch.

Anyone expecting a $200 camera is just setting themselves up for disappointment. That is not, and never was, possible. Unless you want a slightly improved Holga.

StanMac · Oct 2, 2023

Pentax made a slew of 35mm P&S cameras that were considered compact and they all had (mild WA to short Tele) zooms. Why produce two cameras, each with a fixed lens, to cover that small range. Simplicity in the mechanics is the only thing that comes to my mind. From a consumer perspective, it would seem foolish to buy two expensive cameras just to have those focal length options. I would think a rangefinder camera about the size of the Rollei 35 or Petri Color 35 with a 4x zoom would be the ticket that more people would be interested in owning.

Stan

armadsen · Oct 2, 2023

Among the P&S lines with both prime and zoom variants, e.g. Olympus Mju/Stylus, the prime models command a significant premium today.

I’d rather a faster, optically better prime than a zoom, and would choose that were it an option with this hypothetical new Pentax.

mshchem · Oct 2, 2023

I just hope this is cool. Odds are that it will be. USB charging .???

cmacd123 · Oct 3, 2023

almost all the compacts were made with a Motor drive. the plan is apperntly to have a lever wind. that would be some clean sheet design.

mshchem · Oct 3, 2023

cmacd123 said:
almost all the compacts were made with a Motor drive. the plan is apperntly to have a lever wind. that would be some clean sheet design.

Lever wind can be nothing but a faux wind with a switch. That would be a mistake IMHO.

Sirius Glass · Oct 4, 2023

Great news. Nice to see that there is enough interest in film to have new cameras introduced.

Agulliver · Oct 4, 2023

Pentax have made it *very* clear that this is a completely new design. The mechanical lever wind (no faux button) has been designed from scratch with input from retired film camera engineers because the current staff didn't know how to design one.

It's also pretty pointless us lot saying what we want. This camera isn't aimed at us. It's not aimed at people who have been shooting film for years and who already have several cameras. It's aimed at teens and twenty-somethings who are buying their first film camera and want something decent.

Whether it will be USB charging will depend to some extent on how much in the way of electronics it has. Reading between the lines it sounds like this will be an auto focus, auto exposure camera so it will have electronics. Plenty of batteries are still available but USB charging via a battery in common with digital compacts might be one way to go. The lever wind has been justified in part on the feeling of satisfaction one gets from winding on after taking a shot. It's also something that people see and instantly know for sure that you're shooting film. That doesn't mean that they want to make the rest of the functions deliberately difficult to use or to build.

4season · Oct 4, 2023

mshchem said:
USB charging .???

Pure speculation on my part, but just one example of how 2024's film camera need not simply be a rehash of 1994's. Lest we forget, that's a span of 30 years, dating back to the era of VHS video cassettes, when fewer than 1/4 of USA households had a computer.

Pentax: Two new compact film cameras planned - Pentax 17 announced June 2024

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