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COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 by Joe McGloin. All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

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ZITATBOOKS DEALING WITH MINOLTA CAMERAS

* Joseph D. Cooper, Minolta-16 Camera Guide, 1960 -- This is a fairly confusing publication for people. There are three books that deal with Minolta subminis -- the first was Minolta Camera Guide by Kenneth Tydings in 1959 which dealt with all Minolta camera models at the time, including the Minolta 16 (model I). Shortly after that Joe Cooper authored the Minolta-16 Camera Guide which dealt only with 16mm models (at that time, just the model I and model II). Later Ted Rosenberg came out with the Minolta 16 Guide which covered all of the Minolta 16 models. No wonder so many people are confused. Cooper's book covered Minolta models up to 1960 -- the 16 I and the 16II. It is a great book for those models and covers general submini technique very well -- like all of Joe's books. It has 112 pages.

* Joseph D. Cooper, The Minolta Guide, 1959 -- This was Cooper's first book on Minolta cameras and covered all of Minolta's camera models available in 1959 -- TLR's, SLR's, 35mm rangefinders and the Minolta 16 I. In many ways it is a general book on photography, but discusses the details as they pertain to Minolta cameras. It is a great book for those models and covers general submini technique very well -- like all of Joe's books. The last chapter is dedicated to the Minolta 16 I. It has 160 pages.

* Joseph D. Cooper, Official Minolta SR Manual, 1965 -- The book details the operation of Minolta's SR-1, SR-2, SR-3 and SR-7 cameras, Minolta lenses, close-up and macrophotography, flash photography, underwater photography, Minolta's meters and general information. It has 208 pages.

* Joseph D. Cooper, Minolta SR Pocket Companion, 1965 -- This books covers the SR-1, SR-7, ER, plus accessories. It is a tiny, pocket-sized book, yet has many tables of filter factors, close-up distances, lens compatability in the appendix, and a grey card in the back. It has 127 pages.

* Joseph D. Cooper, Minolta System Handbook, 1972 through 1976 -- The bible of SR-T cameras, it came in two editions. The last was available as a book or in a two-binder format. This is a very comprehensive reference, plus much useful photographic technique. In addition, it contains basically every Minolta camera and lens up to the date of publishing, Leica copies, TLRs, etc.

* W.D. Emanuel, SR Guide, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979 -- Better known for his Minox Guides, Emanuel delved into Minolta cameras as well. Eleven editions were published covering the Minolta models of the day. The last edition covers models up to the XK and XE-7. It has 92 pages.

* Harry Hennings, Complete User's Guide Minolta X-370(n) & X-700 -- Just one in a series of books from Hove Press. Very similar to the Magic Lantern books.

* Herbert Kaspar, Complete Minolta User's Guide, 1990 -- An updated version of the Hennings book, it covers the X-300s, X-700, X-370n and X-9.

* Barbara London, A Short Course in Minolta Photography, 1979, 1981 -- This book covers the XK, XD, XG and SRT200 series, but it is not an in-depth Minolta book. It's more of a general ‘How to take better pictures,’ with a small amount of Minolta-specific information. The first edition has 136 pages and covers the XK and SRT, XD and XG series. The second edition has 148 pages and adds the X-700 to the line-up.

* Robert Mayer, Magic Lantern Guides Minolta Classic Cameras, 1995 -- Just one in a series of books from Hove Press. Mainly covers the auto-focus cameras, but some material on the SRT series and XD-11. Very similar to the Hove books.

* Minolta Corp, The Complete Minolta SLR Camera & Accessory Guide , 1983, 1989 -- The first edition covers the Minolta X-700, X-570, XG-A and XG-1 manual focus cameras and Minolta lenses and accessories. It tells you everything you need to know about these cameras & lenses - How to use them, How they work, What lenses you should use, How to do special effects, How to do all sorts of photography and more. Published by Minolta - so you know it's accurate and dependable information. The second edition introduces the Maxxum 7000 camera, but primarily covers the X-700, X-570 and X-370. Because it tries to cover the manual-focus and auto-focus cameras, it falls short with both. But it does cover general photography adequately. 168 pages in both editions.

* John Neubauer, Minolta SRT Manual, 1971,1974 -- Covers the early SRT cameras and lenses. The first edition covers up to the SRT101, while the second edition covers up to the SRT102 and the newer MC Rokkor lenses. Even though the XK was available before the SRT102, this book does not cover that model. Maybe they preferred not to change the title.

* Ted Rosenberg, Minolta 16 Guide, 1973 -- This is a fairly confusing publication for people. There are three books that deal with Minolta subminis -- the first was Minolta Camera Guide by Kenneth Tydings in 1959 which dealt with all Minolta camera models at the time, including the Minolta 16 (model I). Shortly after that Joe Cooper authored the Minolta-16 Camera Guide which dealt only with 16mm models (at that time, just the model I and model II). Later Ted Rosenberg came out with the Minolta 16 Guide which covered all of the Minolta 16 models. If you have a Minolta, you need this book.

* Clyde Reynolds, The Minolta Way, 1979 -- Subtitled "The Minolta SLR Photographer's Companion," it was published by The Focal Press in 1979. There are 14 chapters covering various basic and intermediate photography topics as they pertain to Minolta's then current range of cameras. It doesn't cover every camera, but it covers all SLRs up to the XD and XG series. Very in-depth.

* Clyde Reynolds, The Minolta XE-7 and SR-T Book, 1975 -- Like it says, it covers the XE-7 and SR-T cameras. Think of it as an expanded owner's manual with lots of details and drawings.

* Rick Sammom, Minolta XG's, 1980 -- From a series of books, all very similar. They contain sections on Minolta accessories and lenses, camera care, and photographic techniques. The front part of each book is specific to the camera series named, while most of the rest is identical in every book. This is a pocket-sized book from Amphoto with 128 pages.

* Rick Sammom, Minolta XD's, 1980 -- From a series of books, all very similar. They contain sections on Minolta accessories and lenses, camera care, and photographic techniques. The front part of each book is specific to the camera series named, while most of the rest is identical in every book. This is a pocket-sized book from Amphoto with 128 pages.

* Rick Sammom, Minolta SR-T's, 1980 -- From a series of books, all very similar. They contain sections on Minolta accessories and lenses, camera care, and photographic techniques. The front part of each book is specific to the camera series named, while most of the rest is identical in every book. This is a pocket-sized book from Amphoto with 128 pages.

* Carl Shipman, How to select and use Minolta SLR Cameras, 1980, 1982, 1985 -- There are many printings of this book, but three distinct revisions. The 1980 version covers the XK, XD, XG and SRT200 series. It has sections on the Minolta 110 Zoom SLR and the Mark II, as well. In 1982, the X-700, XG-A and XG-M were added while the XG-9, XG-7, SRT series, XK Motor, and 110 Zoom SLR (not Mark II) were dropped. The 1985 version added the X-570 and X-370, and dropped the XG-A and XG-1. This is a well-liked book.

* William Steinberg, Minolta Twin-Lens Reflex Guide, 1968 -- Covers the Autocord III and CdS III only, plus a bit of technique. Has 96 pages.

* Kenneth Tydings, Minolta Camera Guide, 1959 -- This is a fairly confusing publication for people. There are three books that deal with Minolta subminis -- the first was Minolta Camera Guide by Kenneth Tydings in 1959 which dealt with all Minolta camera models at the time, including the Minolta 16 (model I). Shortly after that Joe Cooper authored the Minolta-16 Camera Guide which dealt only with 16mm models (at that time, just the model I and model II). Later Ted Rosenberg came out with the Minolta 16 Guide which covered all of the Minolta 16 models. No wonder so many people are confused. Tyding's book covers all of Minolta's camera models available in 1959 -- TLR's, SLR's, 35mm rangefinders and the Minolta 16 I. In many ways it is a general book on photography, but discusses the details as they pertain to Minolta cameras. It has 128 pages. Two editions exist, both from 1959, and they are nearly identical.

