New Pentax 17 35mm camera heralds the return of film, with a twist

This is the new Pentax 17. For the past decade or so, film cameras have all but vanished, leaving only plasticky novelties and ‘disposable’ point-and-shoot models on the market. Pentax, a century-old Japanese manufacturer that has been part of Ricoh Imagining since 2011, wants to bring the joy of 35mm film back to the consumer and prosumer market.

The Pentax 17 does many things differently, not least because it’s the first film camera to bear the Pentax name for over two decades. For a start, it’s a ‘half-frame’ 35mm film camera, using standard 35mm film canister but splitting each frame into two images. Instead of 36 shots on a roll, you therefore get 72 or thereabouts, with a corresponding 50 per cent degradation in the density of the film grain.

For analogue aficionados, that grain is what it’s all about. The world might be awash in unwanted second-hand film cameras of varying degrees of quality, but the Pentax name has a longstanding association with quality and getting a box fresh 35mm camera is something many photographers feared would never happen again.

The device is beautifully finished, with analogue controls and a hard-wearing, half-metal body of the type that is seeping back into digital camera design. The Pentax is definitely not for pure point-and-shoot photography – we all have our phones for that – but a tool that’ll reward learning its foibles and strengths.

With a built-in flash but no auto-focus, there are only six modes to hand, each of which will be a fresh master class to the digital generation. Some of the camera’s components have been so long out of production that the Pentax team had to approach retired employees in order to tap into their skillsets.

The availability of 35mm has been steadily increasing over recent years, as cult camera makers like Lomography churn out a steady stream of collectable, esoteric designs. It was also recently announced that Fujifilm was restarting production of its classic C200 and C400 film in a facility in China. The Pentax 17 offers a fresh opportunity to eschew the digital realm.

Pentax 17, more information at Ricoh-Imagining.co.jp, available from Analogue Wonderland, £499.99, AnalogueWonderland.co.uk