So which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did Pentax put their planned film camera project on hold first, causing lead Pentax 17 designer Takeo "TKO" Suzuki to leave the company, or did TKO's decision to depart cause Ricoh to pause the film camera program?
All we know is that both things have happened.
A picture of TKO (right) from his Instagram account. He's with the eminent Japanese photojournalist Shisei Kuwabara, best known for documenting the dreadful effects of mercury pollution at Minamata for 40 years.
Here's the full text of his announcement on his Instagram page:
Dear all camera fans from TKO
Hello everyone, this is TKO. Today I have an announcement to make to you all. I have decided to leave Ricoh Imaging: the beloved and glorious brand PENTAX in March. Since joining the company, I have been involved in the design and planning of many digital cameras, and especially in the past few years, in the world of analog cameras. And it has been an irreplaceable asset and happiness for me to have been able to interact with many people involved and fans. I have been very busy for several years, so I would like to take a break for a while. I would like to make time to read books, draw pictures, of course take photos, meet many people and gain a lot of knowledge. I still need a lot of knowledge to do what I want to do, and no matter how much time I have, it is not enough. However, I have a limited amount of time. That is why I have planted many analog seeds called "friends" around the world. I sincerely hope that someday those seeds will grow and this culture will spread. And I believe that the project will become an unstoppable trend and spread. I still have the opportunity to meet many legendary engineers and photographers and hear their valuable stories. This is not something that should be kept by me alone. It is a valuable asset that should be shared with many people. I hope to continue to create opportunities to spread the knowledge I have gained there and the ideas I have. I hope that photography culture will continue to grow and I would like to continue to cooperate.
I believe in the passion of young people. They will always take on new challenges with dreams and hopes in their hearts. That is why I hope to always be someone who cooperates and supports such young people.
I used to be a backpacker traveling around the world. So I intend to continue traveling and studying around the world. If I visit your country, I would love to meet you! I offer my gratitude and love to all camera fans. It's time for photography!
See you again!
I will continue the challenge too!
Always your friend
TKO: TaKeO SUZUKI
Here's a link to three more pictures of Takeo Suzuki. I asked for permission to show one of these here, and will modify the post if I get a reply.
Meanwhile, Stephen Dowling at Kosmo Foto, a site devoted to the furtherance of film photography, secured a statement from Ricoh Imaging Europe about TKO's departure which casts doubt on the future of Ricoh's Pentax film project. It reads in part, "On the business side, film cameras currently play a smaller role than our established GR line. Because this is our first new film camera in more than 15 years, we need time to gather feedback, meet with customers, and learn what they appreciated—or felt was missing—before making decisions on future film products." You can read the entire statement at Kosmo Foto.
Half-frame might have been the wrong product to lead with, although it was fine if that's what they thought would sell. Perhaps they should have led with the highest-level 35mm camera they intended to make and then filled in the lesser models in its wake. Cf. "The Remarkable Persistence of 24x36." Never underestimate 24x36.
But to get back to the subject, I think we can draw reasonable conclusions from the information we have, and it's a sad but perhaps predictable situation. If you want a Pentax 17 in your collection or for historical interest, don't wait too long.
Mike
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Featured Comments from:
Tex Andrews: "We've had a bunch of discussion over at The Pentax Forums (I'm a forums moderator over there) about TKO leaving and what it may mean. One piece of the puzzle that's come up is that Ricoh recently offered a buy-out package for employees; so this may have something to do with the timing.
"That said, there's been a significant amount of frustration in the Pentax community about the slowness of updates and new products, and the opacity of the communication from Ricoh/Pentax. It doesn't contrast well with Sony, Sigma, or Fuji, for instance. And while all of us accepted Pentax becoming 'niche' or 'boutique' (this latter term was even floated by Pentax several years ago with respect to its new design and development methodologies), now we are getting restive over what seems to be timidity on their part with respect to rolling new things out (apparently there was a 645Z successor well into development that got stalled, for instance). The 17 and the film project aren't that old by Pentax standards, but if they are stalled then that feeds into the feeling about the digital side, where the K-3 III monochrome was the last notable product (and a very good one!) with no inkling that there's anything else on the way."
