Minolta Autopak 800

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In 1969, when Neil Armstrong set his foot onto the moon, there was a great demand for easy-to-use cameras on Earth, that may had been set off some years earlier by Kodak's film cartridge systems. The Minolta Autopak 800 was a rangefinder camera for Kodak 126 film cartridges, the ones for the squarish exposure format. It had a built-in mechanical clockwork for automatic film advance that could be wound up for making a series of 12 exposures. Alike many other cameras for 126 film cassettes it had a connector for flash cubes on top that turned 90 degrees after each exposure to get the next of four single-usage flash bulbs into working position.

• Type: viewfinder camera
• Manufacturer: Minolta
• Year of launch: 1969
• Film: Kodak 126 film cartridges
• Lens: 1:2.8/38mm (4 elements)
• Viewfinder: bright frame finder with coupled rangefinder
• Shutter: speeds 1/45 sec. in flash mode, otherwise 1/90 sec.
• Aperture: automatically controlled by a CdS light sensor over the lens
• Film advance: clockwork motor
• Dimensions: 125×78×58mm
• Weight: 520 g