When camera designer Takeo Suzuki first suggested to his bosses at Ricoh Imaging that they make a new Pentax film camera, he was met with an awkward silence. Ricoh had acquired the iconic Japanese camera brand from the optical-glass company Hoya Corporation in 2011 but film-camera production had been abandoned in Japan; there hadn’t been a new Pentax model since 2003 and Ricoh’s focus was now fully on digital. “I just remember everyone seemed to freeze,” says Suzuki from the Pentax Clubhouse in Tokyo. Despite his colleagues being unsure, Suzuki managed to win them over. He persuaded them that they would be doing something completely fresh: making a film camera for the modern era, aimed primarily at a young smartphone-literate generation who don’t have a clue how to load film, let alone have the patience to wait for photographs to be developed. “I was one of those people who froze,” says Makoto Iikawa, an engineer. He started out as a sceptic but ended up leading the development team of the Pentax Film Camera Project, which created the Pentax 17, the company’s first film camera in 21 years.

Suzuki and Iikawa were joined by Yoichi Nomura, a lens whizz, and Shinichiro Sanada, whose job was initially to turn dog-eared technical drawings for film cameras into a more usable 3D format. Suzuki had some older cameras in mind for inspiration – the Ricoh Auto Half from the 1960s and the Pentax Espio – but there was no existing mould for this new camera. “We had to start from zero,” says Suzuki.

Suzuki made some key design decisions that set the Pentax 17 apart from other film cameras on the market. Unless turned on its side, it takes pictures vertically, which is good for viewing and sharing on smartphones (Suzuki knew that this would be a must for younger users); it has a simple fixed lens with manual focusing, which offers autonomy without demanding too much technical know-how, and it uses a half-frame film format (it takes two shots per frame, which doubles the number of pictures that can be taken on each roll of 35mm film). “Half-format cameras were big in the 1960s and 1970s when every family only had one camera – they were just more economical,” says Suzuki.

Suzuki was certain about one thing: having a manual advance mechanism. Sanada took advice from the one person at Ricoh who had worked in film cameras and then dedicated himself to perfecting the length of the lever and the satisfying sound as it winds the film forward. “It took a few attempts to get it just right,” he says. The Pentax 17 has blown open the possibilities for film cameras and shown that film photography can co-exist with, and even take inspiration from, smartphone cameras. “You can get the perfect shot with a smartphone but a film camera allows you to explore and mess up,” says Suzuki. “There’s a good synergy in having both.” — L
ricoh-imaging.co.jp

Instant gratification
Ricoh isn’t alone in combining smartphone-inspired features with film. Here are three other models taking instant snaps to the next level.

I-2 Camera, Polaroid
Polaroid has recently introduced the I-2, which has an ultra-sharp lens, manual controls and Bluetooth to link up with printers and photo apps.
polaroid.com

Instax Wide 400, Fujifilm
The Instax Wide 400 is twice the size of the popular Instax Mini. It offers instant high-quality prints and features a manual timer for easy group shots.
instax.com

Lomo’Instant Wide Boston, Lomography
Instant cameras were once limited by a single lens. The Wide Boston comes with three lens attachments, offering flexibility on instant film.
lomography.com