Niels: "Tex said: 'One piece of the puzzle that's come up is that Ricoh recently offered a buy-out package for employees; so this may have something to do with the timing.' I have been involved in downsizing a section of a Japanese company. The labour rules of Japan do not allow specifying who are offered the package and who are not (within the section doing the downsizing). The natural consequence is that the resourceful employees are more likely to take the offer and those that may not feel as confident that they can easily find another job will refuse it. This is really a last resort tool when the company must reduce the employee count at all cost. It is like peeing in the pants to stay warm."
Did I miss somewhere that Ricoh's statement was intended to mean that they aren't going to continue producing the Pentax 17? When I hear "pause the project" it sounds to me like they mean that they're not actively developing a second film camera. The Film Project was always positioned to be a series of cameras, not just one. I think the 17 will continue to be made - and it's sold quite well, as these things go.
Posted by: Andrew L | Wednesday, 02 April 2025 at 01:05 PM
Half-frame definitely turned me off. Plenty decent 35mm film cameras still on the second-hand market
Posted by: Richard Tugwell | Wednesday, 02 April 2025 at 01:36 PM
There is no chicken and egg causality dilemma. The egg came first. Something that was not a chicken laid an egg that had a chicken in it, because that is how evolution works.
Voltz
Posted by: V.I. Voltz | Wednesday, 02 April 2025 at 05:00 PM
>>secured a statement from Ricoh Imaging Europe about TKO's departure which casts doubt on the future of Ricoh's Pentax film project.<<
Nope. That's the same thing they've been saying since the INTRODUCTION of the Pentax 17. In many ways Pentax is the most Japanese of the camera companies. They never say Yes or No. They always say they are thinking about it and doing research. And they are. The problem is we all want to treat them like a Western company. Despite TKO's Film Project videos, no one had any idea about the 17 or that it was half-frame until it was announced. And, as you point out, the Monochrome the previous year was an even bigger surprise. We'll know what Pentax is doing when they do it. Till then, if we want to interpret hints, allegations and things left unsaid, best to do that from a Japanese perspective, rather than acting like it's a US company with a social media department.
Posted by: Chris Feola | Wednesday, 02 April 2025 at 05:31 PM
Cautiously optimistic that Pentax will continue once they do more research. There are a few moderating factors, the most important being 1) what people are willing to pay for a film camera and 2) general public awareness.
I don't know how Pentax is reaching out or how they will collect their data, but I have a few observations of my own with my time with the camera:
In the US, very few people outside of trendy photography circles are even aware that film is "a thing"; that it is available, and processable. I received many comments from strangers about my "cool camera", and about half were surprised that it was a film camera and that film was being made. In one interaction, a person asked "how much did that cost?" to which I replied with "first, what do you think?". They thought it was worth $1k (!!!).
So although I'm presenting a sample size of one, that tells me one of two things: That the Pentax 17 is potentially under-priced, despite all the groaning online. And by that, I think there is room for a more premium camera with a fully metal chassis, metal knobs, etc. etc. In other words, a true successor to the film GR with a manual winder, shutter/mode dial, and $995-ish price tag.
The other thing is marketing. Fuji has done this well with instax and its X100 line. There is almost no awareness of Pentax or this project.
Another angle of this is the community: Message board after message board is full of complaints (too expensive, half-frame doesn't have enough resolution, etc.). Prospective curious buyers see this and balk.
Yet, we don't often hear about how APSC "doesn't have enough resolution" in the digital space. The 18mm lens in the Ricoh GR is legendary for its sharpness on APSC. The lens in the P17 is similar and greatly out-resolves the film. The images have absolutely incredible real-world resolution and that lens surpasses anything that was available in consumer cameras in the 90s by far. The proof is in the images.
Pentax possibly missed an opportunity by not marketing this aspect of the lens. This changes the conversation from "yeah 72 frames is nice, but they're low-res throwaway snaps", to "wow, these 72 frames actually rival what I get out of my 35mm SLR!"
Now to keep this balanced, I do have some issues with the camera: Was it really necessary to segregate program from slow program shutter speeds? And double that for program flash and slow program flash? I would have rather seen a flash on/of switch. Put "Auto" (which locks the lens focus!!) on the lens focus selector (so that the clear association is made). Add exposure-lock to the half-press. The self-timer port should have been a flash port (more compact than a hot shoe, add a self-timer to the mode dial in place of "auto").
