Minolta

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Minolta Company

Minolta is/was a Japanese company manufacturing cameras from 1931 to 2003 - becoming Konica Minolta thereafter. They produced cameras for virtually any and all film formats, even for their own 16mm miniature film format. In the 1950s Minolta expanded its businesses beyond production of cameras and binoculars into business services, especially photo copiers. Most branches of the company were related to optics, like the copiers branch, the exposure meters branch, etc. Minolta was succeeded by Konica Minolta.

Minolta History

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Minolta, although once counted among the big five, has often been thought of as a second-rung camera manufacturer in the photography world, a step below Nikon and Canon. This has not always been the case.

The Minolta SRT 101 was the world's best selling camera of its type in its time.

The Minolta X-700 was the world's best selling camera of its type in its time.

The Minolta AF 7000 was the world's best selling camera of its type in its time.

In fact, for five years beginning in 1985 Minolta was the biggest seller of SLR cameras in the world. The reason for this dominance was the release of their Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum system; the world's first 'in body' Autofocus SLR. Before this time manufacturers had dabbled with lenses that focused themselves but that fitted to their existing, manual focus SLR cameras. Minolta was the first manufacturer to put the mechanism and electronics for the autofocus system into their SLR camera bodies and so the modern SLR was born. (By the way, Konica was the first to put auto focus into a 35mm camera, but it was a fixed lens "compact" camera, and Polaroid was the first to put auto focus into an SLR camera, but it was neither 35mm not interchangeable lens design.)

This huge success was not foreseeable when Kazuo Tashima founded his Japanese-German camera shop in 1928 (called Nichidoku). In 1931 this was transformed into a stock corporation named "MOLTA", soon renamed to "MINOLTA", an abbreviation for the sentence "M_echanism, IN_struments, O_ptics and L_enses from TA_shima". From 1937 to 1961 the company name and brand name were different, the brand name was MINOLTA, but the company name CHIYODA KOGAKU, or abbreviated CHIYOKO.

Kazuo Tashima got support from the German camera technicians Billy Neumann and Willy Heilemann (see Neumann & Heilemann). The first cameras of Molta needed parts and lenses from German manufacturers. In 1929 they had already managed to produce the first models of their Nifcalette camera series. In 1934 the Minolta Vest was the first Minolta which differed from average camera designs. In 1936 Minolta's first reflex camera appeared, the "Minolta-Flex" for 60x60mm film. One year later they began manufacturing their own lenses. During the world war Minolta also produced cameras for aerial photography, which were used by the Japanese air force. Minolta's first big innovation after the war was a quite little one, the first camera for their own 16mm miniature film format, the Konan-16.

In 1957 Minolta began to produce planetariums, great optical machines which project all the visible stars of the night sky onto the ceilings of planetarium halls. In 1958 Minolta took the first step towards their success with SLR-cameras in the mid-80ies by introducing their first 35mm SLR-camera SR-2, which was the first one to combine several of the modern SLR-cameras' features like pentaprism viewfinder, smooth mirror mechanics, easily exchangeable lenses, easy film transport etc. In 1959 Minolta started to produce photocomposing machines, copiers, and special projectors. Some of these activities (like copiers) are kept up nowadays by Minolta's succeeding company Konica Minolta whilst it has given up photo business.

Before the great times of the Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum SLRs Minolta had another phase of cooperation with German experts, especially the cooperation with Leica in the mid-1970s. The Minolta XD-11 (same as XD-7) was the final result of this, the first 35mm SLR camera combining both automatic exposure modes, aperture priority and exposure time priority (=shutter priority). Many new Rokkor-lenses usable for both modes were produced for this exciting camera. During this time, Minolta invented and patented TTL OTF exposure - through the lens off the film - in order to manage accurate electronic exposure in their Minolta CLE M-class rangefinder camera - how else to meter exposure with no pentaprism but off the film? This was 18 years before Leica did it themselves in their own M-line of rangefinders. Olympus first used this in a 35mm film SLR camera in their OM series for complete exposure control during exposure, and Minolta used it in SLRs for flash only, begining with the X-700.

The Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum AF 7000 camera remains an iconic symbol of the 80's, however, Minolta did not hang on to their technological lead for long and Canon and Nikon fought to regain their positions as market leaders. By the 90's Minolta was back to its former underdog-brand status. Minolta offered a large line of products covering the gamut from the most basic to the most 'serious' of cameras. Among camera intelligentsia Minolta are known for their amazingly competitive price/performance ratio. What does that mean to you and I? When you buy a Minolta you get a lot of camera for your buck.

