The Konica C35 AF, released in November 1977, was the first mass-produced autofocus camera. [1] [2] [3]
The Konica C35 AF, released in November 1977, was the first mass-produced autofocus camera. [1] [2] [3]
This was an autofocus version of the Konica C35 Automatic camera. It featured a fixed-aperture Hexanon 38 mm f/2.8 autofocus lens with a leaf shutter, a built-in electronic flash, and an automatic exposure system to select the appropriate shutter speed. The film advance was mechanical.
The shutter was electronically controlled with three speeds, 1/60, 1/125, and 1/250. The exposure system could handle film speeds from ISO 25 to ISO 400 and the built in flash had a guide number of 14 at ISO 100 covering distances from 1.1m to 5m.
This camera was the first mass-produced camera with built in autofocus and used a system with an electronic version of a split-image rangefinder.
A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin lens reflex and rangefinder cameras, the viewed image could be significantly different from the final image. When the shutter button is pressed on most SLRs, the mirror flips out of the light path, allowing light to pass through to the light receptor and the image to be captured.
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten. It made the first integrated autofocus 35 mm SLR camera system. In 1931, the company adopted its final name, an acronym for "Mechanism, Instruments, Optics, and Lenses by Tashima".
Konica was a Japanese manufacturer of, among other products, film, film cameras, camera accessories, photographic and photo-processing equipment, photocopiers, fax machines and laser printers, founded in 1873. The company merged with Japanese peer Minolta in 2003, with the new company named Konica Minolta.
The Minolta MAXXUM 7000 35 mm SLR camera was introduced in February 1985. It was the first camera to feature both integrated autofocus (AF) and motorised film advance, the standard configuration for later amateur and professional single lens reflex cameras.
The Nikon F6 is a 35 mm film single-lens reflex camera body manufactured by Nikon between 2004 and 2020. It is the sixth film camera in Nikon's line. The Nikon F6 was designed by Nikon and was manufactured at their Sendai plant.
The Nikon F-801 is a 35mm SLR released worldwide in June 1988 and manufactured until 1991, when it was replaced by the improved Nikon F-801s, which in turn was discontinued in early 1995. Although its autofocus mechanism is slow in comparison to modern standards, it was an improvement on Nikon's first attempt at an autofocus SLR - the F-501, and proved to be reliable and durable, typical of Nikon's cameras.
The Nikon F3 was Nikon's third professional single-lens reflex camera body, preceded by the F and F2. Introduced in March 1980, it had manual and semi-automatic exposure control whereby the camera would select the correct shutter speed. The Nikon F3 series cameras had the most model variations of any Nikon F camera. It was also the first of numerous Nikon F-series cameras to be styled by Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, and to include a red stripe on the handgrip – a feature that would later become a signature feature of many Nikon cameras.
In photography, a shutter is a device that allows light to pass for a determined period, exposing photographic film or a photosensitive digital sensor to light in order to capture a permanent image of a scene. A shutter can also be used to allow pulses of light to pass outwards, as seen in a movie projector or a signal lamp. A shutter of variable speed is used to control exposure time of the film. The shutter is constructed so that it automatically closes after a certain required time interval. The speed of the shutter is controlled either automatically by the camera based on the overall settings of the camera, manually through digital settings, or manually by a ring outside the camera on which various timings are marked.
The Nikon F-501 was the first successful autofocus SLR camera sold by the Nikon Corporation beginning in 1986. A nearly identical, albeit manual focus version, called the Nikon F-301 was also available. Subsequent models in the consumer line included the Nikon F-401, Nikon F-601, and Nikon F-801 / F-801s.
The Olympus OM System was a line of 35mm single-lens reflex cameras, lenses and accessories sold by Olympus between 1972 and 2002. The system was introduced by Olympus in 1972. The range was designed by Yoshihisa Maitani, chief designer for Olympus, and his staff; OM stands for Olympus Maitani.
Hi-Matic was the name of a long-running series of 35 mm cameras made by Minolta. The original Hi-Matic of 1962 was the first Minolta camera to feature automatic exposure and achieved a small degree of fame when a version was taken into space by John Glenn in 1962.
The EOS-1N is a 35mm single lens reflex (SLR) camera body produced by Canon. It was announced by Canon in 1994, and was the professional model in the range, superseding the original EOS-1. The camera was itself superseded by the EOS-1v in 2000.
The Minolta A-mount camera system was a line of photographic equipment from Minolta introduced in 1985 with the world's first integrated autofocus system in the camera body with interchangeable lenses. The system used a lens mount called A-mount, with a flange focal distance 44.50 mm, one millimeter longer, 43.5 mm, than the previous SR mount from 1958. The new mount was wider, 49.7 mm vs. 44.97 mm, than the older SR-mount and due to the longer flange focal distance, old manual lenses were incompatible with the new system. Minolta bought the autofocus technology of Leica Correfot camera which was partly used on the a-mount autofocus technology. The mount is now used by Sony, who bought the SLR camera division from Konica Minolta, Konica and Minolta having merged a few years before.
The Pentax ME F was an amateur level, interchangeable lens, 35 mm film, single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. It was manufactured by Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. of Japan from November 1981 to 1984. The ME F was a heavily modified version of the Pentax ME-Super, and a member of the Pentax M-series family of SLRs. It was the first mass-produced SLR camera to come with an autofocus system.
The Konica Hexar RF is a 35 mm rangefinder camera which was sold by Konica. It was introduced to the market on 13 October 1999. and subsequently discontinued some time before the end of 2003. The camera used the "Bayonet Konica KM-mount", a copy of the Leica M-mount, thus sharing interchangeable lenses with those designed for Leica cameras and others compatible with them. The Hexar RF has a combined rangefinder/viewfinder modeled on that of Leica cameras, a similar body shape and size - and so is similar to Leica M-mount cameras in many aspects of operation.
The Konica Hexar is a 35 mm fixed-lens, fixed focal length autofocus camera which was produced through the 1990s. It was introduced to the market in 1993. While styled like a rangefinder camera, and intended for a similar style of photography, in specification it is more like a larger "point and shoot" camera.
The Canon EOS 100 is a 35 mm autofocus SLR camera introduced by Canon in 1991. It was marketed as the EOS Elan in North America. It was the second camera in the EOS range to be targeted at advanced amateur photographers, replacing the EOS 650.
The Minolta 9000 AF is a professional Single-lens reflex autofocus camera, introduced by Minolta in August 1985. It was both Minolta's and the world's first professional autofocus SLR. It was called Minolta Maxxum 9000 in the US and Minolta α-9000 in Japan.
The Minolta 9xi was, when released in 1992, an advanced 35 mm single-lens reflex camera design. According to the company, it incorporated the world's "fastest autofocus system", had a maximum shutter speed of 1/12000 of a second, and had a 14-zone metering system. It has a shooting speed of 9000 without the additional motor pack, a shutter speed of 1/12000 of a second due to carbon-reinforced shutter blades, a pentaprism, and it is compatible with xi zoom lenses having a "power zoom function".
Most digital cameras support the ability to choose among a number of configurations, or modes for use in various situations. Professional DSLR cameras provide several manual modes; consumer point-and-shoot cameras emphasize automatic modes; amateur prosumer cameras often have a wide variety of both manual and automatic modes.