All that said, I love the results from the 17 and I will keep shooting mine. I hope some version of the film project continues on.
Posted by: Roman | Wednesday, 02 April 2025 at 06:05 PM
No matter what Ricoh/Pentax says, they don’t have enough money to follow through on the analog project - nor much else. Pentax DSLRs are not selling in any real volume, lenses for them are being discontinued and it takes many years for Ricoh to put out even iterations of the GRIII. As a long-time Pentaxian and former GRII owner it gives me no satisfaction to say that I believe the brands are not long for the world.
Posted by: Steve Biro | Wednesday, 02 April 2025 at 08:35 PM
@Steve Biro: Do not despair! I have good news for you. From parent company Ricoh's most recent quarterly report:
On 13th February Ricoh published their financial results for the first nine months (1st April - 31st December) of FY2024. References to the camera business are again few but positive and, with one exception (see the end of this message), exactly the same as in the first half of FY2024.
Quarterly Report - Third Quarter ended December 31, 2024 (Results for the Period from April 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024)
"The camera business performed well due to the contribution of new products, resulting in increased revenue and profit."
These new products are the following:
Pentax WG-90 (announced at the end of the same period the year before)
Ricoh GR III HDF and GR IIIx HDF
Pentax WG-1000
Pentax WG-8
Pentax 17
Ricoh G900 II and G900SE II
Consolidated Results for Nine Months Ended December 31, 2024 (PowerPoint-type presentation; see page #29 in Appendix)
"Smart Vision [this is the Theta business]: Strengthened business-to-business operations and enhanced profitability."
"Robust(1) sales of cameras." "Cameras continued to perform solidly."
Like Canon, Ricoh Imaging -- which includes Pentax -- is a small part of a larger office products company. Both are struggling with the downturn in office products such as printers and copiers in the wake of the Work From Home movement. But for Ricoh at least, cameras are a financial bright spot.
Hope that helps!
Cjf
Posted by: Chris Feola | Wednesday, 02 April 2025 at 11:40 PM
I bought a Pentax 17 last summer, and have been loving it ever since.
I carry it with me all the time, and often choose it over fancier cameras in my dry cabinet.
The image quality is better than people who have never tried it imagine. It’s fun to shoot. I hope Pentax carries on. I’m glad I got mine when I did.
Posted by: John Bennett | Thursday, 03 April 2025 at 07:45 AM
I might be unnecessarily repeating what others have said but I feel the need to reiterate: any talk of the project being paused (either as a result of the Pentax 17 performance or the departure of TKO, or a combination) is pure conjecture. It's not supported in Ricoh's statement.
Posted by: Jules | Thursday, 03 April 2025 at 09:07 AM
How can you speculate on the future of the Pentax 17 without noting today's announcement of US tariffs on Vietnamese products? The rate jumped from 10% to 46%! If the past tariff accounted for $49 of the camera's $496 list price, the free trade price would have been $447. Add a 46% tariff and the US price becomes $652. Will the camera still be ranked a Top Seller at B&H for that price? Maybe- if you're getting into film, you know the costs will keep coming.
Ricoh/Pentax's other top seller, the GR, is also made in Vietnam.
Always on shaky ground, Pentax has so little US market share that it may be less affected by these cruel tariffs than some bigger brands. I'd be just as concerned for OM Systems, which had been growing its marketing and presence here with cameras and lenses made in Vietnam.
Posted by: John McMillin | Thursday, 03 April 2025 at 07:33 PM
Based on my experience with the Pentax 17 I hope that Ricoh/Pentax continues with their project as it may be something no-one expects and a lot of people love. When I sold my Contax G2 and Mamiya 7 cameras more than 15 years ago I never thought I would shoot film again (maybe I would have if I hadn’t been so stupid as to sell the Mamiya). So color me surprised when the Pentax 17 came out and after reading all the reviews I not only bought one, used it, but found it perfect as a film point-and-shoot where I wasn’t focused on image quality but on fun and simplicity (apart from exp comp the only choices are basically zone focus, wide-open aperture and whether you want the camera to use flash). And half-frame! Perfect for zone focus as it’s a 25mm lens (with 38mm-e coverage). So yeah, I hope there’s another Pentax film camera that’s not trying to compete with the used market but something different.
Posted by: Bernard Schneider | Tuesday, 08 April 2025 at 07:25 PM