On December 20, 2022, Ricoh Imaging made an announcement that few in the photography community noticed. Owners of the Ricoh and Pentax lines of cameras have announced that they are rethinking making film cameras.
In this video on Ricoh YouTube channel, product designer Takeo Suzuki explains that the company wants to encourage young people to come to film photography. Not only did they find a way to produce film cameras at an affordable price, but also with a solid warranty.
Suzuki then outlined a production roadmap for the four cameras it hopes to produce, starting with a compact film camera, then a high-end compact film camera, an SLR, and finally a camera The SLR is purely mechanical.
As a fan of point-and-shoot cameras, it’s great to hear that Ricoh is considering making a compact camera. So which film camera should Ricoh Pentax bring back? I’ve picked out five cameras that I’d love to see them seriously considered as a starting point for future compact film camera projects.
Pentax Espio Mini / UC-1
Both Pentax and Ricoh have a great legacy of vintage film cameras, so it might come as a surprise that I picked just one Pentax camera on this list: the Pentax Espio Mini, also known as the Pentax UC-1.
Unlike many other Japanese camera companies, Pentax never set the high end goal of you being able to shoot in aperture priority mode. The mid-range Espio Minis are almost as close to a premium model as they appear to be.
It’s a camera that’s easy to see and hold, nice and compact, and features a classic clamshell design. I really like the 32mm f/3.5 lens, the photos I took are nice, sharp and look great. It’s also relatively quiet, which is a bonus.
pros
-
sharp lens
-
Lovely compact design
Defect
Ricoh MF-1
The MF-1 is essentially the Japanese version of the export-only Ricoh 35R released in 1999. It looks big and bulky but weighs less than 10 oz (230 g).
Its specs are enough to make it appealing to any film photographer. It has a fairly wide 30mm f/3.9 lens, and you can shoot in program mode, or you can choose from three different apertures on the front of the lens: f/5.6, f/11 and f/22.
The MF-1 features four-point autofocus as well as manual area focus, along with exposure compensation and exposure compensation. Perhaps the strangest thing about this camera is that it has a built-in flash as well as a hot shoe.
I like this camera so much, I bought one from Japan. I enjoyed spinning my test reel, even though it was an odd beast. Right off the bat, it feels both supple and premium, neither compact nor bulky. I’m looking forward to getting my scans back from the test roll to see how it performs.
pros
- Lots of features for passionate photographers
Defect
Ricoh R1 / R1s
As a lover of compact cameras, I have been interested in the Ricoh R and GR for a long time. Imagine how happy I was when I bought an R1 a few months ago for just $65 at a local camera fair.
The R1 is unbelievably thin and compact, fitting in a jacket or pants pocket without you even realizing it’s there. It’s super light, weighing just 145 g or just under 5 oz. It has an unusual 30mm focal length with a maximum aperture of f/3.5.
It also has a cool party trick: like many 90s cameras, it has a panorama mode, but the R1 is also capable of shooting at the 24mm super-wide focal length in panorama mode only, at wide apertures. degree is set to f/8. I usually never use panorama mode on camera, but I find myself using wide-angle panorama mode quite often. The framing guide in the viewfinder helps you get that poor man’s Xpan feel.
I’ve owned a lot of point-and-shoot cameras, but I haven’t felt this excited in a while. Unfortunately, my love affair with the R1 came to an abrupt halt, as after two rolls it stopped working. I still love the photos I take with it – you can check them out and hear my thoughts on why the Ricoh R1 is the perfect 35mm pocket camera in this video on my site. Matt Loves Camera YouTube Channel.
This encapsulates the problems with electronic cameras manufactured in the 90s and early 2000s: reliability and repairability were the main issues.
pros
- Light, compact and thin
- great lens
- fun to use
Defect
- Not known for reliability — will need to be more durable in the 21st century
Ricoh half automatic
With the price of film increasing dramatically over the past few years, half-frame cameras have become more talked about as an economical way to shoot movies. When it comes to half-frames, usually Olympus is the brand of choice for classic half-frame goodness. I own the Olympus Pen FT, and it’s a great camera, and if I could only keep 10 film cameras, it would be one of them.
But you may not know that Ricoh also has a line of half-frame cameras: the Ricoh Auto Half series. They were originally manufactured in the early 1960s, with some new models appearing in the 1970s. Search the web and you’ll discover that the Auto Half comes in an amazing variety of colors and vintage looks.
Imagine if Ricoh made a 21st century version of this camera with autofocus and auto exposure. With the recent success of the plastic Kodak Ektar half-frame camera, a new Ricoh Auto Half will sell like hotcakes.
pros
- Compact
- cute design
Defect
- The camera will need auto focus and auto exposure to classify it above the more basic film cameras on the market
- Half the frame will deter some photographers
Ricoh GR1V
When we talk about high-end point-and-shoot cameras, the Ricoh GR1V is always mentioned alongside the likes of Contax T3, Minolta TC-1 and Fujifilm Klasse S.
Released in 2001, it was the last in the GR series to feature a 28mm f/2.8 lens. The camera features the same ultra-slim design as the other R and GR series cameras, making it one of the smallest and lightest advanced cameras ever produced.
The GR1V has autofocus, manual focus, and the ability to shoot in both program and aperture-priority modes. It also has some features first for the GR series: the ability to set ISO speed and automatic exposure compensation.
I’ve been looking at this camera for about a year now, but never really pulled the trigger. Given that my first Ricoh R1 suddenly stopped working, I was a bit hesitant to pay that much for one. If Ricoh gets it back into production as their premium compact, it will sell very well.
pros
- High-end compact point-and-shoot
- Many features in a compact design
Defect
- With premium features, there will be a premium price
Final thoughts
If Ricoh Imaging is going to bring any of the cameras on this list back, I’d expect them to start with a more durable Ricoh R1 version. This compact vintage camera has received rave reviews for its ultra-slim form factor and excellent lens. The return of R1 will be a great return for the company and will generate great excitement among cinematographers. Given that the Pentax division is leading this project, perhaps it will be called the Pentax P1?
Looking at the second phase of the roadmap, a new version of the Ricoh GR1V is sure to be the winner and will generate even more excitement. Both the R1 and GR1V have similar form factors, so perhaps components can be shared across the two models, making it easier for production and repair technicians.
I also consider a number of other cameras that could be candidates for Ricoh Pentax to bring back; Watch my video to find out which one. What do you think of the compact film cameras they should bring back?
