It’s no secret that Pentax is working on a film camera. They’ve actually made quite a big deal of it, with the launch of a video series documenting some of its development. At least, the parts of its development they’re currently prepared to post publicly. The first announcement that Pentax is pursuing film again came in December 2022. In May of this year, we saw an update that suggested the first film camera would be some form of compact.

Now, although there’s no new video yet, Pentax is showing off a prototype of the new camera at an exhibition in Japan. The PENTAX Film Project Exhibition, which runs til the end of July, is being run by Ricoh themselves. As with the videos, though, they’re not showing off all the details just yet. It’s encased in an acrylic display stand, with the winding lever and part of the grip being the only visible parts.

The camera is partially wrapped inside paper towels inside an open box emblazoned with Pentax branding. Placed on a pedestal, it’s covered by an acrylic box preventing physical access to the camera. While the paper towels do cover most of the camera, it is possible to see the film advance lever which lets you arm the camera to fire the next shot.

As you can see, there isn’t a lot on show. And what we can see appears to be a prototype based on existing and old components, judging from the corrosion on some of them. So, whether or not this is a working prototype or not is unknown. On the wall behind the display containing the camera is a schematic diagram showing what appears to be the workings of the winding mechanism.

The camera is reported to be on show until the end of the month at the PENTAX Film Project exhibition. It’s open from 10am until 9pm but the prototype is only on display during Saturdays, Sundays and holidays when staff are present.

There’s still no news about when the mystery camera will be officially announced. We don’t even know if this is a recent prototype. They might be several iterations ahead of the one that’s actually on display by now. But if you want to catch up on the story so far, be sure to watch the project’s initial launch video, as well as the second video where they reveal more about what’s coming first and possible future plans.

[via dc.watch]