* John Wolf, Minolta SR-T 101/100 Guide, 1972 -- This was John's first Minolta guide. At the time, he was the Editor-in-Chief at Amphoto. This book appeared just before the SRT102 and XK cameras. So it only covers the SRT101 and SRT100 in 128 pages. Starting with a general introduction to the Minolta System, the book goes on to explore all the Minolta 35mm reflex cameras of the time. Chapters are then devoted to the broad range of lenses and the many other Minolta accessories, providing details and specifications where needed. Although the initial emphasis is on the mechanical aspects of the equipment, the book's main objective is to show you how to make pictures that reflect your photographic prowess. It's hard to find and was quickly replaced by his Official Minolta SR-T Guide (see below). This book should not be confused with the later Minolta Guide from the same author (see below). There are 128 pages.

* John Wolf, Official Minolta SR-T Guide, 1974 -- This is an update to the Minolta SR-T 101/100 Guide of 1972. The 1974 edition adds in the SRT 102, so it it very similar to the original. The 1977 edition adds in later electronic models so it is expanded. Starting with a general introduction to the Minolta System, the book goes on to explore all the Minolta 35mm reflex cameras of the time. Chapters are then devoted to the broad range of lenses and the many other Minolta accessories, providing details and specifications where needed. Although the initial emphasis is on the mechanical aspects of the equipment, the book's main objective is to show you how to make pictures that reflect your photographic prowess. There are 128 pages.

* John Wolf, Minolta Reflex Photography, 1977 -- Basically a renaming of the Official Minolta SR-T Guide second edition (1977). It covers the XK, XE-7, and SRT200 series in 192 pages. Starting with a general introduction to the Minolta System, the book goes on to explore all the Minolta 35mm reflex cameras of the time. Chapters are then devoted to the broad range of lenses and the many other Minolta accessories, providing details and specifications where needed. Although the initial emphasis is on the mechanical aspects of the equipment, the book's main objective is to show you how to make pictures that reflect your photographic prowess.

* John Wolf, The Minolta Guide, 1979 -- This is a Modern Camera Guide Series book. Chapters include: The Minolta Single-Lens Reflex Cameras; Operating the Cameras; Lenses; Minolta Accessories; Films and Filters; Basic Photography. It covers the XK, XD-11, XG-7 and SRT200 series. Think of it as an updated version of the Minolta Reflex Photography. This should not be confused with the Minolta SR-T 101/100 Guide from the same author (see above).

RETURN TO THE MANUAL MINOLTA HOME PAGEWe didin't want to do this, but since other websites have been stealing our stuff, we have no alternative but to state:
COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 by Joe McGloin.

All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.

The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

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ZITATMINOLTA HISTORY

THE TWENTIES

Minolta was formed in 1928, as the Nichi-Doku (which means "Japan-German" Shashinki Shokai ("Photographic Company" by Mr. Kazuo Tashima. It was appropriately named since the first camera, the Nicalette of 1929,

had a German-made lens and a German-made shutter.

THE THIRTIES

In 1931, the name of the company was changed to "Molta Goshi Kaisha", and the name "Minolta" was legally registered which means "ripening rice fields". In the 1930s, cameras were large and bulky. The most popular cameras folded up for easy storage and transport. So in 1934, Minolta made the Vest.

a folding camera with a difference. Up to this point, folding cameras always used leather bellows which were relatively expensive. Minolta was the first to use a system of plastic sections in decreasing size that collapsed into each other, making the camera small and inexpensive.

Also poular in the 1930s were the TLR cameras. Minolta's first camera of this design was the Minoltaflex of 1934.

It stood out because it was the first TLR made in Japan to have a double-exposure prevention mechanism.

Also in 1934, Minolta created the first Japanese camera to use the 6x4.5cm format. This was the Semi Minolta I.

In 1937, "Minolta" changed its name once again, this time to "Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko". It was also the year that Minolta started to manufacture some of its own lenses. Before this, it obtained most of its optics from Asahi -- Japan's largest glass maker.

THE FORTIES

The first Minolta-made lens with the "Rokkor" name appeared in 1940 on a portable aerial camera used for military purposes. The "Rokkor" name was in honor of Mt. Rokko, which could be seen from the Minolta plant. The lens was a 200mm f4.5 Rokkor copied after the Gernam Zeiss-Tessar design. Minolta's military sales soon helped it build its first separate optical plant in 1942. But by the end of WWII, the Japanese economy was in ruins. Minolta was relatively quick in recovering and produced the first post-war camera in Japan -- the Minolta Semi IIIa -- in 1946.

In the same year, they produced the first coated lenses in Japan. The next year, 1947, Minolta began making a long-lived series of Leica copies using the new 35mm format. These were simply called "Minolta 35"

and helped establish Minolta as an important player in the photographic realm.

THE FIFTIES

In 1950, a Japanese company named "Konan" began producing a tiny 16mm camera -- the Konan Automat. Soon after, due to financial problems, they sold the rights to Minolta -- which redesigned it and started selling the Minolta Automat 16 in 1955. Two years later, they redesigned it again and created the legendary Minolta 16.

This camera has a number of misconception about it. It was a very common camera and many people assume, for some unknown reason, that it was the only 16mm camera that Minolta made. Others assume that this was the first 16mm camera that Minolta made. Then others spread rumors that this camera was officially used by the CIA, FBI, KGB, James Bond, Gordon Liddy, etc. All of these notions are way off-base. This camera first appeared in 1957 and was made until 1960 when it was replaced by the Minolta 16 (model II) It has a 25mm lens with f-stops from f3.5 to f11. It also has three speeds of 1/25, 1/50, and 1/200. The camera was available in seven stunning colors -- chrome, black, gold/yellow, blue, red, purple/magenta and green. The camera sold for just $9.95 and became so popular that it led to a wide variety of Minolta 16mm cameras until the mid-1970s. In many ways it laid the groundwork for the later 110 and disc cameras of the 1970's and 80's -- small, compact cameras that can go anywhere.

But back to the 1950's. In 1955. Minolta unveiled the first Japanese camera to be fitted with an EV-based exposure meter -- the Autocord L. And in 1958, it produced the first Japanese camera with a a fully-integrated, internal, coupled, meter -- the Autowide. Taking pictures was getting easier, and easier.

By 1958, the Japanese camera industry was exploding with energy. In this year, Minolta pioneered the first Achromatic Coating -- two layers of magnesium fluoride deposited in different thicknesses to radically reduce glare and flare. In reality it was the world's first multi-coating. At the same time, other companies started marketing their new SLR cameras, such as the Asahiflex, Pentaflex, Miranda T, Topcon R and Zunow. These SLRs were selling quite well around the world despite having to compete with quality German SLR cameras. At the time, Minolta was a recognized camera company, but they didn't make an SLR camera. Their sales were mainly in TLRs, Leica copies and 16mm subminiature cameras. The SR-2 was Minolta's first venture into the world of the SLR.

