Retro cameras are works of art – and the Etsy shop turning cameras into wooden works of art is back at it again, only this time with a handful of retro (and one non-retro!) Pentax cameras.
The 1:1 replica Asahi Pentax Spotmatic SP and Pentax 17 are works of art produced by US-based Etsy store CameraTin. They feature all the details of the real models, including being able to remove the lens on the Spotmatic – how cool is that!
CameraTin has previously also recreated wooden lookalikes of retro cameras from other brands, including Nikon.
The Pentax models from CameraTins aren't new announcements, but the price has recently dropped. Both the Ashai Pentax Spotmatic SP model and the Pentax 17 variant are now available from Etsy for $39 – previously, I've seen the cameras as high as $119. The Florida-based Etsy shop will also ship to other countries, though international orders lack the free shipping. In the UK, the wood cameras cost £36.10, Australia AU$55.27, and Canada CA$55.78, plus shipping costs.
Aside from a real film camera, I can’t think of a better gift for a retro photographer, or any photographer for that matter, and can see one of these wooden replicas sitting at my editing desk.
So what about the real models these replicas depict, then? The Pentax Spotmatic SP is a fully-manual 35mm SLR film camera that was released when Pentax was still going by the name of Asahi Optical Company. It had a reputation for being both intuitive and affordable, selling over 4 million units between 1964 and 1977.
The highly successful Spotmatic SP popularized stop-down Through-the-Lens (TTL) metering, a metering system enabling the camera to gauge exposure with the aperture already stopped down to the final taking diaphragm.
The Pentax 17 was released in 2024, making it the first film camera from Pentax in over 20 years. The compact 35mm half-frame design captures smaller exposures, enabling 72 vertical images per 36-exposure roll. It features a retro metal/plastic build, a fixed 25mm f/3.5 lens, zone-focusing, and autoexposure.
My colleague, Sebastian Oakley, rates the Pentax 17 as “the best half-frame camera you can buy new,” and it nabbed the number one spot on our list of the best film cameras.
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