was a Japanese manufacturer of
camera
A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...
s, camera accessories,
photocopier
A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...
s,
fax machine
Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...
s, and
laser printer
Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-quality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively-charged cylinder called a "drum" to ...
s. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in
Osaka, Japan
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 ...
, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated
autofocus
An autofocus (or AF) 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 ...
35 mm SLR camera system. In 1931, the company adopted its final name, an acronym for "Mechanism, Instruments, Optics, and Lenses by Tashima".
In 2003, Minolta merged with
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 M ...
to form
Konica Minolta
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, in ...
. On 19 January 2006, Konica Minolta announced that it was leaving the camera and photo business,
and that it would sell a portion of its
SLR camera business to
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
as part of its move to pull completely out of the business of selling cameras and photographic film.
History
Milestones
*1928: establishes Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten ("Japanese-German photo company," the precursor of Minolta Co., Ltd.).
*1929: Marketed the company's first camera, the "Nifcarette" (ニフカレッテ).
*1937: The Minolta Flex is Japan's second
twin-lens reflex camera
A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is used for the viewfind ...
(after the Prince Flex by Neumann & Heilemann).
*1947: Introduction of the long lived 35mm rangefinder camera
Minolta-35
*1958: The
Minolta SR-2 is Minolta's first
single-lens reflex camera.
*1959: The Minolta SR-1.
*1962:
John Glenn takes a specially modified
Ansco
Ansco was the brand name of a photographic company based in Binghamton, New York, which produced photographic films, papers and cameras from the mid-19th century until the 1980s.
In the late 1880s, ANSCO's predecessor, Anthony and Scovill, bo ...
-logoed
Minolta Hi-Matic
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 (the Ansco Autoset) was ta ...
camera into space aboard
Friendship 7
Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was the first crewed American orbital spaceflight, which took place on February 20, 1962. Piloted by astronaut John Glenn and operated by NASA as part of Project Mercury, it was the fifth human spaceflight, preceded by Sovi ...
. The company changes its name to Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.
*1966: The
Minolta SR-T 101
The Minolta SR-T 101 is a 35mm manual focus SLR camera with Through-The-Lens exposure metering – TTL for short - that was launched in 1966 by Minolta Camera Co. It was aimed at demanding amateur and semi-professional photographers. The SR-T 10 ...
SLR camera is one of the first with TTL (through-the-lens) full aperture
light meter
A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light. In photography, a light meter (more correctly an exposure meter) is used to determine the proper exposure (photography), exposure for a photograph. The meter will include either a Di ...
ing. The first is Topcon RE Super from 1963.
*1972: Minolta signs an agreement to cooperate with
Leica in SLR development;
*1973: The
Minolta CL is the first fruit of this agreement.
*1976: The
Leica R3
The Leica R3 was a 35mm SLR camera by Leica and the first model of their R series.
Leica launched the Leica R3 in 1976. It was the successor of the Leicaflex SL2, and was developed in cooperation with Minolta, together with the Minolta XE bod ...
is introduced. Minolta produces the R3,
R4, and
R5 models in the
Leica R
Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, Telescopic sight, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetz ...
series. Subsequent cameras are built in Germany by Leica themselves.
*1977: The
Minolta XD-11
The Minolta XD-7 (sold as the XD-11 in North America and as the XD in Japan) is a 35mm SLR film camera manufactured by Minolta from 1977 until 1984. It was Minolta's first SLR camera to feature both shutter priority and aperture priority automa ...
(N. America only,
XD-7 worldwide) is introduced, the world's first 'multi mode' SLR offering M, A, S modes, with a 'Program override' in S mode effected by a computer chip, the world's first Program mode. This same year, Minolta also introduced the Minolta XG series starting with the Minolta XG-7.
*1981: Implementation of Minolta's invention and patent of TTL (through-the-lens) OTF (off-the-film) exposure metering: the
Minolta CLE is the first
35mm 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
rangefinder camera
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 va ...
to feature TTL metering and
aperture priority
Aperture priority, often abbreviated ''A'' or ''Av'' (for aperture value) on a camera mode dial, is a mode on some cameras that allows the user to set a specific aperture value (f-number) while the camera selects a shutter speed to match it tha ...
autoexposure. The
Minolta X-700
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.
