Pentax will release two film cameras in Spring 2024

[KenElevenShadows]

Pentax will release two film cameras in Spring 2024

 

Ricoh revealed that they will release two Pentax compact film cameras in Spring 2024. This is the first time two camera models or a timeline have been mentioned.

 

https://photofocus.com/photography/pentax-will-release-two-film-cameras-in-spring-2024/

 

[KuruPrionz]

Cool, I started with film. Mom had a Minolta X-700 and a couple of lenses and I'd borrow that. 

Over time, I got various Pentax, Praktica, Nikon 35mm cameras and eventually a Mamiya RB67.

I forgot about the Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa, I owned a couple of those and briefly, a Leica M3 with 50mm lens. 

Then I started picking up 120 folders, Zeiss, Voightlander, Kodak and others. Most were made in West Germany with Zeiss or Schneider lenses. 

In college I was a photo major and we could check out 4x5 Sinar cameras with Rodenstock lenses and I even took one photo with an 8x10 view camera. 

 

I kept shooting film even after digital came out because new digital cameras were very expensive. Eventually I could buy behind the curve and things were more reasonable. 

Currently shooting a Canon 6d which is a simple but excellent full frame camera. At this point I'll probably just stay where I am now but I understand why film is still around. 

One of my favorite tricks in college was to shoot Kodak P3200 film at 6400 ISO and then process it in straight Dektol with violent agitation. The grain effect that created was amazing!

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

I find it interesting if not amusing that in all these news releases, the Pentax representatives keep referring to it as a "manual-winding film camera".

 

Is the tactile feel (of the winding) as much a part of the experience as anything else?  I suppose maybe, in a way, for some people maybe it is.  I guess a motor-driven camera isn't cool any longer.  I'll have to get rid of my N90S.

 

On another forum, a few years ago some folks were suggesting Leica needs to build a manually ratchetting digital rangefinder.  They already have a digital that shoots B&W only....  But this could take it to a whole new level.  Crank the lever to "reset" the shutter before taking the next picture!  And for even more film credibility, it could have a knob on the top you have to crank every 36 exposures before you can take any more pictures.  The Leica faithful will snatch them up!    

[KenElevenShadows]

I suppose that's part of the appeal. Now, whether ALL the cameras are manually winding, I suppose that remains to be seen. I suppose there is a certain appeal to it, and that this dovetails right into my "tactile" theory about why so many people are drawn to things like this, modular synths, vinyl records, and more.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

16 hours ago, KenElevenShadows said:

I suppose that's part of the appeal. Now, whether ALL the cameras are manually winding, I suppose that remains to be seen. I suppose there is a certain appeal to it, and that this dovetails right into my "tactile" theory about why so many people are drawn to things like this, modular synths, vinyl records, and more.

Don't forget the all-important fragrance of the new roll of film when you open the plastic canister for the first time.  I need to find a way to duplicate it and make film-scented air fresheners for my car!

[KuruPrionz]

Last night I opened a box full of photography work I'd done using film. We had a fantastic photography department at the community college in Fresno, students from the University used to ask the head of the department if they could come in and use the facilities.

Quality gear, over a dozen Bessler enlargers with Rodenstock lenses, Sinar 4x5 cameras that a student could check out for a semester, again with Rodenstock lenses, several developing rooms for black and white and 2 developing rooms for E-6 and C-41 films. 

I became a lab assistant so I could have access even after I'd graduated. 

 

There is a special quality to a 4x5 film image, no two ways about it. I love my Canon 6d and I have good lenses for it but I do miss the Sinar and the full movements available. 

So it goes... 

[RABid]

A few years ago my great niece wanted the latest, greatest fad for Christmas, one of those little instant development cameras. That fad did not last long.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

13 hours ago, RABid said:

A few years ago my great niece wanted the latest, greatest fad for Christmas, one of those little instant development cameras. That fad did not last long.

 

I think a lot of people bought those cameras (Fuji Instax specifically) and quickly realized how expensive the film would be if they wanted to take a lot of pictures.

 

I tend to think Fuji put all their eggs into the Instax basket, even going so far as to discontinue their B&W film and (later) their color print film, only to contract out their manufacture to Ilford and Kodak respectively, while meanwhile greatly expanding production of Instax film and cameras.  And that is a bubble just waiting to burst.

 

Fuji still makes color slide film, but it is perpetually out of stock everywhere and super expensive now.  Many observers are wondering if they've already shut down the slide film factory and might just be selling off what's left from cold storage.