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 history of the single-lens reflex camera (SLR) begins with the use of a reflex mirror in a camera obscura described in 1676, but it took a long time for the design to succeed for photographic cameras. The first patent was granted in 1861, and the first cameras were produced in 1884, but while elegantly simple in concept, they were very complex in practice. One by one these complexities were overcome as optical and mechanical technology advanced, and in the 1960s the SLR camera became the preferred design for many high-end camera formats.
The Minolta XG-M was a 35mm single-lens reflex camera introduced in 1981 by Minolta of Japan. It was also known as the X-70 on the Japanese market, in which it was not available until 1982. When released, it was the top model in Minolta's XG series of consumer-grade manual focus SLRs, replacing the XG-9. Changes from that model included a metered manual mode, and a revised body style with rearranged controls. This was also the first camera to use Minolta's new logo, which was used until the 2003 merger into Konica Minolta.
The Minolta X-700 is a 35 mm single-lens reflex film camera introduced by Minolta in 1981. It was the top model of their final manual-focus SLR series before the introduction of the auto-focus Minolta Maxxum 7000.
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 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 had a longer flange focal distance making old manual lenses 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.
This article is about photographic lenses for single-lens reflex film cameras (SLRs) and digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs). Emphasis is on modern lenses for 35 mm film SLRs and for DSLRs with sensor sizes less than or equal to 35 mm ("full-frame").
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 Minolta CLE is a TTL-metering automatic exposure aperture-priority 35 mm rangefinder camera using Leica M lenses, introduced by Minolta in 1980.
The Minolta SR-mount was the bayonet mounting system used in all 35 mm SLR cameras made by Minolta with interchangeable manual focusing lenses. Several iterations of the mounting were produced over the decades, and as a result, the mount itself was sometimes referred to by the name of the corresponding lens generation instead.
The Minolta SR-2 was presented in 1958 as the first 35mm SLR camera from Chiyoda Kogaku. Popular cameras of this type at that time were mainly from Europe but a few from Japan, including the Asahi Pentax, the Miranda T and the Topcon R. The miniature SLR camera concept was conceived in the 1930s at Ihagee in Dresden, resulting in the 1936 Kine Exakta. Influential cameras designs like that of the 1939 KW Praktiflex, the 1949 ZI Contax S, and 1952 the KW Praktina marked the steady progress toward a perfected SLR. Several features of the latter seem to have influenced the design of the SR-2 although dissimilar in many respects. The obvious similarities are the stepped top plate, the carrying strap lugs, the self-timer lever and some general body features.
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 metre (3058') 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.
The Contax T camera line consists of a number of compact cameras sold by Kyocera under the Contax brand. They were introduced between 1984 and 2002. The T, T2, and T3 use 35mm film and have a fixed 35 mm wide-angle lens. The T-VS, T-VS II, and T-VS III also use 35 mm film but have a 28–56 mm lens. The Tix uses APS film and has a fixed 28 mm wide-angle lens. The TVS Digital is a 5 MP digital camera with a 35–105 mm (equivalent) lens.
The Nikon 35Ti (1993) and Nikon 28Ti (1994) are luxury titanium-clad point and shoot cameras that were produced by Nikon, equipped with a high-quality lens and body, competing with similar luxury compact cameras produced during the Japanese bubble-economy era, including the Contax T line, Konica Hexar, Leica minilux, Minolta TC-1, Ricoh GR series, and Rollei QZ 35W/35T. Both the 35Ti and 28Ti are 35 mm cameras with nearly identical operation; as the name implies, the 35Ti is equipped with a 35 mm focal length lens, while the 28Ti is equipped with a 28 mm lens. Externally, they may be distinguished by their color: the 35Ti is finished in chrome/silver, and the 28Ti is finished in black.
The Leica minilux is the first in a series of four luxury titanium-clad point and shoot cameras that were produced by Leica Camera starting from 1995; it is equipped with a high-quality lens and body to compete with similar premium compact cameras produced during the Japanese bubble-economy era, including the Contax T line, Konica Hexar, Nikon 28Ti/35Ti, Minolta TC-1, Ricoh GR series, and Rollei QZ 35W/35T. All of the cameras in the minilux series, including the original minilux, Leica minilux zoom (1998), Leica CM (2004), and Leica CM ZOOM used 35 mm film; the minilux and CM were equipped with the same Leica Summarit lens, while the minilux zoom and CM Zoom were equipped with a Vario-Elmar lens.