Features
The X-700 used ...
manual-focus SLR is introduced; this model is sold until 1999 and is enormously successful. The
Minolta XD-11
The Minolta XD-7 (sold as the XD-11 in North America and as the XD in Japan) is a 35mm SLR film camera manufactured by Minolta from 1977 until 1984. It was Minolta's first SLR camera to feature both shutter priority and aperture priority automa ...
(Model E) is the first Minolta product branded with an updated logo (in caps), which was in use until the 2003 merger with
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 M ...
.
*1985: The
Minolta Maxxum 7000
The Minolta MAXXUM 7000 (7000 AF in Europe and α-7000 in Japan) 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 ...
Alpha Mount Camera becomes the world's first
autofocus
An autofocus (or AF) 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 ...
35mm SLR with in-camera autofocus motor.
*1987: Honeywell files lawsuit against Minolta for patent infringement over autofocus technologies.
*1991: Minolta's autofocus design was found to infringe on the patents of Honeywell, a U.S. corporation. After protracted litigation, in 1991 Minolta was ordered to pay Honeywell damages, penalties, trial costs, and other expenses in a final amount of $127.6 million
*1992: Minolta settles out of court with Honeywell.
*1994: The company changes its name to Minolta Co., Ltd. because it no longer is primarily a camera company.
*1995: Introduction of the
Minolta RD-175
The Minolta RD-175 was an early digital SLR, introduced in 1995. Minolta combined an existing SLR with a three way splitter and three separate CCD image sensors, giving 1.75 megapixel (MP) resolution. The base of the DSLR was the Minolta Maxxum ...
, a 1.75-
megapixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...
digital SLR
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between ...
camera.
*1996: The
Minolta Vectis camera is a completely new SLR system designed around the
Advanced Photo System
Advanced Photo System (APS) is a discontinued film format for still photography first produced in 1996. It was marketed by Eastman Kodak under the brand name Advantix, by FujiFilm under the name Nexia, by Agfa under the name Futura and by ...
(APS)
film format
A film format is a technical definition of a set of standard characteristics regarding image capture on photographic film for still images or film stock for filmmaking. It can also apply to projected film, either slides or movies. The primary c ...
.
*1998: The
Minolta Maxxum 9
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-moun ...
autofocus SLR is introduced. This system is targeted toward the professional photographer and has many features not duplicated by the competition.
*2003:
DiMAGE A1 introduced world's first sensor-based anti-shake, and was the final Minolta product branded prior to the
Konica Minolta
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, in ...
merger.
*2004: Minolta and Konica officially merge to become Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc.
*2005: The company announces joint venture with Sony on CCD and CMOS technologies.
*2006: Konica Minolta announces it is discontinuing all film and digital camera production, ending a 78-year history as a camera manufacturer. Final models released were Dimage X1 and Z6. Konica Minolta Photo Image, Inc.'s (the camera business portion of Konica Minolta) assets regarding digital camera technology are transferred to Sony for continued development started from the joint venture.
Early cameras
Relying heavily on imported
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
technology, Nichi-Doku turned out their first product, a
bellows camera called the
Nifcarette
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 . It made the first integrated autofocu ...
, in March 1929. By 1937, the company reorganized as Chiyoda Kogaku Seikō, K.K. (Chiyoda Optics and Fine Engineering, Ltd.) and built the first Japanese-made
twin-lens reflex camera
A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is used for the viewfind ...
, the Minoltaflex, based on the German Rolleiflex.
In 1947, the
Minolta-35 was introduced. It is based on the Leica rangefinder camera concept with the 39mm screw lens-mount. It uses the standard 35mm film in cassettes. The standard lens is the
Super Rokkor 1:2.8 50mm.
In 1950, Minolta developed a
planetarium projector
A planetarium projector, also known as a star projector, is a device used to project images of celestial objects onto the dome in a planetarium.
Modern planetarium projectors were first designed and built by the Carl Zeiss Jena company in Germa ...
