NewsBy FilmFocus
Prototype Images of Ricoh's New Film Camera Begin Circulating
This is an AI translation of an article originally published in Japanese. If anything reads oddly, the Japanese original is the authoritative version.
Ricoh plans to release a new film camera under the Pentax brand in summer 2024. About a year and a half after the "Film Camera Project" was announced in December 2022, product development appears to have reached its final stage, and images that seem to show a prototype have started circulating online. The images come from @独立摄影师联合会 的个人主页 - 微博, and the original post says that "an official announcement is approaching."
The images show a fixed prime lens (25mm F3.5), a prominent "17" logo, a viewfinder positioned directly above the lens, and a built-in flash. A lever that looks like a film crank is also visible at the top left. The officially announced specifications so far are as follows:
- 35mm compact film camera
- Half-frame format that shoots two frames per standard 35mm frame, designed primarily for vertical compositions
- Manual film advance via a winding lever and manual rewind via a rewind crank
- Manually adjustable zone focusing
We're looking forward to the announcement, expected this summer.