It was a giant gamble for Minolta. Marketing an SLR -- a very expensive proposition -- would mean disaster for the company if it were a flop! Minolta understood this, and made an SLR that was a giant leap ahead for the company -- and for the marketability of the SLR camera in the world of photography. Sure, other companies offered SLR cameras with interchangeable lenses, but these cameras were rather clumsy to use. They lacked most of the convenience features that we take for granted today. For example, most SLR cameras of the time lacked an instant return mirror. After each picture, the mirror remained in the "up" position and the viewfinder was blacked-out until the film was advanced.

In addition, mechanically, lenses were much simpler and not coupled to the camera in any way. Today, we call these lenses, "manual lenses". Whenever the lens was stopped-down, the camera viewfinder got dark. Using small f-stops was a real challenge as the viewfinder quickly became useless. Manufacturers "solved" the problem in one of two ways -- each more awkward than the other. One approach, sometimes referred to as "semi-automatic", required the SLR photographer to cock the lens -- moving a lever on the side of the lens to set it at the largest f-stop -- after cocking the shutter on the camera. This kept the lens open to the maximum aperture until the picture was taken. A small lever in the camera released the lens just before the exposure was taken. But separately cocking the shutter and the lens was time-consuming and awkward. The other approach is referred to as "pre-set". These lenses have the standard aperture ring, but add a "pre-set" ring right next to it. On the aperture ring, you dial in the f-stop you want to use for the exposure, but leave the pre-set ring at full aperture. This set-up let's you compose and focus with the lens wide-open. Then, just before taking the picture, the pre-set ring is turned -- which stops the lens down. As with "semi-automatic" lenses, it's pretty awkward and prone to errors. First, fast, spontaneous pictures are impossible. And if you forget to turn the pre-set ring, the exposure is way off. Another problem with early SLR lenses was attaching and removing them from the camera. This was yet another, rather awkward, time-consuming process -- and best accomplished with three hands!

By 1958 Minolta had figured out how to make an easy-to-use SLR, and they hit the ground running. Other manufacturers had to scramble to keep up. It's no secret that the Minolta SR-2 completely changed SLR photography, and made it the wave of the future. That's why it's listed in the book, "The Evolution of the Japanese Camera" (published by the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York) as one of the most important cameras in photographic history. The SR-2 made awkward lenses and blacked-out viewfinders things of the past. All of a sudden SLR cameras were actually fun to use instead of being too technically challenging for most people to master.

With the SR-2, the camera body offers automatic control of the lens diaphragm. This means that the lens remains at full aperture regardless of the f-stop selected -- and without the need to "cock" the lens. The camera stops-down the lens to the chosen f-stop automatically, at the instant of exposure, and the lens is "cocked" automatically when the film is advanced. It's no big deal today, but at the time it was a huge achievement. Actually, the diaphragm action on the SR-2 is best referred to as "semi-automatic". After an exposure, the aperture does not return to it's fully-open position. It is necessary to advance the film for the automatic diaphragm to become engaged. But since the camera lacks a depth-of-field button, this allowed you to check the depth-of-field before advancing the film. In addition, the SR-2 features an instant return mirror. It is no longer necessary to advance the film to see your subject at the maximum f-stop setting. For the first time, these features made using an SLR camera a much more pleasant experience, and pictures could be taken much more quickly.

Finally, the SR-2 had a new, easy to use, bayonet lens mount. Instead of the awkward, time-consuming screw-mounts and breech-mounts used by other manufacturers, the SR-2 offered a quick, three-pronged, bayonet mount. This mount is so simple that it is easy to use with a single hand, and only requires a quick, 54 degree turn to lock the lens in place. Pre-setting anything on the lens or the camera was no longer needed -- well, at least as long as you owned a Minolta! Changing lenses can be done in an instant, even in the dark, making spontaneous SLR photography a reality -- finally.

The SR-2 had a winning combination of features: an instant return mirror with semi-automatic lenses -- only the second Japanese camera to accomplish this feat. Within a decade, Minolta had taken on the "big boys" in photography and was at the forefront of the industry.

THE SIXTIES

By 1961, the writing was on the wall. The Japanese photographic industry had to produce a 35mm SLR with interchangeable lenses AND a built-in meter -- and FAST! Canon did it with the Canonflex RM in 1961, but it had an unresponsive selenium meter. In 1962, Minolta was able to step-up to the plate and market the amazing SR-7.

This was the first Minolta SLR with interchangeable lenses AND and built-in meter. It was a CDS meter to boot! In fact, it was the first Japanese SLR to accomplish this feat. Minolta was once again at the leading edge of the Japanese 35mm SLR market. In this model, the large, external, clip-on meter of the earlier SR-3 is moved inside the camera body, but the size of the camera body did not increase -- a rather remarkable achievement. Admittedly, the meter was not TTL, and the meter readout was on the top of the camera, but it was still quite an accomplishment for the time. To top it off, the meter was coupled to the shutter speed, so exposure adjustment was very easy. First, dial the film speed into the meter. Then select a shutter speed that's appropriate for the subject and setting. Next, point the camera at the subject and the meter's needle points to the correct f-stop. Exposure was never so quick. The SR-7 has a "dual-range" exposure meter. Normally, a metal plate with a tiny hole sits in front of the meter's CDS sensor, which is for high range (i.e. high luminance) readings. By pressing a button on the back of the camera, the plate exposes the full sensor (for poorly lit situations), which also brings up another scale on the meter's f-stop display. So the camera could operate in bright conditions and in very low light, something cameras with built-in selenium meters simply couldn't do. In addition, this camera included a mirror lockup for use with the new super-wide Minolta Rokkor 21mm lens. One of the drawbacks to the use of SLR cameras -- at the time -- was the lack of any wide, wide-angle lenses. A 28mm lens was as wide as you could expect to find on an SLR. The problem was that a super-wide lens had to be so deeply recessed into the camera body that the SLR's mirror would be blocked from moving out of the light path by the back of the lens. (This was not a problem with other types of cameras, such as rangefinders because they lacked the reflex mirror.) Minolta came up with an innovative solution and built a mirror lock-up into the SR-7. By moving the mirror up and out of the way, deeply recessed lenses could be used. Since the mirror was now in the "up" position, the viewfinder was blacked-out and the subject could not be viewed, but Minolta solved this problem by including separate viewfinders with their super-wide 21mm lenses. The viewfinder slips into the flash shoe and shows you, approximately, what will be recorded on the film. But the lock-up feature was not needed for long. The development of retro-focus (inverted telephoto) lenses negated the need for the mirror lock-up and the 21mm lens was the only lens that Minolta made that required the use of the mirror lockup. Minolta would go on to make lenses as short as 7.5mm that do not have a recessed design and do not need the mirror lock-up. But the lockup device continued to appear on many Minolta SLR camera bodies and is useful for other reasons, such as reducing vibrations in macro- and tele-photography.

Also in the early 1960's Minolta made improvements to their line of 16mm cameras. One, the Sonocon, was a combination of a 16mm camera and a transistor radio! In another model, the Minolta 16 EE, for the first time, Minolta offered a 16mm camera with a built-in meter -- AND automatic exposure (shutter-preferred). The size and weight of this 16mm camera was increased substantially, since it had a meter (selenium) and several other new features. The camera used a "manual-programmed/shutter preferred" exposure method. Minolta was soon to come out with an improved version featuring a CDS meter -- the Minolta 16 EE2.

At about the same time, Minolta started making half-frame cameras, such as the Repo, and, for the first time, Minolta was offering a 35mm camera with true automatic exposure -- the Hi-matic.

