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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | 35mm rangefinder camera |
| Lens | |
| Lens mount | fixed |
| Focusing | |
| Focus | manual |
| Exposure/Metering | |
| Exposure | manual |
The Minolta AL-F was a rangefinder camera launched by Minolta in 1967.
A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most varieties of rangefinder show two images of the same subject, one of which moves when a calibrated wheel is turned; when the two images coincide and fuse into one, the distance can be read off the wheel. Older, non-coupled rangefinder cameras display the focusing distance and require the photographer to transfer the value to the lens focus ring; cameras without built-in rangefinders could have an external rangefinder fitted into the accessory shoe. Earlier cameras of this type had separate viewfinder and rangefinder windows; later the rangefinder was incorporated into the viewfinder. More modern designs have rangefinders coupled to the focusing mechanism, so that the lens is focused correctly when the rangefinder images fuse; compare with the focusing screen in non-autofocus SLRs.
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten. It is perhaps best known for making the first integrated autofocus 35mm SLR camera system. In 1931, the company adopted its current name, an acronym for "Mechanism, Instruments, Optics, and Lenses by Tashima". In 1933, the brand name first appeared on a camera, a copy of the Plaubel Makina simply called "Minolta".
The AF had an automatic mode for flash photography ("Easy Flash"). Therefore, it had a guide number selector. A hot shoe for the flash gave further ease of flash usage. For manual exposure selection it offered shutter priority mode with preselection of five exposure times from 1/30 sec to 1/500 sec. The frame viewfinder was coupled to a superimposed rangefinder and had a mechanical horizontal parallax correction. For vertical parallax only a parallax arrow. The CdS exposure meter's aperture value proposal for the automatic aperture was visible through the finder, at the right side of the viewfinder image. The lens, a Rokkor 1:2,7/38mm, had only 4 elements in three groups, and a Seiko shutter. The meter's "eye" was placed within the filter ring of the lens.
When setting photoflash exposures, the guide number (GN) of photoflash devices is a measure photographers can use to calculate either the required f‑stop for any given flash-to-subject distance, or the required distance for any given f‑stop. To solve for either of these two variables, one merely divides a device's guide number by the other.
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects show a larger parallax than farther objects when observed from different positions, so parallax can be used to determine distances.
Rokkor was a brand name used for all Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō and later Minolta lenses between 1940 and 1980, including a few, which were marketed and sold by other companies like Leica. The name was derived from the name of Rokkō (六甲山), a 932 m high mountain, which could be seen from the company's glass-making and optics factory at Mukogawa near Osaka, Japan. The company's founder Kazuo Tashima wanted the name to symbolize the high quality in optics.
