Tag: Minolta

What is it? This is a Minolta Auto Wide 35mm camera made by Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko K.K. in 1958.  It was a scale focus camera that had a unique combination of a wide angle lens, a coupled selenium exposure meter, and a unique click stop focus system to simplify focus and exposure…

What is it? This is a Minolta Uniomat III 35mm rangefinder camera made by the Minolta Camera Company between the years 1963 – 1965.  It is the third model in Minolta’s Uniomat series which was also sold in the US as the Ansco Anscoset.  The Uniomat series is an early example of…

What is it? This is a Minolta SR-7 Single Lens Reflex camera made by Minolta Co., Ltd. between the years 1962 and 1966.  It was the last in Minolta’s original SR-series of SLR cameras which started with the SR-2 in 1958.  The SR-7 is a historically significant camera as it…

This is a Minolta X-570 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera which first went on sale in April, 1983.  It was called the X-500 in Europe in Asia.  The X-500 was available in both chrome and black, but the X-570 was black only.  The X-570 was considered to be a “step down”…

This is a Minolta A5-1000 35mm rangefinder camera equipped with a 4 element Rokkor-TD 45mm f/2.8 lens and a Citizen leaf shutter capable of speeds as fast as 1/1000th of a second.  This was an uncommon speed for a leaf shutter and meant that this relatively simple camera could shoot…

What is it? This is a Minolta Hi-Matic 7s rangefinder camera built by Minolta Camera K.K around 1966.  The Hi-Matic 7s is an evolution of the original Hi-Matic from 1962 which was one of the very first Japanese cameras with full auto exposure.  The 7s added several important features like full…