, the first-ever made in Japan, beginning the company's connection to astronomical optics. John Glenn took a Minolta Hi-Matic rangefinder 35 mm camera aboard the
spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...
Friendship 7
Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was the first crewed American orbital spaceflight, which took place on February 20, 1962. Piloted by astronaut John Glenn and operated by NASA as part of Project Mercury, it was the fifth human spaceflight, preceded by Sovi ...
in 1962, and in 1968,
Apollo 8 orbited the moon with a Minolta Space Meter aboard.
In the late 1950s and 1960s, Minolta competed in the medium-format roll film camera market with the Autocord series of TLR (twin-lens reflex) cameras.
Single-lens reflex cameras
In 1958, Minolta introduced its SR-2 single lens reflex (SLR) 35mm camera which was equipped with a bayonet mount and instant return mirror. In 1966 Minolta introduced the SR-T line which included TTL metering. Although well-made and widely regarded as some of the most innovative SLR cameras of their time, Minolta cameras were not as robust as competing Nikon models. Minolta SR/SRT design used sleeve bushings instead of bearings on its focal plane spindles and had greater tolerances between working parts. This occasionally caused problems in very cold weather or with extremely high levels of use. Minolta SLRs also lacked important professional features such as a motor drive, removable pentaprism, and removable back. Minolta cameras appealed to amateur photographers with their lower prices and high-quality optics.
From the late 1950s through the 1980s, Minolta was the first Japanese manufacturer to introduce a bayonet lens mount rather than a screw mount; and the first manufacturer to introduce multimode metering. They also introduced the first commercially successful autofocus SLR line with the Maxxum series.
In 1972, Minolta drew up a formal cooperation agreement with
Leitz Leitz may refer to several German companies:
*Esselte Leitz GmbH & Co KG, founded by Louis Leitz in 1896, a German manufacturer of office products
**Louis Leitz (1846–1918), German inventor and founder of Esselte Leitz GmbH & Co KG
* Leitz GmbH & ...
. Leitz needed expertise in camera body electronics, and Minolta felt that they could learn from Leitz's optical expertise. Tangible results of this cooperation were the
Leica CL/Minolta CL, an affordable rangefinder camera to supplement the Leica M range. The Leica CL was built by Minolta to Leica specifications. Other results were the Leica R3, which was in fact the Minolta XE-1 with a Leica lens mount, viewfinder, and spot metering system, and the Leica R4 was based on the Minolta XD-11. Additionally, five Minolta lenses were repackaged as Leica R lenses: the Minolta 24/2.8 MC Rokkor-X optics are found in the Leica 24/2.8 Elmarit-R, and similarly for the Minolta 35-70/3.5, 75-200/4.5, 70-210/4, and 16/2.8.
First "program" focal plane shutter 35mm SLR: the XD-11
In 1977, Minolta introduced the
XD-11, the first multimode 35 mm compact SLR to include both aperture and shutter priority in a single body. It was also the first camera to employ a computerised chip, which in shutter priority mode overrode the chosen speed if necessary to give a correct exposure, thus offering the first-ever 'programmed mode'. The XD-11 was the last attempt by Minolta to enter the professional and semiprofessional 35 mm SLR market until the Maxxum 9 in 1998. Elements of the XD-11 design (called the XD-7 in Europe) were utilized by Leitz for the Leica R4 camera.
The final manual-focus 35mm SLR cameras: the X-700 series
Minolta continued to offer 35 mm manual focus SLR cameras in its X-370, X-570, and X-700 from 1981, but slowly repositioned its cameras to appeal to a broader market. Minolta decided to abandon the high level of design and parts specifications of its earlier XD/XE line. The new amateur-level X-570, X-700, and related models offered additional program and metering features designed to appeal to newer photographers, at a lower cost. The advanced vertical metal shutter design of the older cameras was rejected in favor of a cheaper horizontal cloth-curtain shutter, reducing flash sync to a slow 1/60th second. Further cost savings were made internally, where some operating components were changed from metal to plastic.
