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".
Nikon Corporation, also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan; it specializes in creating and marketing optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group.
An autofocus optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system has to be done manually until indication. Autofocus methods are distinguished as active, passive or hybrid types.
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.
A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor.
The NikonD50 is a 6.1-megapixel entry-level digital single-lens reflex camera, sold from June 2005 until November 2006 by Nikon. It was Nikon's first DSLR aimed at the consumer market, and sold for US$899. It uses the Nikon F mount. The D50 is similar to the slightly older D70 using the same CCD sensor, with a slower maximum shutter speed and slightly smaller size; however, it continued to offer the internal focus motor of prior autofocus film and digital SLRs. Future entry-level Nikon DSLRs would eliminate the internal focus motor and require these motors to be in the lenses. Lack of a focus-motor in the camera eliminated the ability to autofocus with late film-era Nikkor AF and AF-D lenses, though these lenses work well on the D50.
The Nikon D2H is a professional-grade digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by Nikon Corporation on July 22, 2003. It uses Nikon's own JFET-LBCAST sensor with a 4.1-megapixel resolution, and is optimised for sports and action shooting that require a high frame rate. In 2005, the D2H was replaced by the D2Hs, which added new features derived from the 12-megapixel D2X digital SLR. The D2Hs was discontinued after the introduction of the D300 and D3 models.
The Nikon F-mount is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35mm format single-lens reflex cameras. The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three-lug bayonet mount with a 44 mm throat and a flange to focal plane distance of 46.5 mm. The company continues, with the 2020 D6 model, to use variations of the same lens mount specification for its film and digital SLR cameras.
The Pentax K10D and similar Samsung GX-10 are 10.2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex cameras launched in late 2006. They were developed in a collaboration between Pentax of Japan and Samsung of South Korea.
The Nikon F90 is a 35mm SLR camera manufactured between 1992 and 2001 and replaced the earlier Nikon F-801. At the time of its release it was noted for its fast autofocus speed compared to previous Nikon models, which had lagged behind competitor Canon's. It was thus seen by many as a 'stop-gap' measure to prevent the mass migration of many Nikon-using professional photographers to Canon, as Nikon's next fully professional camera, the F5, was some time away from release. The Nikon F4, the professional model available at the time of the F90's release, had very slow autofocus compared to Canon's autofocus SLRs.
The F60 is a 35mm film SLR camera which was sold by Nikon between 1998 and 2001. It replaced the F50 and was aimed at the lower end of the amateur autofocus SLR market.
The F65 is a 35mm film SLR camera introduced by Nikon in 2001.
The Nikon D300 is a 12.3-megapixel semi-professional DX format digital single-lens reflex camera that Nikon Corporation announced on 23 August 2007 along with the Nikon D3 FX format camera. The D300 was discontinued by Nikon on September 11, 2009, being replaced by the modified Nikon D300S, which was released July 30, 2009. The D300S remained the premier Nikon DX camera until the D7100 was released in early 2013.
The Nikon F75 was the last consumer-level autofocus 35mm SLR camera sold by the Nikon Corporation beginning in 2003. The camera replaced the similarly consumer-targeted Nikon F65.
The Nikon D90 is a 12.3 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) model announced by Nikon on August 27, 2008. It is a prosumer model that replaces the Nikon D80, fitting between the company's entry-level and professional DSLR models. It has a Nikon DX format crop sensor.
This article discusses the cameras – mainly 35 mm SLRs – manufactured by Pentax Ricoh Imaging Corp. and its predecessors, Pentax Corporation and Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.. Pentax must not be confused with Pentax 6x7 or Pentax 67 which are 120 medium format 6x7cm film cameras.
The D5000 is a 12.3-megapixel DX-format DSLR Nikon F-mount camera, announced by Nikon on 14 April 2009. The D5000 has many features in common with the D90. It features a 2.7-inch 230,000-dot resolution tilt-and-swivel LCD monitor, live view, ISO 200–3200, 3D tracking Multi-CAM1000 11-point AF system, active D-Lighting system and automatic correction of lateral chromatic aberration. The D5000 seems to have been discontinued in November 2010.
The Nikon D3100 is a 14.2-megapixel DX format DSLR Nikon F-mount camera announced by Nikon on August 19, 2010. It replaced the D3000 as Nikon's entry level DSLR. It introduced Nikon's new EXPEED 2 image processor and was the first Nikon DSLR featuring full high-definition video recording with full-time autofocus and H.264 compression, instead of Motion JPEG compression. It was also the first Nikon DSLR to provide high-definition video recording at more than one frame rate.
The Nikon D7000 is a 16.2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) model announced by Nikon on September 15, 2010. It replaced the D90 as the top end consumer camera, by using much of the technology and controls from the earlier D5000, in a larger more robust body similar to the flagship D300 series. In some ways it was superior to the D300S, though for several years the two cameras were both available with the D300 positioned as the flagship in Nikon marketing materials.
The Nikon D5100 is a 16.2-megapixel DX-format DSLR F-mount camera announced by Nikon on April 5, 2011. It features the same 16.2-megapixel CMOS sensor as the D7000 with 14-bit depth, while delivering Full HD 1080p video mode at either 24, 25 or 30fps. The D5100 is the first Nikon DSLR to offer 1080p video at a choice of frame rates; previous Nikon DSLRs that recorded 1080p only did so at 24 fps. It replaced the D5000 and was replaced by the D5200.
