When I decided to get back into film photography four years ago, I didn’t realize that I’d be entering such…interesting times in this little world. Most of this can be blamed on the disruptions caused by the pandemic, which exacerbated already occurring trends. The discontinuation of film stocks was an ongoing thing before March 2020 but went into overdrive as supply chains stretched to the breaking point. The emulsions that remained became scarce and way more expensive, leading me and many others to pounce when a new shipment arrived at a store or online shop. And during this time Nikon discontinued their pro-level F6, the last film SLR. With that departure, the production of new film cameras that weren’t cheap or disposable was left to Leica and perhaps a few of the better Lomography offerings. There was definitely a feeling of dread, of thinking that we may have had a year or two left before film stopped being made.
But there has been a glimmer of hope. Film hasn’t gone away, thankfully. Stocks have stabilized to the point that I no longer stress out when I don’t have a decent back stock. And prices have also come down too. No, they aren’t as cheap as they were in 2019, but I can now get color 35mm film for as low as $8.25.
Perhaps the most exciting thing is that after all the discontinuations, there have been a few new color options released. While black and white has been more secure, with several manufacturers making a wide variety of stocks, color has been more problematic. Since Fuji may or may not be producing its own film anymore, the only reliable maker has been Kodak, and for a while they were struggling to keep up with demand. I’ve seen a few non-Kodak films enter the market, namely Silberra and ORWO. But while I liked the few rolls of Silberra I tried, they were hard to find before the war in Ukraine, and now impossible to get since they are a Russian company. The color film I tried from German maker ORWO was OK, but not my thing.
The color emulsion that has me the most excited is from Harman, the parent company of Ilford. Late last year they introduced Harman Phoenix 200, a brand new color stock. This is a big deal, as Harman through its two companies, Ilford and Kentmere, have only been making black and white film. I shot the first roll on my Olympus OM-1n and wasn’t super impressed, as it’s a pretty grainy emulsion that produces saturated color that’s not true to life. But then I embraced the look and realized that it needs good light for best results. I’ve shot a few more rolls since then, and I’m going to keep on shooting it when I want something a bit different.
When I got back into film I did not know what direction I’d go in: Would I seek out a lo-fi vibe, the aesthetic favored by Lomography, or would I act as if I were in 1994, when film was the only way, and get the best results possible? Eventually, I went with the latter. But I’ve come around to the “weird” films, at least a few of them. I like the results I’ve gotten from Phoenix, and it makes me think a bit differently when I compose a shot–I want to find things that will look a bit dramatic, as that’s what comes out best.
Not everyone is happy with Phoenix. Spend enough time on the Film Internet and you’ll get some puzzled to hostile reactions to this stock. My “favorite” of these bad takes is those who exclaim that Harman could “do better”. But making color film is exceedingly difficult. While there’s been a few upstart film makers over the past decade or so, they’ve either stuck to black and white, which is easier to make, or if they do have color stock, it’s repackaged film from Kodak or mystery stock. I’ve had enough of “new” films that are simply re-rolled Kodak ariel or cinema stock, with varying degrees of quality.1 Relaunched Italian manufacturer Ferrania’s plan to reintroduce their slide film makes a great story, yet they still seem no closer to reaching that goal ten years later. Harman has been making film continuously for almost 150 years, so their struggles make you realize that new color film is no easy feat. But they are working on making better color emulsions. I trust they will. It will take a few years, though.
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The other news that has given me hope is Pentax’s announcement of a new film camera. They’ve been hinting at its development for over a year, but on the first day of March (Pacific Time), they dropped the first concrete information about what it will be. This is a big deal, as most of the Japanese companies who got their start making film cameras dumped production of any new film cameras about twenty years ago when digital became viable. The whole idea of another film camera from Pentax has created quite a bit of excitement.
The first camera is going to be a compact one that’s a hybrid of mechanical (manual advance and rewind, zone focus) and electronic (shutter and exposure control). It’s supposed to be a half-frame camera, meaning the developed image will be about 24mm high and 18mm wide (vs. 24mm wide and 36mm high on a standard “full-frame” 35mm camera).
But because this is 2024, the announcement has seen a fair amount of grumbling too. There’s the inevitable “half frame..really?” and hostility to zone focus. And others wish that they just recreate the Espio Mini or similar later 90’s premium compact. I’m sure others want a mechanical SLR, and I’m sure if Pentax did do that first, if it was a K mount people would complain it’s not M42, and if it was an M42 mount, why isn’t it K mount? For their part, Pentax has a “roadmap”, and an SLR is part of it, but further down the way. A compact camera is a start.
What really got me is some folks somehow concluding that this new Pentax half-frame compact is going to be a “toy” or “disposable” camera. I’m sure these self-styled experts hear “half-frame” and can only think back to the Kodak Ektar H35N from a year or so ago and conveniently forget the quality half-frame cameras from the 1960s, exemplified by the Olympus Pen series. Yes, the Ektar H35N was a plastic cheapie with a plastic lens, fixed focus, and no exposure control beyond turning the flash on and off. But Pentax explicitly states in the video above that the camera will have an electronically controlled lens, automatic exposure, some selection of different modes (like many 90’s compacts), and a “lens inspired by the Espio Mini”, a once-premium compact. How does one hear all that and ascertain that this new camera will certainly be “junk”?
I will admit that when I first heard about Pentax’s film project in 2022, I was mildly interested. But finding out about what they aim to release, I’m pretty excited. This new camera sounds like a split between my Olympus XA2 and Pen EES-2. I like both cameras, but wouldn’t it be cool to have something that splits the difference between the two? I’ve always felt that Olympus should have released an XA series camera in half-frame format (XA 1/2? 😉 ) but never did, as the whole half-frame thing was winding down at that time.2 But perhaps this new camera can right some old wrongs.
Still, the announcement is light on details. I’m hoping that the new Pentax will have a built-in flash (which I don’t think is a big ask), some exposure controls (it would be nice to manually set ISO or the ability to override DX codes), or at least backlight compensation, and a self-timer. As this new camera is supposed to attract new film shooters, I’m guessing they are aiming for a price point of a few hundred dollars.
And if it looks good and the price doesn’t break the bank, I’d love to get my hands on one when it’s released. I know I’ve said that I don’t want any more cameras this year, but a brand new one is different. And hopefully, if the camera is good and the reception is warm, we’ll see more new cameras from Pentax and maybe other makers, too. One can hope. While there are plenty of great used cameras out there, a new film camera will show to the world that there is a future for analog. And that’s a future I want.
- Cine stock has what’s called a Remjet layer, which is there to reduce static as film moves through a projector. If this layer is not removed, it needs to be processed specially, as the Remjet layer will foul up an automated lab machine. Many of these rebadged cine rolls will have that Remjet layer removed by the repackager so it can be processed regularly. But the quality control on that can very, especially with the “new kids”. (I’m looking at you, Candido!) ↩︎
- Though the last of the Olympus Pens, the EF, was introduced in 1981, when both the XA and XA2 were available. It was an auto-exposure compact with a selenium cell surrounding lens (much like earlier Pens or the XA1) and a built in flash. So they were still committed to half-frame cameras, but didn’t see a reason to add a half-frame to the XA series instead. It’s worth noting that the Pen EF is pretty rare, and most examples on eBay come from overseas. I’m guessing few, if any, got imported to the US. ↩︎
Urban Adventure League 
Don’t forget that Mint Camera is making their new Rollei 35, but it will be pricey!!!
Yeah, I heard about that one, but haven’t really been following.