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Back in the 1950s when Asahi Optical Company developed the cameras that were branded Pentax it was a very innovative brand, and a major [layer in the market. I think they'd be better off to resurrect one of the successful old designs. They should pay attention to what Leica did with the new M6.

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On 7/15/2023 at 9:01 AM, earleygallery said:

Wow! A film camera with a lever wind film advance mechanism!! Amazing!!!! (maybe he should buy a Ricoh 500 G and ask his team to copy that?).

I wonder what else will be unique about this new camera? Maybe glass elements for a lens instead of just a pinhole?

Sarcasm is the lowest form of humour. 

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On 7/14/2023 at 11:19 PM, kivis said:

I love the Pentax vibe but sometimes they do not follow up on their said plans. I hope they do.

I think they are too deep in for just not follow up on their plans for the film cameras. The reception for this has been big within the analog community. Looking forward to see this, and hopefully I will buy one. It seems that they will first push out an P&S camera, then make further sizes, DSLR etc. 

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  • 2 months later...

A few days from the Salon de la Photo at Paris, fautpaspousserlesiso.com a talk show dedicated to photography and video, interviewed many players in the photo market, including Yazid Belmadi, head of press relations and sales promotion at Ricoh Imaging France. They published the following podcast Thursday September 28th :

https://www.fautpaspousserlesiso.com/episode-2-le-marche-de-la-photo-en-2023/

Below is the translated transcript of Yazid Belmadi's statement (which begins around 1h23min):

"We announced last December the launch of a project on film cameras. Of course, the project is still relevant. It will see the light of day in spring 2024 with the arrival of two products.

Regarding the type of film camera that will be released next spring, it would be, in a first draft, two compacts, high-end compacts by technical characteristics but not in terms of price. They will be relatively affordable. It will be a first draft, two compacts, followed by reflex cameras, of course, which is still the cornerstone of this type of camera.

Since we announced this project in December 2022, we have had a lot of feedback from resellers, potential consumers who have told us of their impatience to see these products arrive. There is apparently a very high demand for film cameras.

Our strategy for quite a few years has been to work with very very very nested products, which we do quite well. To do this, the management in Japan is based on surveys of Japanese consumers, consumers of the brand of course but also beyond.

Just like the GR range, the project to release film cameras is the result of a very extensive consultation with many photo actors and in particular Japanese consumers since, from experience, we know that it works rather well when we make products at the request of consumers, the first concerned."

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1 hour ago, nicci78 said:

 

Just like the GR range, the project to release film cameras is the result of a very extensive consultation with many photo actors and in particular Japanese consumers since, from experience, we know that it works rather well when we make products at the request of consumers, the first concerned."

An interesting observation, and I hope Fuji took note given they regularly cause fainting fits among film users. 

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22 hours ago, nicci78 said:

Not so sure. Looks like Japanese manufacturers make a kind of understanding not to really compete against each other. 
About Monochrome ? 
There was enough for Leica then for Pentax. 
Is there enough for Fuji too ?

For film, I think, rather than cameras. They have discontinued several well-loved films, stopped making colour film altogether for a while (supposedly due to supply chain issues), and were selling generically rebadged Kodak colour film instead of their own emulsions. Acros is still a distinct product, but it's manufactured under contract in the UK by Harman (Ilford). It would be a shame if we see new film cameras from one of the great Japanese names, while losing the last of the unique films made by their equally illustrious compatriots. If anyone at Fuji has the same enthusiam for film that TKO the Pentax guy clearly does, they're not exactly making it obvious.

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  • 2 months later...

My first interchangeable lens camera was a Pentax H1a in 1965. Since this thread just popped up again, interestingly I had just loaded a roll of film in it yesterday, as it still seems to be working fine and I thought I'd use it like I used to: no light meter, just estimate exposure and have fun. I doubt if any new camera they make will have as long a useful life.

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I saw these pictures, here ...

Leica M5 ?

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

with 40cm lens !

Mx ?

or Asahi Pentax ?

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When the shutter of one of my Leicas failed while I was covering an international air show some two decades ago, I told a fellow editor that the camera needed a CLA.

What was a CLA?, he asked.

His response to my explanation was to say that he'd bought a Pentax SLR as a young man, and it was still working OK many decades later, and had never needed to be serviced. He also pointed out that the 'office Nikon' had been used (and probably abused) by many staff journalists over the years, and it too was still going strong. Perhaps I should have chosen a more reliable brand of camera, he suggested.

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