The first version of the X-370, the chrome version that was made in Japan, was a rugged, all-metal camera that sometimes had greater appeal than the “plasticky” X-570, X-700, or later black versions of the X-370 (known as the X-7A) to photographers who place a premium on build quality.
As Minolta's autofocus Maxxums were proving successful, Minolta invested fewer resources in its manual focus line as time progressed.
Compact 35mm film cameras
![Vintage Minolta camera](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Vintage_Minolta_camera.jpg)
Minolta entered the highly competitive 35mm compact camera market in the 1980s and transitioned from older rangefinder designs to "point-and-shoot" (P&S) electronic autofocus/autowind cameras. Minolta, like other major manufacturers faced with low-cost competition from elsewhere in Asia, found it difficult to build quality P&S cameras at a cost the consumer was willing to pay, and was forced to offshore production, gradually redesigning successive cameras to reduce cost and maintain profit margins.
Autofocus SLRs
![Minolta Hi-matic AF-d](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Minolta_Hi-matic_AF-d.jpg)
Minolta purchased the
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
rights to autofocus lens technology from
Leica Camera in the 1970s. In 1985, Minolta introduced a new line of autofocus (AF) SLR cameras. In North America, they used the name
Maxxum
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-moun ...
; in Europe, the cameras were called
Dynax; and in Japan, they were named
Alpha. They were Minolta's first line of
automatic focus SLR cameras, and the first commercially successful autofocus SLRs the world had seen.
Minolta's marketing agency of record, The Manhattan-based William Esty Company branded the Minolta Maxxum, which was named by Creative Director George Morin. The round Minolta logo was developed by Art Director Herbert Clark with internationally renowned designer Saul Bass. The Minolta Freedom line of autofocus compacts were also branded at The William Esty Company, and named by Senior Copywriter Niels Peter Olsen. The Minolta Freedom line also included the Minolta Talker, the first point & shoot camera to incorporate a voice-chip that assisted with autofocus and flash operations. As a result of their innovations, the products that Minolta launched with The William Esty Company increased their camera sales from third, behind Canon & Nikon, to first in the U.S. marketplace.
With the Maxxum line, the heavy duty metal bodies of earlier Minoltas were abandoned in favor of lighter and less expensive plastics. The
Maxxum 7000, the most popular of the new Maxxums, introduced the innovation of arrow buttons for setting
aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.
An ...
and
shutter speed, rather than a shutter speed dial on the body and an aperture ring on the lens. That way, the only control necessary on the lens is the manual focus ring (plus the zoom ring in the case of zoom lenses).
The Maxxum 7000 had two 8-bit CPUs and six integrated circuits. A circuit on the lens relayed aperture information to the camera body, and the motor for autofocus was contained within the camera body. An LCD showed aperture, shutter speed, and frame count, while an infrared beam counted sprocket holes when advancing the film from frame to frame (this prevents the use of infrared film). The 7000 had TTL phase-detection focusing and metering, autoexposure, and predictive autofocus. All Maxxum cameras use the
Minolta A-mount
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 . It made the first integrated autofocu ...
; earlier manual-focus
Minolta SR-mount
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 wa ...
lenses are incompatible with the new AF cameras.
Unfortunately for Minolta, its autofocus design was found to infringe on the patents of Honeywell, a U.S. corporation. After protracted litigation, in 1991 Minolta was ordered to pay Honeywell damages, penalties, trial costs, and other expenses in a final amount of $127.6 million.
After the 4-digit Maxxum i line, which included the 3000i, 5000i,
7000i, and 8000i, came the 1-digit Maxxum xi line; followed by the 3-digit si line; the 1-digit line without letters (Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum 3, 4, 5, 7, 9); and finally, the Maxxum 50 (Dynax 40) and Maxxum 70 (Dynax 60).
APS format cameras
Minolta also invested in APS (
Advanced Photo System
Advanced Photo System (APS) is a discontinued film format for still photography first produced in 1996. It was marketed by Eastman Kodak under the brand name Advantix, by FujiFilm under the name Nexia, by Agfa under the name Futura and by ...