Minolta continued to innovate. After popularizing the plastic bodied, push button controlled SLR with the AF 7000, they made a move towards a more traditional user interface in the mid-90's with the 600si Classic. The Classic insignia indicates a move back to knobs and dials and away from buttons and menus - as had always been on the Minolta AF 9000, by the way, even in 1985, the height of cumputerized push-button camera introductions. Photographers applauded this return to a logical control layout that allowed us to directly see what were our camera settings on clearly visible KNOBS, and didn't require us to memorize pages and pages from our camera's manual before we could take a shot. This interface was carried forward into their popular pro-level Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum 9 and later 7 and similar control layouts were adopted by other manufactures, but NONE matched the completeness of Minolta's knob-control offering.

With the DiMage X, Minolta solved the problem of the protruding optical zoom lens on pocket digicams. Their folded lens design alows an optical zoom lens to be totally contained within the body of the camera. This makes the cameras that use this design trully pocketable, faster to turn on and better protected from knocks and damage.

Minolta have been criticized for their slowness to get onboard with a digital SLR camera that was compatible with the A-mount lenses. In late November 2004, the new Konica Minolta company finally released the much anticipated Konica Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum 7D Digital SLR and the innovation continued. What sets the 7D DSLR apart from the competition is the built in image stabilization which works with any electronic auto focus lens you can attach to the camera body. History has a way of repeating itself. If Minolta can compete better on image resolution and price point Minolta may at some point in the future, take the SLR market by storm yet again.

In October 2003 Minolta merged with Konica to form Konica Minolta. All new cameras after that time were badged as Konica Minolta (see also Konica Minolta) although, with reference to their camera designs, Minolta remains the dominant partner.

As of spring 2006, Konica-Minolta have withdrawn from the camera business entirely. The digital camera manufacturing assets have been acquired by Sony, but film camera production is ceasing, and the Konica film and mini-lab division closing within a year.

Konica Minolta now is solely a business servicer with NO photo division.

Minolta Digital Cameras

Minolta DSLR Cameras (with interchangeable lenses)

  • RD-175 using standard Minolta A-mount autofocus electronic klenses
  • RD-3000 using Minolta V-mount Vectis APS-SLR-lenses

newer cameras, see Konica Minolta (Dynax/Maxxum 5D and Dynax/Maxxum 7D)

Minolta Digital Cameras with Fixed Lenses (non-interchangeable, but all with auto focus zoom lenses)

Minolta and Konica Minolta use the Dimage nameplate on all the fixed lens digital cameras.

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newer cameras, see Konica Minolta

35mm film

Minolta Autofocus 35mm SLR (Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum)

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The Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum (Alpha in Japan and China, Maxxum in the Americas, Dynax in Europe, Africa and Asia) is a line of 35mm film SLR Single Lens Reflex cameras built from 1985 to 2000 - some "old" new stock may still be available. The lenses and flash accessories for these are not compatible with the previous Minolta SR, SR T, and X-series of manual focus 35mm film SLR cameras, lenses and flashes.

Many of these models are alternatively labeled Alpha, Dynax or Maxxum and only a few model numbers are location-specific where an equivalent model number in another area of distribution uses another model number:

  • Minolta Alpha 101si
  • Minolta 2xi
  • Minolta 3L
  • Minolta 300si
  • Minolta 303si
  • Minolta 303si Super
  • Minolta Alpha 3700i
  • Minolta 3xi
  • Minolta 4
  • Minolta 40
  • Minolta 404si
  • Minolta 5
  • Minolta 5xi
  • Minolta 5000
  • Minolta 5000i
  • Minolta Alpha 5700i
  • Minolta Dynax 500si / Maxxum 400si
  • Minolta Dynax 500si Super / Maxxum 500si
  • Minolta Dynax 505si / Maxxum HTsi
  • Minolta Dynax 505si Super / Maxxum XTsi
  • Minolta Alpha 507si / Dynax 650si / Maxxum 650si
  • Minolta Dynax 60
  • Minolta 600si
  • Minolta Dynax 600si Classic
  • Minolta 7
  • Minolta Alpha 707si
  • Minolta 7000
  • Minolta 7000i
  • Minolta 700si
  • Minolta 7xi
  • Minolta Alpha 807si
  • Minolta 8000i
  • Minolta 800si
  • Minolta Alpha 8700i
  • Minolta 9000
  • Minolta 9
  • Minolta 9xi
  • Minolta Alpha Sweet
  • Minolta SPxi

If anyone knows of additional models and or knows which of these are equivalent across the Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum divide, please pitch in!

