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The Pentax Auto 110 and Pentax Auto 110 Super were fully automatic single-lens reflex cameras manufactured by Asahi Pentax for use with Kodak 110 film cartridges. [1] The Auto 110 was introduced with three interchangeable, fixed focal length lenses in 1978. A further three lenses (including one zoom lens) were added in 1981 to coincide with the release of the Auto 110 Super the following year. The camera system was sold until 1985. The complete system is sometimes known as the Pentax System 10, apparently for its official Pentax name, although most Pentax advertising only uses the camera name or Pentax-110. This model represented the only complete ultraminiature SLR system manufactured for the 110 film format, although several fixed-lens 110 SLRs were sold. The camera system also claims to be the smallest interchangeable-lens SLR system ever created.
The cameras and lenses were very small (the camera fits in the palm of a hand easily).
The Pentax Auto 110 features fully automatic exposure, with no user-settable exposure compensation or adjustments. Metering is TTL (through-the-lens) and center-weighted. Unlike 35 mm SLRs, the system's lenses do not have a built-in iris to control the aperture. Instead, an iris is mounted inside the camera body, and functions as both an aperture control and a shutter. This mechanism is capable of programmed exposures between 1/750 s at f/13.5; and 1 s at f/2.8. To ensure that light travelling past the diaphragm blades could not get through to the film over time, the camera's mirror system also functions as a light-tight seal when in the viewing and focusing position. Since the iris is part of the camera, all of the system's lenses had to be constructed with an f/2.8 aperture. The lens' designs, based upon the film dimensions, result in the 24 mm lens being the 'normal' focal length (i.e. equivalent angle of view to a 50 mm lens on a 135 format camera), while lenses of wider angles or longer focal lengths were larger.
The camera detects the film speed by the presence or absence of a ridge on the cartridge, as specified in the Kodak 110 film standard. Since there is no official specification of what the film speeds should actually be—they were just "low" and "high"—film and camera manufacturers had to decide for themselves the meaning. Pentax chose ISO 80 and 320 as their settings, but commercially available films at ISO 100 and 400 are close enough to work in practice. A film with an ISO 200 speed would result in either under- or over-exposure. The exposure latitude of color print films is about 2 f/stops (meaning that a photographer could expose either 2 f/stops under or 2 f/stops over the exposure set by the camera). Unfortunately, some recently produced 110 film is rated at ISO 400, but is packaged with the ridge indicating "low". If this is the case, the ridge must be removed (by filing or cutting with a sharp blade) for the camera to expose correctly. Since only a few 110 cameras ever supported the ISO auto-selection, this does not affect the majority of cameras using the format but does affect the Pentax Auto 110. In 2012/2013 ISO 100 film has been produced and marketed under the Lomography label, and gives excellent results, without the need to modify the cartridge casing.
The camera was offered in a special edition "Safari" model, identical to the Auto 110 except for the brown-and-tan color scheme.
Introduced in late 1982, the Super is nearly identical in basic shape and size to the previous model and accepts the same lenses. Many improvements and changes were included to make this model arguably a better camera than the previous Auto 110. Film winding is improved with a single-stroke film advance lever that advances the film and cocks the shutter in one winding (the Auto 110 takes two strokes to advance the film). A switch around the shutter release button enables a new ten-second self-timer mode and a shutter lock; the self-timer activates a red light on the pentaprism housing, which flashes during the 10-second shutter release count-down. A button on the front on the user's left hand side gives a +1.5 EV (exposure value) backlit scene exposure compensation.
The optional winder offers an improved battery cover, a well-known weak component in the Auto 110. The shutter button is protected from accidental tripping by an altered casing around the button. The flash synchronization socket cover on the Super is permanently attached to the camera in an attempt to prevent loss, though many still get lost when the plastic tether breaks.
The viewfinder screen has a split image rangefinder center, surrounded by a microprism collar, whereas the Auto 110 has the split image rangefinder center only. The low light warning activates at 1/45 s (the Auto 110 activates at 1/30 s).
The line of lenses consisted of these three at launch:
In 1981, three more lenses were included:
The three later lenses are much rarer.
Soligor also made a 1.7x teleconverter.
Lens hoods were available for all of the lenses, and Pentax sold add-on close-up lenses for macro photography and a range of filters.
The 110 lenses have found a new life with the Pentax Q system, which will accept them with an adapter, albeit with a 5.6x crop factor (effective increase in focal length). [2] The lenses can also be mounted on Panasonic/Olympus Micro Four Thirds cameras with an adapter, and the crop factor is only 2x, the same as on the original Pentax 110 body. Wherever adapted, the lenses still require manual focusing.
The 110 lenses can be adapted to APS-C mirrorless cameras, with little vignetting on 24mm, less on 18mm, and no vignetting on 50mm.
Two models of motor winder were produced. The original 110 Winder took 2 AA batteries and could wind through 100 cartridges of 110 film with one set of batteries. It works only in single-shot mode. It takes about 1.5 s to wind a frame. The 110 Winder II, introduced in 1982, adds a continuous shooting mode and improves the battery cover door, which was fragile on the original.
A custom electronic flash unit, the AF130P, was part of the original Auto 110 system, and was produced until the camera ceased being manufactured. Pentax responded to criticism that this electronic flash unit was too large by introducing the smaller AF100P electronic flash unit in 1980. This unit, however, was never part of the Pentax camera kits and became rare.
Pentax produced a range of various camera-carrying cases and also a belt-clip for the cameras.
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.