) film-format cameras, most notably with the Vectis line of SLR cameras beginning in 1996. APS later proved to be a technological dead end, as the cameras did not sell as hoped. Digital photography was entering the marketplace, and Minolta eventually discontinued all APS camera production.
Other developments
![LEI0010 200 Leica AF-C1 Produziert von Minolta Front view-9756-Bearbeitet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/LEI0010_200_Leica_AF-C1_Produziert_von_Minolta_Front_view-9756-Bearbeitet.jpg)
Minolta introduced features that became standard in all brands a few years later. Standardized features that were first introduced on Minolta models included multisensor light metering coupled to multiple AF sensors, automatic flash balance system, wireless TTL flash control, TTL-controlled full-time flash sync, and speedy front and rear wheels for shutter and aperture control. Special features introduced by Minolta are interactive LCD viewfinder display, setup memory, expansion program cards (discontinued), eye-activated startup, and infrared frame counter.
Merger with Konica
In an effort to strengthen market share and acquire additional assets in film, film cameras, and optical equipment, Minolta merged with another long-time Japanese camera manufacturer,
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 M ...
Ltd., in 2003. The new corporation was called Konica Minolta Ltd.
Until Konica Minolta announced their withdrawal plan in 2006, they made Maxxum/Dynax digital and film-based cameras (retaining the different names in the different markets), improving the design while maintaining the basic concepts. The Maxxum 4 is a low-priced 35 mm SLR with an A-type bayonet mount, built-in flash, autoexposure, predictive autofocus, electronically controlled vertical-traverse focal plane shutter, and
through-the-lens In photography, through-the-lens metering (TTL metering) refers to a feature of cameras whereby the intensity of light reflected from the scene is measured through the lens; as opposed to using a separate metering window or external hand-held light ...
(TTL) phase-detection focusing and metering. In advertising literature, Minolta claimed that the Maxxum 4 was the most compact 35 mm AF SLR, and the second fastest at autofocusing, while the Maxxum 5 was the fastest at autofocusing. These cameras were, however, intended for the consumer end of the market.
Minolta made one last attempt to enter the amateur and professional market with the Maxxum (Dynax) 9 in 1998, followed by the Maxxum 7 in 2000, which used a full LCD readout on the rear of the camera. Though well received by the photographic press, the 7 and 9 did not sell to expectations or achieve any significant breakthrough with their intended customer base, who had largely gravitated to the Canon or Nikon brands. All of these cameras were eventually discontinued in favor of the less-expensive Maxxum 50 and 70, which were sold under the Minolta name until 2006, when Konica Minolta ceased production of all film cameras.
Digital cameras
Minolta had a line of digital point-and-shoot cameras to compete in the
digital photography
Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image ...
market. Their DiMAGE line included digital cameras and imaging software as well as film scanners.
Minolta created a new category of "
bridge cameras," with the introduction of the
DiMAGE 7. Designed for use by people familiar with 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras but without the added cost or complication of interchangeable lenses or optical reflex viewfinders, the DiMAGE incorporated many of the features of a higher-level film camera with the simplicity of smaller compact digicams. The camera had a traditional zoom ring and focus ring on the lens barrel and was equipped with an electronic viewfinder (EVF) rather than the direct optical reflex view of an SLR. It added other features such as a
histogram, and the cameras were compatible with Minolta's flashes for modern film SLRs.
However, the DiMAGE 7 (including the
DiMAGE A1, A2, and A200) and similar bridge cameras were not really adequate substitutes for professional SLR cameras, and initially there were many reports of slow autofocus speed and various malfunctions (this surfaced when a Sony-designed CCD chip would malfunction, rendering the camera useless. Minolta, however, issued a CCD alert and fixed faulty units free of charge; after Konica Minolta's withdrawal from the photo business,
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
took over the CCD alert until the warranty repair service was terminated in 2010). Minolta later innovated in this line by being the first manufacturer to integrate a mechanical
antishake system (Minolta's antishake is based inside the camera body as opposed to the camera lens, common with
Canon EF
The EF lens mount is the standard lens mount on the Canon EOS family of SLR film and digital cameras. EF stands for "Electro-Focus": automatic focusing on EF lenses is handled by a dedicated electric motor built into the lens. Mechanically, it i ...
and
Nikon AF
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 44mm ...
lenses).