Minolta Manual Focus 35mm SLR (SR, SR T and X-series)

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Minolta Rangefinder Cameras with interchangeable lens

Minolta Rangefinder Cameras with fixed-mount lens

Minolta Viewfinder Cameras

  • Minolta Autowide
  • Minolta f12
  • Minolta F35 Big Finder
  • Minolta Freedom I
  • Minolta FS-E II
  • Minolta Hi-Matic 5
  • Minolta Hi-Matic C
  • Minolta Hi-Matic CSII
  • Minolta Hi-Matic G
  • Minolta Hi-Matic G2
  • Minolta Hi-Matic GF
  • Minolta Hi-Matic S
  • Minolta Hi-Matic S2
  • Minolta Hi-Matic SD
  • Minolta Hi-Matic SD2
  • Minolta Memo
  • Minolta Minoltina-P
  • Minolta Repo (half-frame)
  • Minolta Repo-S (half-frame)

Minolta Compact Cameras

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  • HI-MATIC AF
  • HI-MATIC AF-2
  • AF-DL / FREEDOM DL
  • WEATHERMATIC 35 DL
  • ZOOM 60
  • RIVA ZOOM 75 w / FREEDOM ZOOM 75w
  • RIVA ZOOM 90 EX / FREEDOM ZOOM 90 EX
  • RIVA ZOOM 105i / FREEDOM ZOOM 105i
  • RIVA ZOOM 110 / FREEDOM ZOOM 110
  • RIVA ZOOM 115 EX / FREEDOM ZOOM 115 EX
  • RIVA ZOOM 130 / FREEDOM ZOOM 130
  • RIVA ZOOM 140 EX / FREEDOM ZOOM 140 EX
  • RIVA ZOOM 150 / FREEDOM ZOOM 150

and a lot more like that

newer Minolta zoom cameras, see Konica Minolta

Minolta APS Film Cameras

Minolta APS Film SLR Cameras

Minolta APS Film Compact Cameras

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Minolta 120 Film Cameras

Minolta 4.5x6 Folding Cameras

  • Auto Minolta
  • Auto Minolta I
  • Auto Semi Minolta
  • Auto Semi Minolta IIIA
  • Auto Semi Minolta P
  • Semi Minolta I
  • Semi Minolta II

Minolta 6x6 Collapsible Camera

Minolta 6x6 TLR Twin Lens Reflex Cameras

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  • Minolta Autocord
  • Minolta Autocord CDS I
  • Minolta Autocord CDS II
  • Minolta Autocord CDS III
  • Minolta Autocord I
  • Minolta Autocord II
  • Minolta Autocord III
  • Minolta Autocord L
  • Minolta Autocord MXS
  • Minolta Autocord MXV
  • Minolta Autocord RA
  • Minolta Autocord RB
  • Minolta Autocord RG
  • Minolta Autocord RI
  • Minolta Miniflex
  • Minoltacord
  • Minoltaflex
  • Minoltaflex Automat
  • Minoltaflex I
  • Minoltaflex II
  • Minoltaflex IIB
  • Minoltaflex III

Minolta 127 Film Cameras

4x6.5 folding

Minolta 4x6.5 Collapsible Cameras

Minolta 4x4 TLR Twin Lens Reflex Camera

Minolta Plate Film Cameras

Minolta 6.5x9 Folding Bed Cameras

  • Nifca Klapp
  • Nifca Sport
  • Arcadia
  • Happy Hand
  • Happy Hand -- type S
  • Sirius

Minolta 6.5x9 Strut Folding Cameras

  • Nifca Dox
  • Minolta
  • Auto Press Minolta

Minolta 16mm Film Cameras

Minolta 16mm Film SLR Cameras

  • Minolta Auto-Zoom-X

Minolta 16mm Film Subminiature Cameras

  • Minolta 16
  • Minolta 16 Automat
  • Minolta 16 Cds
  • Minolta 16 EE
  • Minolta 16 EE2
  • Minolta 16 II
  • Minolta 16 MG
  • Minolta 16 MGS
  • Minolta 16 P
  • Minolta 16 Ps
  • Minolta 16 QT
  • Minolta Sonocon 16 MB-ZA

Minolta Disc Film Cameras

  • Minolta ac 101 Courreges
  • Minolta ac 301 Courreges
  • Minolta Disc-5
  • Minolta Disc-7
  • Minolta Disc-S
  • Minolta Disc-K

Minolta 110 Film Cameras

Minolta 110 Film SLR Cameras

Minolta 110 Film Pocket/Compact Cameras

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  • Pocket Autopak 200
  • Pocket Autopak 250
  • Pocket Autopak 270
  • Pocket Autopak 430-E
  • Pocket Autopak 430-EX
  • Pocket Autopak 440-EX
  • Pocket Autopak 450-E
  • Pocket Autopak 450-EX
  • Pocket Autopak 460-T
  • Pocket Autopak 460-TX
  • Pocket Autopak 50
  • Pocket Autopak 70
  • Pocket Pak 40
  • Pocket Pak 440-E
  • Pocket Pak 60
  • Weathermatic A underwater camera

Minolta 126 Film Cameras

  • Minolta Autopak 400-X
  • Minolta Autopak 500 / Ilford Monarch / Revuematic 500
  • Minolta Autopak 550
  • Minolta Autopak 600-X
  • Minolta Autopak 700
  • Minolta Autopak 800
  • Revere 3M Automatic 1034

Minolta Instant Film Cameras

Links

Camerapedia page of Minolta related links

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