A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photography and videography, cameras have played a significant role in the progression of visual arts, media, entertainment, surveillance, and scientific research. The invention of the camera dates back to the 19th century and has since evolved with advancements in technology, leading to a vast array of types and models in the 21st century.
The Leica Digilux 1 is a digital camera developed in partnership with Panasonic, which was released in 2002, roughly the same time as the Canon PowerShot G2 and the Nikon 2000. It is the second of Leica's digital offerings. Where the original Digilux was developed in partnership with Fuji Camera, the Digilux 1 was developed jointly with Panasonic; Leica is responsible for optics, while Panasonic designs the camera electronics. According to Leica, this allows both companies to design cameras that creates a harmonious matching of lens to sensor to produce color and contrast to Leica standards.
The Nikon EM is a beginner's level, interchangeable lens, 35 mm film, single lens reflex (SLR) camera. It was manufactured by Nippon Kogaku K. K. in Japan from 1979 to 1982. The camera was designed for and marketed to the growing market of new photographers then entering the SLR buyer's market. The EM uses a Seiko MFC-E focal plane shutter with a speed range of 1 to 1/1000 second plus Bulb and flash X-sync of 1/90 second. It is 86 mm (3.4 in) high, 135 mm (5.3 in) wide, 54 mm (2.1 in) deep and weighed 460 grams (16 oz). Unlike most Nikons of the time, it was available only in black. The EM has no full manual exposure mode capability, but instead was intended to be used by inexperienced photographers who could not easily master the intricacies of shutter speeds and f-stops. There were also significant changes to the EM's mechanical and electrical components to reduce its production cost relative to previous Nikon cameras: dimensional tolerances weren't as tight, there were no ball bearings in the film advance mechanism, and no high-quality titanium shutter. The introductory US list price for the body plus normal lens was only $231.
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The Pentax K-mount, sometimes referred to as the "PK-mount", is a bayonet lens mount standard for mounting interchangeable photographic lenses to 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. It was created by Pentax in 1975, and has since been used by all Pentax 35 mm and digital SLRs and also the MILC Pentax K-01. A number of other manufacturers have also produced many K-mount lenses and K-mount 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 Pentax LX is a 35mm single-lens reflex camera produced by Pentax in Japan. It was introduced in 1980 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Asahi Optical Co., and was produced until 2001. It is the top-of-the-line professional, or "system", camera in the Pentax manual focus range, with manual and aperture priority automatic exposure modes and an advanced light metering system. The LX uses the K mount, which is the Pentax proprietary bayonet lens mount, and has a large body of accessories. The camera has several unique or uncommon features, and compared with contemporary professional camera bodies from rival manufacturers, like the Canon New F-1 or Nikon F3, the LX body is smaller and lighter, weighing in at 570 grams with its standard FA-1 finder.
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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.
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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.
Pentax lenses were first badged as Takumar. The Takumar branded lenses were well respected for their line of Super Takumar, which designated the high performance coating applied to the lens as well as the optical formulas used to make them. The majority of the industry at the time was still satisfied with the variations of the "plumb" coating process and later some of the two and three layer processes as well. Asahi Pentax soon introduced the Takumar Super-Multi-Coated line of lenses which was a 7 layer process as the industry had just caught up with similar forms of 5 layer multi-coated optics. Eventually Asahi Optical and Pentax slowly shifted much of their lens production under the Pentax name and transitioned some of the successful designs that were first introduced under the Takumar name to use Asahi/Pentax badging as well as beginning to use the "smc" abbreviation. Eventually the Asahi partnership disappeared and the Pentax name became solely used. Pentax lenses saw many feature changes to answer the market, such as: incorporating "Auto-Aperture" with the M42, the light weight and compactness with the 'M' series, Aperture Priority overrides with the 'A' series, and Auto-Focus with the 'F' series. Modern Pentax lenses for digital SLR cameras have seen the elimination of the aperture ring completely as found on Pentax DA and D-FA series lenses. They use the Pentax KAF mount. All of these lenses have an autofocus feature, either operated from the camera body or from an internal SDM motor. Pentax compatible lenses are also made by third-party companies.
The Pentax 6×7 is a SLR medium format system film camera for 120 and 220 film, which produces images on the film that are nominally 6 cm by 7 cm in size, made by Pentax. It originally debuted in 1965 as a prototype dubbed the Pentax 220. Since then, with improvements, it was released in 1969 as the Asahi Pentax 6×7, as well as the Honeywell Pentax 6×7 for the United States import market. In 1990, it received a number of minor engineering updates and cosmetic changes and was renamed as the Pentax 67.
The Pentax Q series is a series of mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras made by Pentax and introduced in 2011 with the initial model Pentax Q. As of September 2012, it was the world's smallest, lightest interchangeable lens digital camera. The first models used a 1/2.3" back-illuminated sensor CMOS image sensor. The Q7, introduced in June 2013, uses a larger 1/1.7" type sensor. The Q system is now discontinued.
The Pentax Q is a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera introduced by Pentax on June 23, 2011.
The invention of the camera in the early 19th century led to an array of lens designs intended for photography. The problems of photographic lens design, creating a lens for a task that would cover a large, flat image plane, were well known even before the invention of photography due to the development of lenses to work with the focal plane of the camera obscura.
The Konica FC-1 was introduced in 1980 by Konica, one year after the FS-1, but does not have the integrated winder. It was manufactured until 1983. Both models were only available in a black finish. With top covers made from black plastic cast Konica had good experiences since the Autoreflex TC in the mid of the 70s.