Although this camera looked the same as previous Minolta rangefinders, it was radically different. It has a built-in selenium meter (EV 8 - 16) that provided programmed automatic exposure of both the aperture and shutter speed from 1/30 at f2.8 to 1/250 at f16. It also offered limited manual exposures setting for flash use -- at 1/60 the f-stops could be set manually. There is even a B setting for timed exposures. Built-in coupled rangefinder, self-timer, cold flash shoe, cable release, tripod socket and PC contact. The Hi-matic can be found with both "Chiyoda Kogaku" or "Minolta" engraving, since Chiyoko changed their name to the Minolta Camera Co. in 1962. A modified Hi-Matic was the first camera in space, taken aboard Friendship 7 by John Glenn.

And by 1966, Minolta had finally "done it". It began production of an SLR with a TTL meter, operating with a fully-automatic aperture and interchangeable lenses -- the revolutionary SRT101.

It took the industry by storm and blew away the competition. Sure, there were lots of other German and Japanese 35mm SLR cameras that had auto-diaphragms, interchangeable lenses, and even built-in, TTL meters, but all of them had at least one major drawback. For example, the other camera companies at the time, that were offereing TTL metering, were using awkward, stop-down metering systems, such as the Asahi Spotmatic of 1964, the Nikon Nikkormat of 1965, the Canon FT of 1966 and the Mamiya 1000TL of 1966. So even if their camera sported an auto-diaphragm, the photographer still had to stop-down the lens in order to take a meter reading. In this metering approach, you press a switch on the camera body which stops-down the lens and activates the meter. Only at that point can the meter take a reading. Not only is this process awkward, it defeats the whole purpose of having an automatic lens -- to keep the lens open and the viewfinder bright until the instant of the exposure!

The biggest technical obstacle to developing a TTL metering system with fully automatic lenses is that the meter in the camera needs to know the f-stop setting on the lens -- because an automatic lens always stays at it maximum aperture. The lens and the camera have to be able to "talk" to each another. For most other camera manufacturers, the f-stop ring was placed in the middle or at the front of the lens. This made linking the f-stop ring and the camera's TTL metering system a difficult challenge. For most companies, this would mean redesigning their entire line of SLR lenses. Instead, they offered the consumer stop-down metering, and hoped they wouldn't mind.

Minolta was able to avoid the whole problem of "stop-down" metering because they happened to design most of their Auto-Rokkor lenses -- from the very beginning -- with the aperture ring next to the camera body. By placing a small lug on the Auto-Rokkor f-stop ring, and placing a matching spring-loaded pin on the SRT101 camera body, the problem was solved. The lens conveys the selected f-stop to the camera meter as the aperture ring is turned. A 4mm change in the f-stop ring on the lens changes the TTL meter reading in the camera by one f-stop. The meter is then able to determine the appropriate shutter speed -- for that scene, shutter speed and film speed -- while the lens diaphragm stays open at its maximum setting. This is just one of the reasons why Minolta was able to keep their lens mount the same over all these years, while nearly every other camera manufacturer has had to make significant changes in their lenses.

With this modification, the MC Rokkor lenses were born. Stop-down metering became a thing of the past. Well, at least if you owned a Minolta SRT101! The "MC" in "MC Rokkor" refers to "meter-coupling" -- not "multi-coating", as some people think. These lenses were double-coated, but not multi-coated. The older Rokkor and Auto-Rokkor lenses will fit on the new SRT cameras because the mount is the same, and most will operate correctly, but they cannot couple to the TTL metering system of the SRT101. Metering with non-MC lenses is accomplished in the "stop-down" fashion.

One challenge to the new system was that, since the lenses remain at the maximum aperture regardless of the pre-set f-stop, there is no way for the photographer to view the actual depth-of-field in the viewfinder -- as you could do easily with older lenses by just pressing the built-in DOF button on the lens. Minolta resolved this problem by adding a new DOF (depth-of-field) button to their new SRT101 camera. This was an easy item for Minolta to add since it was a feature that they had already tried out on the Minolta SR777 prototype. In fact, a stop-down button was required on the SR777 since it was designed to use stop-down metering. Pressing the stop-down button, stops an automatic lens down to the pre-set aperture, so that you can view the actual depth-of-field in the viewfinder. On cameras with stop-down metering, this button is called the stop-down metering button, but on Minolta cameras, because it is primarily used to check depth-of-field, it is referred to as the DOF button.

But the new TTL meter and new meter-coupled lenses were not the end of the new features of the Minolta SRT101. That would have been enough to set the industry on fire, but Minolta didn't stop there. The new Minolta TTL meter readout was moved from the top of the camera, as in the SR-7, and was placed inside the viewfinder -- an incredible innovation in miniaturization and convenience. Up until now, photographers would compose the scene in the viewfinder and then have to drop the camera to make exposure adjustments -- and then raise the camera again and re-compose. One word -- S-L-O-W!

In the SRT101, two "needles" were placed on the right-hand side of the viewfinder and connected to the aperture, shutter speed and film speed settings. By changing any of these factors, the needles would match up when the exposure was correct. Just get the needle inside the circle and your exposure will be fine. And to top it off, Minolta added a battery-check tab in the viewfinder, as well as over- and under-metering-range triangles for very bright and very dark situations. Yet another new feature of the SRT101 is that the complete range of shutter speeds (1 second to 1/1,000, plus B) is visible in the viewfinder, so you no longer needed to remove your eye from the viewfinder to adjust the shutter speed -- and take a picture. Other new features included a built-in flash shoe and a switch to turn off the meter -- the latter being a lesson Minolta learned from the SR-7. The other important advances of the SR-7 were retained, such as the mirror lockup for the super-wide 21mm lens, and a self-timer.

Minolta studied thousands of photographs in order to determine the best way to accomplish accurate TTL metering. Different companies had different designs, but Minolta noticed that a large proportion of photographs were really two scenes in one: an upper-half which was often a bright sky, and the lower-half which was typically a darker foreground. Many pictures were incorrectly exposed due to the inclusion of the bright sky which "over-powered" the foreground and caused the meter to underexpose the main subject -- which is usually in the foreground. Minolta devised an innovative solution, with a simple modification to the typical TTL metering system. While most TTL manufacturers used one CDS cell affixed inside the pentaprism, Minolta employed two cells pointed in two directions. This allowed the camera's meter to view, and compare two different areas of the picture. The Minolta engineers determined that the typical exposure could be dramatically improved if the sky-portion of the scene had less effect on the exposure. They were able to accomplish this by having one CDS cell reading the sky (or upper portion of the scene), and a second CDS cell reading the lower-portion of the scene. The brightness of the sky was then easy to control, and no longer overwhelmed the foreground reading. Minolta dubbed the new system "CLC" which stands for "Contrast Light Compensation".

THE SEVENTIES

In the early 1970's, Minolta continued to expand and improve their line of 16mm cameras. In fact, Minolta had the lion's share of the 16mm market. First, they stunned the market with the amazing 16 MG-s in 1970.

Although it was the same size as the previous Minolta 16mm cameras, and used the same film cassette, the images were substantially better because they were bigger! The film format size was increased to 12x17mm -- nearly 50% bigger than the 10x14mm image of the previous models. This was accomplished by using single perforated film instead of double perforated film. The Minolta cassette stayed the same, and the size of the camera did not increase -- quite an accomplishment. The lens was a 4 element, 3 group 23mm (f2.8-16) fixed-focus optic. The focus was set at about 13 feet; the depth-of-field was variable with various close-up lenses (one-built-in) and the f-stop. Shutter speeds of 1/30-1/500. Shutter-preferred automatic and manual exposure modes. This was designed as a "system" camera and had many accessories available: Filters (1A, 80A, Yellow), Closeup Lenses (80cm, 40cm, 25cm), copy stand, spy finder, closeup measuring chains, case, wrist strap, built in closeup lens, built in lens cover, tripod socket, attache case, flash bulb adapter, flash cube adapter, electronic flash adapter.

