The analog revival-film, cassettes, vinyl-is well underway. The problem is that they rely far too much on old, second-hand gear.
Pentax is about to launch a new film camera, and this new Fiio Walkman will go on sale next week. And while they're neat, the industry infrastructure isn't there to support building high-quality new cameras. The Fiio uses the same junky playback heads as the cheapest tape players, and most new film cameras are similarly disappointing, barely a step above disposable cameras. Turntables for vinyl records, on the other hand, are as good, or maybe better, than ever. What's going on?
"[T]his revival of analog gear based on pre-existing infrastructure is dependent on all elements of the industry being primed for revolution and innovation," said Andrew Cussens, film, photograph, and sound specialist and owner of FilmFolk. "Consider the recent entrant in the market of retro walkmans: the "Fiio X7. Consumer demand for such devices has reached an unprecedented level, and yet it's hard not to suspect that it's coming at a price, boasting outdated playback heads more typical of low-end cassette players than of quality hi-fi players."
Pentax Half Frame
In 2022, camera company Ricoh announced that its iconic Pentax brand was working on a new film camera. This was huge news because the only newly-manufactured film cameras today are either $5,000+ models from Leica or plastic cameras that are just disposables that let you change films.
"The second-hand camera market remains strong, but the one thing that has been missing from the analog photography business model has been a well-made, modern film camera," said Paul McKay, director of Analogue Wonderland.
Now, the first Pentax film camera is near, and Pentax TKO and product planner Takeo Suzuki have revealed some details in this video. The camera will be a half-frame design, which captures half-sized images onto film for 72 exposures instead of 36 per roll. Half-frame cameras also shoot vertical frames, making them ideal for people used to phone photography. It will also have a lens inspired by the Pentax Espio range from the 1990s.
If Pentax/Ricoh is serious about this and is making a camera of comparable quality to the models we bought when film photography was the only game in town, then this is a really big deal. It's not enough to know how to make a film camera, or a cassette tape player, or a CD player, and so on. You must also have a manufacturing industry that can supply you with the necessary parts to build it.
Brand New Retro
Vinyl and CD players are still plentiful because they never went away. The ongoing resurgence of physical media is just a continuation of the old pre-iPod and pre-streaming. This means that high-quality parts are still being made. There are other advantages, too. Record players are very simple devices: a needle, some magnets at the end of a stick, and a spinning platform. The nuances go way deeper than that, but anyone could build a factory and just make them.
CD players are even easier because CDs are just a way to store digital data, and one cheap, commoditized disc reader is as good as any other. And the digital-to-analog converter that turns it into audio draws on tech still in use everywhere.
Cameras and cassette players, however, are more problematic. They're super complicated in comparison and require parts that just aren't made anymore. Want to buy high-end, audiophile-quality recording and playback heads for a fancy tape player? Good luck finding anybody who still makes them.
Reviving this tech seems like trying to build an iPhone from scratch in your garage 40 years from now. But it's not all gloomy. For one thing, film companies are making classic film emulsions and launching new ones. And vinyl is so popular that the main problem is keeping up with demand.
"The industry infrastructure to support film cameras is in surprisingly good shape-the company behind Ilford films launched their first ever color film in December, Kodak is investing millions in increasing their global capacity for 35mm, and photo labs like Analogue Wonderland and Carmencita are dramatically modernizing the experience of having your films processed," said McKay."The Pentax brand, reputation, and expertise could be exactly what's needed to attract a whole new generation of photographers into film."
Pentax was always an innovative brand, both technologically and in terms of bringing those innovations to a mass market. If anyone can revive the film camera, it's them.
About the author: Charlie Sorrel has been writing about technology, and its effects on society and the planet, for almost two decades. Previously, you could find him at Wired's Gadget Lab, Fast Company's CoExist, Cult of Mac, and Mac Stories. He also writes for his own site, StraightNoFilter.com, Lifewire Tech News, and iFixit.
