The Minolta camera - history

The Minolta Camera Company was founded in Osaka, Japan in 1928 by Mr Kazuo Tashima as the Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shokai, or, The Japan-German Camera Company. In the following decades this innovative manufacturer underwent significant expansion and name changes becoming, in 1962, Minolta Camera Co Ltd., which was also involved in the design and manufacture of office photo copiers and printing machines.

During its lifetime and before the amalgamation with another Japanese camera producer, Konica, when it became Konica-Minolta in the early part of the 21st Century, Minolta Camera Co Ltd., is estimated to have made more than 40 million cameras.

Among the many different models it produced, Minolta is best known perhaps for its ground breaking 35mm film SR and X series single lens reflex cameras like the SR-1 of 1959 and the XK of 1973. The Minolta XD-7 (XD-11 in the USA and XD in Japan), was the world's first 35mm multi-mode exposure measuring slr; many of the design features of the Minolta XE-1 were incorporated into the first electronic shutter controlled 35mm slr produced by E.Leitz of Germany as the Leica R3 and Leitz also launched several lenses for their Leica slr systems originally designed and produced by Minolta.

Minolta also made sub miniature and compact full frame 35mm rangefinder and half frame cameras such as the Minolta 16 EE, the 110 Zoom slr, the Minolta Repo and the Minolta Hi-Matic 7 as well as a number of twin lens reflex medium format Minoltaflex cameras modelled on Rolleiflex and Rolleicord designs.

Minolta launched the world's first fully auto-focus 35mm slr with the Maxxum 7000 in 1985, developing the system into the Dynax series with a full range of high class wide angle and telephoto lenses. But the company was slow to develop digital capture technology. With the decline in sales of 35mm film cameras, Konica-Minolta was forced to quit the camera manufacturing business, selling its digital camera and lens making technology to the Sony Corporation who now offer for sale a range of full frame and APS-C format digital Dslr cameras compatible with many Minolta branded auto focus lenses dating back to 1985.