But what really shocked the photo industry is what Minolta produced in 1972. From 1966 to 1971, the only SLR cameras that Minolta marketed were the incredible SRT101 and the more economical SR-1s & SRT100. These cameras sold well, but Minolta knew that they had to make improvements -- and fast. Specifically, sales of rangefinder cameras were doing much extremely well, compared to SLR cameras, primarily because the rangefinder cameras offered automatic exposure control, while SLR cameras lacked this feature. In short, the rangefinder cameras were smaller, lighter, cheaper and much easier for photographers to use. Just as important, Minolta knew that other camera companies would soon figure out how to add TTL, automatic exposure control to their SLR cameras.

Minolta saw an opening in the market and jumped on it. In late 1972, they marketed the incredible XK camera.

With such a new, advanced feature as automatic exposure control, Minolta targeted the professional camera market, at that time dominated by Nikon and Canon. The XK was the first professional SLR camera with TTL, automatic exposure control. "Revolutionary", was what the reviewers called it at the time. And no wonder! The XK had through-the-lens (TTL) metering, automatic diaphragm lenses, and automatic exposure control. But, it had a lot more than that. Incredibly, it had shutter speeds from 16 seconds to 1/2000, with aperture-preferred, automatic exposure, metered-manual and full manual settings, as well. The photographer now had incredible options for exposure determination. The exposure could be set with a hand-held meter, by matching the needles in the viewfinders (like on the SRT101), or the camera could make the settings for you.

The XK had a complete information viewfinder, but it was a big change from that of the SRT101. This was quite a challenge given the various exposure modes. In the SRT101, the manually-set shutter speed appears on a scale on the bottom of the screen and two needles on the right-hand side match up by changing the f-stop and shutter speed. With the XK, this approach wouldn't work since the shutter speed could be manually-set or autoamtically-set. Minolta devise a screen that incorporated the two "scales" of the SRT101 viewfinder. First, the XK shows the manually selected shutter speed, but the speeds are no longer shown as a line-up across the bottom of the screen. The shutter speeds are now on the right-hand side of the screen, and the manually-set speed appears as a tab on the scale. The big change is that the same shutter speed scale has an additional needle that points to the recommended shutter speed (in manual mode) or to the automatically-selected shutter speed (in auto mode). Lastly, the XK viewfinder also shows the manually selected f-stop -- in a window on the top -- something missing in the SRT101.

On top of the new viewfinder (literally), the XK had interchangeable heads with several interchangeable screens. Plus, the XK had all the other bells and whistles available at the time -- mirror lock-up, DOF button, battery check, self-timer, and more. A completely new, titanium shutter was used, and the camera had a Sensi-switch which turns on the camera effortlessly -- just by picking up the camera. More than twenty-five years later, this camera has more features than most new SLR cameras.

A year later, Minolta produced another stunner -- the CL.

A collaborative camera with Leitz, the CL was designed by Leica in Wetzlar and made by Minolta in Japan. Minolta and Leica always had a love-hate relationship, with Minolta loving Leica cameras and designing several cameras after the Leica models (see above) -- and Leica hating the market share that Minolta was taking away from them. And as production costs continued to rise in Germany, Leica looked for ways to cut costs while expanding their market share. Leica decided to produce a compact Leica (CL) camera that would be less expensive than their existing models. But in order to keep production costs down to a minimum, they needed the camera to be manufactured by an outside company with hi-tech capabilities and low labor costs. They were able to reach an agreement with Minolta, and the CL was born. It's basically a miniaturized Leica M3 with the same bayonet mount. But what made the CL different was the built-in behind the lens meter! Originally, the lenses were supplied by Leica, but things evolved over time, and Minolta eventually made the lenses. The CL was sold in different markets, at different times as the Leica CL and the Minolta CL. Under the manufacturing agreement with Leica, Minolta was allowed to sell the new CL -- in Japan -- as the Leitz-Minolta CL. All of these variations were the same exact camera, but the supplied lens might be a Leica or a Rokkor. This leads to a lot of confusion. The major features include shutter speed and metering information displayed in the viewfinder, built-in rangefinder, interchangeable lenses, hot shoe, compact and lightweight. Sure, it lacked the auto-exposure of the CLE (see below), but it has a full range of shutter speeds (1/1000 to 1/2, plus It has a vertically-styled shutter, similar to the Minolta XE-7 (which was also a collaboration with Leica), but the shutter in the CL is completely battery FREE!

By the early 1970's, the 16mm camera market was so successful that Kodak decided it wanted a piece of the pie. It released its 110 camera line with an enormous media blitz. Millions of people, who had never heard of 16mm cameras, suddenly wanted a tiny camera. It resulted in the death of the 16mm camera, but Minolta was able to get into the 110 camera market immediately. It was easy for them because of their history with 16mm cameras. Unlike most 110 cameras, Minolta only made high quality 110 cameras, like the 110 Zoom SLR of 1976.

It was the first 110 in an SLR design, and only the second with a zoom lens. Fully-automatic, aperture-priority exposure. The lens was a 25 - 50mm (f4.5-16.0) with close-focusing capability (focusing to 11 inches). Speeds of 10 seconds through 1/1000. X (1/150) and B settings. Cds meter (not through-the-lens) with exposure compensation control. LED's in viewfinder warn of over- and under-exposure, and low battery power. Built-in lock on the shutter release, tripod socket, hot shoe, tripod socket, battery check, pop-out lens shade and cable release thread. And sharp, SHARP pictures to boot.

By the late 1970's Minolta was facing new chanllenges. The XK was a superb camera, with automatic exposure, but Minolta had stiff competition from other companies. Other manufacturers were producing cameras with convenience features similar to the XK, but that were significantly smaller and lighter. First, there was the Olympus OM-2 (1975), and then the Pentax ME (1977). Minolta got into the fray -- but with a twist. How about the world's first multi-mode camera which could be set for aperture-preferred or shutter-preferred expsoure automation? That's the XD-11 from 1977.

Plus, Minolta threw in a new, smaller body style with lots of new features. To take advantage of the new shutter-preferred features of this camera, a new line of lenses, the MD Rokkor-X series was introduced.

THE EIGHTIES

When Leica ceased the production of the CL in 1975 (which was actually made in Minolta's factories), Minolta was free to change the CL, and so they improved it to make the CLE of 1981.

And this time they completely dropped the "Leitz" from the name. It was slightly larger than the CL, but boasted TTL metering with both automatic and manual exposure modes. In addition, because it was now a silicone metering cell, the camera was able to offer TTL flash mode -- a breakthrough at that time and the first Minolta camera to offer this feature. The interchangeable lenses are basically the same, but a 28mm (f2.8) lens was added to the line-up. The camera also has a self-timer and hot shoe. Most cameras were in black, but a limited edition gold version was made to celebrate Minolta 3,000,000th camera.

Also in 1981, the top-of-the-line camera from Minolta, the XD-11, was four years old. Minolta decided that what was needed was a camera with an even easier exposure mode, and the X-700 was born.

The big difference is that this is the first Minolta SLR to offer programmed-exposure automation. It also offers aperture-preferred exposure control, metered manual, and manual modes. Thankfully, the shutter-preferred mode was finally laid to rest and gone for good. The X-700 added a new audible signal -- a beep -- when the self-timer was used and when the shutter speed was slow. There are little vents on the top of the pentaprism of the X-700 -- where the beeper is. The ON/OFF switch controls the beeper.