In January 2002, Minolta again created a new category of camera, introducing the Minolta DiMAGE X, an ultracompact digital with a 3x folded zoom lens. With the folded approach, no moving parts of the lens are external to the camera. Instead, a 45-degree mirror bounces light to a conventional zoom lens safely tucked inside the camera body. Fast startup times are one potential benefit of this design (since nothing needs to extend), but slow focus and shutter lag times marred the advantage of this innovation.
According to a press release by Konica Minolta they "Konica Minolta Photo Imaging Inc. ceased its Camera Business Operations as of 31 March 2006, and ceased the entire customer services for Konica Minolta cameras and related products as of 31 December 2010"
As of January 1, 2017, Minolta digital cameras are exclusively manufactured under license by Elite Brands Inc in the United States.
Digital SLRs
![Minolta RD-175 (tweak)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Minolta_RD-175_%28tweak%29.jpg)
Although Minolta had launched their first digital SLR system as early as 1995, the
RD-175 — a 3 sensor (3 x 0.38
megapixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...
) camera based on the Maxxum 500si — was never successful, and in 1998, it was superseded by the
Minolta Dimâge RD 3000
List of products manufactured by electronics company Minolta.
Cameras
16 mm film cameras
* Minolta 16 series
110 film cameras
* Minolta 110 Zoom SLR
* Minolta Autopak pocket camera
* Minolta Weathermatic A (bright yellow waterproof case)
126 ...
, a 3-megapixel DSLR based on the
Minolta V-mount of Minolta's APS format SLR camera line, which was equally unsuccessful and short-lived.
While Minolta was the inventor of the modern integrated AF SLR, it took Konica Minolta a long time to enter the digital SLR market, a delay that may have proved fatal. Konica Minolta was the last of the large camera manufacturers to launch a digital SLR camera (
Maxxum/Dynax 5D and 7D) using the 35 mm AF mount. During July 2005, KM and Sony negotiated on a joint development of a new line of DSLR cameras,
where it was believed that Konica Minolta and Sony would market their DSLR line to the masses (much like the joint marketing and development of
Pentax
is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporatio ...
and
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
K10/GX10 DSLRs).
On 19 January 2006, KM announced that all DSLR production would continue under Sony's management;
DSLR camera assets were transferred to Sony during the Konica Minolta withdrawal phase until March 31, 2006, where technical support for these cameras (primarily Konica Minolta's other digital cameras) was assumed by Sony, who announced the first Konica Minolta-based Sony SLR — the
Alpha A100 — on June 5, 2006. Sony continued the manufacture of DSLRs using Minolta technology until 2010 when the company phased out DSLRs for its
SLT system but retained the Minolta A-mount.
See also
*
Rokkor
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), ...
*
Konica Minolta
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, in ...
*
Laboratory equipment
A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...
*
List of Minolta products
*
Sony α
Sony α (the lower case to Greek letter alpha, often transliterated as ''Sony Alpha'') is a digital camera system introduced on 5 June 2006. It uses and expands upon Konica Minolta camera technologies, including the Minolta AF SLR lens mo ...
Sony Alpha DSLR
References
Bibliography
* Photoxels.com. ''Brief History of Minolta''. Retrieved on 2005-11-29 from https://web.archive.org/web/20060206183204/http://www.photoxels.com/history_minolta.html.
Sony Corporation announced a new brand for digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras which Konica Minolta Photo Imaging, Inc. has developed.
External links
{{Authority control
Konica Minolta
Photography companies of Japan
Electronics companies of Japan
Electronic calculator companies
Computer printer companies
Defunct companies of Japan
Defunct photography companies
Defunct defense companies of Japan
Manufacturing companies established in 1928
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2003
Optics manufacturing companies
Lens manufacturers
Japanese companies disestablished in 2003
Japanese companies established in 1928
2003 mergers and acquisitions
Cameras