But the X-700 brought other changes as well. For example, the X-700 offers off-the-film (OTF) flash exposure mode. This is a big improvement over a regular flash, and even regular automatic flash, since the light from the flash unit is read through-the-lens (TTL) and is controlled by the meter in the camera. It compensates automatically for any filters or extensions that are on the camera (unlike the earlier X-series flashes that just set the correct shutter speed on the camera automatically and then read the light a few inches above the lens). This feature is GREAT for close-up work, and makes complicated calculations or adjustments a thing of the past.

Also in the early-80's, Minolta got into the disc camera market. It was easy for them because of their history with 16mm and 110 cameras. Unlike most disc cameras, Minolta only made high quality disc cameras, like the Minolta ac 101 Courreges.

In 1985, Minolta developed the world's first auto-focusing SLR -- the MAXXUM -- which was followed by many other auto-focusing SLRs -- from Minolta and from competitors. Unfortunately, unlike other camera companies, Minolta did not retain the lens mount used by its older manual-focus SLR cameras. This led to intense competition as other manufacturers got into the market and wooed former Minolta users. Since their old manual-focus lenses were no longer usable, Minolta had disenfranchised their loyal customers. A few years later, Minolta got into the digital camera market -- repeating the same disaster. Shortly after getting into the digital camera market, the stiff competition forced Minolta to merge with Konica -- another long-lived photographic company in financial trouble. But the marriage was short-lived. In 2006, Konica-Minolta officially announced that they would be dropping out of the photographic market completely -- a sad end to two of Japan's oldest and most innovative photographic companies. Fortunately for Minolta users, there are millions of used cameras and lenses that can be found -- repaired, if necessary -- and used. And Chinese companies, like Seagull, will be making Minolta-compatible cameras for years to come.

RETURN TO THE MANUAL MINOLTA HOME PAGEWe didin't want to do this, but since other websites have been stealing our stuff, we have no alternative but to state:
COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 by Joe McGloin.

All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.

The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

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ZITAT*
Details on ALL of the non-auto-focusing Minolta Cameras
http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/cameras.htm
*
Details on ALL of the non-auto-focusing Minolta Lenses
http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/lenses.htm
*
Details on Minolta's photographic accessories for use with non-auto-focusing gear
http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/other.htm
*
Minolta equipment manuals -- and repair information
http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/manuals.htm
*
Tell us your option of your Minolta gear
http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/survey.htm

We didin't want to do this, but since other websites have been stealing our stuff, we have no alternative but to state:
COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 by Joe McGloin. All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

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ZITATMINOLTA LENSES

Many of Minolta's cameras accept interchangeable lenses. But not all of these are SLR cameras, and not all of the lenses that can be used on these cameras were made or sold by Minolta. The first lenses on Minolta cameras were not made by Minolta. Other companies, such as Asahi, Japan's largest glass manufacturer, supplied the lenses. But Minolta eventually made most of their own lenses and made many innovations in lens design. For example, they produced the first coated lens in Japan, in 1946. Later, Minolta pioneered the first Achromatic Coating -- two layers of magnesium fluoride deposited in different thicknesses -- in 1958.

*
Rangefinder lenses
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*
SLR lenses
http://members.aol.com/xkaes/slrlens.htm
*
Accessory Lenses and adapters
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*
Enlarging lenses
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RETURN TO THE MANUAL MINOLTA HOME PAGE We didin't want to do this, but since other websites have been stealing our stuff, we have no alternative but to state:
COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 by Joe McGloin.

All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.

The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

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ZITATMINOLTA MANUALS AND REPAIR INFORMATION

There are a number of websites where you can obtain manuals for your gear or tips on how to repair your gear.
These websites are not part of MINMAN and we are not responsible for the links.

MANUALS:

* The SUBCLUB (for Minolta's subminiature cameras) -- http://www.subclub.org/index.html
* Free Minolta Manuals Page (for older gear) -- http://www.geocities.com/eskoufos/fmm.html
* Minolta website (for newer gear) -- http://kmpi.konicaminolta.us/eprise/main/k.../Support_Manual

REPAIRS:

* The SUBCLUB (for Minolta's subminiature cameras) -- http://www.subclub.org/index.html
* Mike's Minolta SRT Page -- http://www.willegal.net/photo/photo-first_page.htm
* Minolta Manual Focus SLR Cameras -- http://home.pcisys.net/~rlsnpjs/minolta/toc.html#notes

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ZITATPlease give us your opinion on the Minolta gear with which you are familiar -- or the competition:
Your First Name, Nickname, Screen Name, or Initials:

Camera or Lens (Please be as specific as possible):

Overall Rating of the gear from 1 to 5:
1
horrible 2
usable 3
adequate 4
good 5
great


Overall experience (ex. how & when did you buy it, what can you compare it to, etc.)
none

What do you like about it?
none

What don't you like about it?
none[/quote]

http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/fixlens.htm
ZITATMINOLTA RANGEFINDER LENSES

Minolta made several rangefinder cameras and several series of lenses for them. As a result, the lenses are not necessarily interchangeable between models. These Minolta lenses can be used on other cameras with the same mount -- and the lenses from other manufacturers can be used on these Minolta cameras.

* Minolta I and II -- The lenses for these two series of cameras are interchangeable and are listed together. They all use a Leica thread mount. Lenses from other manufacturers, such as Leica, Canon, Nicca, etc. can be used on these cameras.
o 28mm -- Maximum aperture of f3.5. Has a 40.5mm filter thread.
o 35mm -- Maximum aperture of f3.5. Accessory finder.
o 45mm -- Maximum aperture of f2.8. The first Leica thread Minolta lens. Standard on the model I. Has a 34mm filter thread. There were two versions of theis lens. The earlier version had a focusing lever and a little window in the metal ring surrounding the front element through which the selected aperture is visible. The later version had neither.
o 50mm -- Maximum aperture of f2.8.
o 50mm -- Maximum aperture of f2.0. Standard on the model II.
o 50mm -- Maximum aperture of f1.8. Standard on the model IIB.
o 85mm -- Maximum aperture of f2.8. Accessory finder.
o 100mm -- Maximum aperture of f3.8. Accessory finder.
o 110mm -- Maximum aperture of f5.6. Accessory finder.
o 135mm -- Maximum aperture of f4.0. Accessory finder. Has a 40mm filter thread.
o 135mm -- Maximum aperture of f4.5. Accessory finder.

* Minolta Super A -- The A and the A2 did not have interchangeable lenses but the Super A did. This model had a special breech mount.
o 35mm -- Maximum aperture of f3.5. Apertures to f22. Close focusing to 3.3 feet.
o 50mm -- Maximum aperture of f2.8.
o 50mm -- Maximum aperture of f2.0.
o 50mm -- Maximum aperture of f1.8.
o 85mm -- Maximum aperture of f2.8. 55mm filter thread. Accessory finder.
o 100mm -- Maximum aperture of f3.8. Accessory finder.
o 135mm -- Maximum aperture of f4.5. Accessory finder.

* Minolta A2 LT -- The A and the A2 did not have interchangeable lenses but the A2 LT did. It used a special bayonet mount.
o 45mm -- Maximum aperture of f2.8. Standard on the A2 LT.
o 100mm -- Maximum aperture of f4.8.

* Minolta CL -- Two lenses were made but are seen with both Minolta and Leica markings. All of the 40mm lenses marked "Rokkor" were made in Japan by Minolta, while the 40mm "Summicron-C" lenses were made in Germany by Leitz. The more interesting lens is the 90mm, which although marked "Rokkor" was made in Germany by Leitz. These lenses are useable on other Leica M-mount cameras, and most Leica M-mount lenses are useable on the Minolta CL.
o 40mm M-Rokkor -- Maximum aperture of f2.0 with 40.5mm filter thread.
o 90mm M-Rokkor -- Maximum aperture of f4.0 with 40.5mm filter thread.

* Minolta CLE -- Three lenses were made by Minolta with a Leica bayonet mount. These lenses are useable on other Leica M-mount cameras, and most Leica M-mount lenses are useable on the Minolta CLE.
o 28mm M-Rokkor -- Maximum aperture of f2.8 with 40.5mm filter thread.
o 40mm M-Rokkor -- Maximum aperture of f2.0 with 40.5mm filter thread.
o 90mm M-Rokkor -- Maximum aperture of f4.0 with 40.5mm filter thread. The 90mm is a different optical design than the previous CL 90mm.

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ZITATMINOLTA ACCESSORY LENSES

*
W. Conversion Rokkor

-- Designed exclusively for the Minolta ER SLR. Converts the built-in 45mm lens of the ER to a 35mm lens. It is recommended that only f-stops from f5.6 to f16 be used. Has a 72mm filter thread. Big hunk of glass and hard to find.

*
T. Conversion Rokkor

-- Designed exclusively for the Minolta ER SLR. Converts the built-in 45mm lens of the ER to an 85mm f5.6 lens. It is recommended that only f-stops from f5.6 to f16 be used. Has a 82mm filter thread. Big hunk of glass and hard to find.

*
2X TELE CONVERTER for APO Tele Rokkor 400 5.6

-- Was sold bundled with the 400mm f5.6 APO ROKKOR. Does not change the minimum focus distance. Although this was an MD lens, the converter was MC only. Has five elements in three groups. Optically it is the same as the 200-L and the 300-L.

*
2X TELE CONVERTER 200-L

-- Doubles the focal length of any interchangeable SLR lens. Designed for 200mm lenses and longer. Does not change the minimum focus distance. The converter will couple with any MD lens, it was MC function only. Has five elements in three groups. Optically it is the same as the 2X Tele Converter for APO Tele Rokkor and the 300-L.

*
MD 2X TELE CONVERTER 300S

-- Doubles the focal length of any interchangeable SLR lens. Designed for 300mm lenses and shorter. Does not change the minimum focus distance. Has seven elements in six groups.

*
MD 2X TELE CONVERTER 300L

-- Doubles the focal length of any interchangeable SLR lens. Designed for 300mm lenses and longer. Does not change the minimum focus distance. Has five elements in three groups. Has five elements in three groups. Optically it is the same as the 2X Tele Converter for APO Tele Rokkor and the 200-L.

*
LENS/MONOCULAR CONVERTER

-- Magnifies the focal length of any interchangeable SLR lens by 10X. For example, it turns a 50mm lens into a 500mm telescope. A 500mm lens becomes a 5000mm telescope. This accessory is not designed for use with a camera. It turns your lens into a telescope. Built-in diopter adjustment.

In addition, Minolta made several lens adapters.

Most common is the L (Leica) adapter that allows Leica thread lenses to fit on any manual-focus Minolta camera. Since Minolta camera bodies have a longer back focus than Leica lenses, the Leica thread lenses can only be used for close-up work. But this adapter is more useful for bellows work. It allows you to adapt any enlarging lens to any Minolta bellows for super-quality, super-closeup work.

There was also a later C.E. adapter, which is basically an L adapter with a small, carefully-placed plate to cover up the illumination windows in the Minolta C.E. enlarging lenses.

Minolta also made a P (Pentax) adapter. This allows any lens with a Pentax or Universal screw thread to work on a Minolta camera. Since the back-focus distance is the same, these lenses can be used at any distance.

Minolta also made an E (Exacta) adapter. This allows any lens with an Exacta bayonet to work on a Minolta camera. Since the back-focus distance is the same, these lenses can be used at any distance.

Minolta made a reverse lens adapter. This screws into the filter thread of the lens. It has a Minolta bayonet mount on the other side, so the lens can be placed on the camera body BACKWARDS! Why would you want to do this? It provides extreme close-up focusing with or without a bellows. These were available in 49mm and 55mm thread sizes.

There were also three adapters to convert microscope-threaded lenses onto the Minolta mount. The M adapter was produced in the Leitz/Minolta era for the Photar lenses. It has about 20mm of extension. Later, Minolta made the flat M-1 Adapter for the Minolta Micro Bellows lenses and the M-2 Adapter which has about 40mm of extension, for the same lenses.

There was also a C-Adapter to adapt Minolta mount lenses onto movie cameras with a statndard C-Mount.

Leica also made an adapter that can be useful to Minolta users, especially those that use the CL or CLE cameras. Called the Leitz Ring Nr. 22233, it allows you to place Minolta SLR lenses on Leica and Minolta M-mount cameras. Unlike the Leica to Minolta adapter, this adapter maintains the infinity focus. Similar adapters were made by other companies as well.

There are other types of adapters that Minolta users will find helpful. Many lenses can be used on Minolta cameras that do not have Minolta mounts. For example, Exacta lens can be used with an adapter (see above), and Minolta made an Exacta adapter. Similarly, many lenses were made with a generic T-mount, and these can be used on Minolta cameras if you have a Minolta T mount. There are several types of T mounts, but they all will work on Minolta cameras.

* T -- the original mount. It was made by Tamron, and that's where the "T" comes from. Just screw-in your T-mount lens, and it will fit on any camera. Tamron eventually swicthed to the "Adaptall" system, because other companies copied the T-mount system. T-mount lenses, when used on Minolta cameras, do not offer automatic diaphragm action.
* T2 -- on the original T-mount system you would screw-on the lens and the f-stop ring typically ended up on the bottom of the camera. The T-2 system has three adjuster screws that allows you to rotate the lens and get those f-stops on top. T2-mount lenses, when used on Minolta cameras, do not offer automatic diaphragm action.
* T3 -- offers auto-diaphragm action
* T4 -- offers auto-diaphragm action with meter-coupling
* TX -- offers auto-diaphragm action with meter-coupling with MD function
* Adaptamatic -- Tamron's first mount to offer automatic diapghram action.
* Adaptall -- update to the Adaptamatic offering MC coupling.
* Adaptall-II -- updated to offer MD action

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We didin't want to do this, but since other websites have been stealing our stuff, we have no alternative but to state:
COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 by Joe McGloin.
All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/enlarge.htm
ZITATMINOLTA ENLARGER LENSES

*
25mm 3.5 E Rokkor

-- Came on the Minolta Mini 16 Enlarger. First generation enlarging lens. Chrome body. Designed for 10x14mm negatives.

*
30mm 4.5 E Rokkor

-- Came on the Minolta Mini 16 Enlarger. Apertures to f11. First generation enlarging lens. Chrome body. Designed for 10x14mm negatives.

*
30mm 2.8 CE Rokkor-X

-- A coated, six-element enlarging lens of superb quality for B and W and color enlarging. It is optimized for magnifications of 26X! It sports a standard Leica thread, click-stop override, and illuminated f-stops. Recessed design, so it will work with just about any enlarger. Designed for 10x14mm and 12x17mm negatives.

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ENLA with E Rokkor 30mm f2.8

-- The enla-unit is comprised of a standard subminiature lens with a negative stage, negative holder and condenser assembly to be used in conjunction with a normal enlarger to allow for subminiature enlargements. The normal lens is removed from the enlarger and the enla-unit is screwed-in in its place. The submini negative is then placed in the negative holder of the enla-unit and enlarged on the baseboard. Since the enla-unit has its own condenser assembly and focusing mount, the minimum focusing distance of the enlarger itself is no longer an obstacle to printing. Minolta's Enla has a black body with f-stops from f2.8 through f16.0. Minolta made negative carriers for 10x14mm and 12x17mm negatives. The unit has a focusing ring, so the lens is not focused using the enlarger's normal focusing knob. The unit screws into any Leica-thread (39mm) lens board. Rotating positioning collar at the top. The Minolta ENLA came with a red plastic sheet that could be cut and inserted into the negative carrier of the enlarger to serve as a red safe-light. Designed for 10x14mm and 12x17mm negatives.

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50mm 4.5 E Rokkor

-- First generation enlarging lens. Chrome body. Designed for 24x36mm negatives.

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50mm 2.8 CE Rokkor-X

-- A coated, six-element enlarging lens of superb quality for B and W and color enlarging. It sports a standard Leica thread, click-stop override, and illuminated f-stops. Designed for 24x36mm negatives.

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50mm 2.8 CE Minolta

-- The last Minolta enlarging lens. Like all the other Rokkor lenses, it too lost the Rokkor nmae, and was only called Minolta. But it's really the same lens as the 50mm 2.8 CE Rokkor. Designed for 24x36mm negatives.

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75mm 4.5 E Rokkor

-- First generation enlarging lens. Chrome body. Designed for 6x6cm negatives.

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80mm 5.6 CE Rokkor-X

-- A coated, six-element enlarging lens of superb quality for B and W and color enlarging. It sports a standard Leica thread, click-stop override, and illuminated f-stops. Designed for 6x6cm and 6x7cm negatives.

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105mm 4.5 E Rokkor

-- First generation enlarging lens. Chrome body. Designed for 6x9cm negatives.

In addition, Minolta made several enlargers from 16mm to medium format.

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ZITATMINOLTA SLR LENSES

There are a lot of Minolta-related websites out there in cyberland. And there are a lot of websites with lists of the many, manually-focusing Minolta lenses. But none of them is as complete as the lists on this web site. It would be bad enough if the shortcomings of other websites were only the incomplete nature of their lists. There are other problems as well. For example, every other website lists incorrect lens information. On MINMAN, you will find the most complete AND the most accurate lens information on manually-focusing, non-digital Minolta lenses ANYWHERE.

Mr. Kazuo Tashima, the founder of Minolta, decided on a name for his camera lenses while gazing out his office window one day. Looking over the ripening rice fields (Minolta, pronouced Min-o-ROO-ta, means "ripening rice fields", he saw Mount Rokko was in the distance, and so the Rokkor name was born. Minolta made SLR lenses in several series with several features evolving over the years. The various series of lenses can be confusing in features, but also in their timelines. Most lenses evolved over time, so that the same lens at the beginning of a lens series did not look like the same lens at the end of the lens series. In addition, most lenses were not made during the entire time period of the series in which they were made. A good example, is the 40-80mm ROKKOR-X zoom lens. It made its appearance toward the end of the MC Rokkor-X line. Then it showed up at the beginning of the MD Rokkor-X series, but only for a short period of time. So you can find this lens in two different series with different features. And watch out for even more subtle changes. Some lenses that don't seem to have changed over the years really have. For instance, the 50mm f1.4 had 7 elements in 5 groups in the MC series, but has 7 elements in 6 groups in the MD series. And the 16mm f2.8 fish-eye which was present from about 1968 with 11 elements in 8 groups became 10 elements in 7 groups around 1980. Unless people remain calm, cool, and collected, arguments can ensue needlessly about the lens specifications. To make matters even more complicated, many of the same lenses were marketed in different parts of the globe with different designations! So people can conclude that there were more Minolta lenses than there really were. (ON THIS WEBSITE WE ONLY USE THE U.S. MARKETING DESIGNATION) We really feel sorry for you poor bastards in non-US markets, but don't blame us.

Thanks to the longevity of the Minolta lens mount http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mounts.htm , every manual-focus Minolta-style lens will fit on any Minolta-style manual-focus camera. Even the oldest Minolta lens (1958 Auto Rokkor) will fit and function on the newest Minolta camera (2003 X-370). Reciprocally, the newest manual-focus Minolta lenses (2003 MD Minolta) will fit on the oldest manual-focus Minolta camera (1958 SR-2). No other SLR camera company can make this claim! But just because you can get a particular Minolta lens to physically attach to a particular Minolta camera does not mean that all of the features of the lens or camera will be useable. For example, if you put a new lens on an old camera, the new features of the lens may not be useable. Conversely, if you put an old lens on a new camera, the new features of the camera might not be useable. The details on using cameras and lenses are listed under each lens category.

Minolta lenses are the longest running series of SLR lens-camera compatabilities in the world -- 1958 to the present. All the other camera companies either stopped making SLR cameras altogether or they were forced to make substantial changes to their lens mount along the way in order to stay competitive. This, of course, prevents their newer lenses from working on their older cameras, and vice versa. For example, Pentax, Yashica, Mamiya, Olympus, Fuji and several other camera manufacturers started their SLR camera lines with screw-mount lenses. They eventually had to make the switch to the much more convenient, bayonet mount in order to allow advanced features on their lenses -- such as automatic diaphragms and TTL meter-couplings. Since a screw-mount lens rotates several times while it is being attached to the camera body, it cannot incorporate fixed linkages designed to mate with pins in the camera. And without the best convenience features, the screw mount cameras could not compete for customers against the feature-rich Minolta cameras. So these companies eventually switched away from the screwmount. Several of these companies went out of business in the process. Every hear of Petri or Miranda cameras?

For those that made the switch, their older screw-mount lenses will not work on their newer camera bodies without an adapter -- and then they only function in a limited capacity. And don't even think about putting one of their new lenses on one of their older cameras -- adapters are not available. So if you had an old camera, and they developed a new lens, you were just out of luck.

"Professional" gear was not immune to this evolution. Although Nikon used a bayonet SLR system from the beginning, they finally were forced to switch from their original, awkward, meter-coupling system of the F camera to the Minolta-like AI system. This left their older lenses in the dust-bin. They will only work with an expensive fix. And how about Canon? Well, they started out with a frustrating, breech-lock system that requires three hands just to change a lens. They, too, eventually gave it up and went to the more sensible bayonet system that allows a lens change in the dark -- with one hand -- something that Minolta users has been enjoying for years!

In short, Minolta got it right from the beginning. They avoided all of these problems when they created their original lens mount and lens design. The original Minolta lenses were typically designed to have the aperture ring right next to the camera body. Most other camera companies placed this ring out toward the front of the lens. When it came time for lenses and cameras to talk to each other -- for metering and auto-exposure purposes -- Minolta was well ahead of the game. They only had to make relatively minor adjustments to their lenses while everyone else had to "go back to the drawing board" and come up with completely new lens series, infuriating many of their loyal customers.

Since automatic lenses remain at the maximum aperture, the meter has no way of knowing what the actual f-stop setting is. Most companies got around this by using "stop-down" metering. In this approach, you have to press a lever to stop-down the lens, and at that point the meter can take a reading.. Not only is this awkward sinc eit requires an additional "step", it defeats the whole purpose of an automatic lens system -- to keep the lens open and the viewfinder bright until the moment of exposure. Minolta was able to avoid this whole problem of "stop-down" metering because they had designed most of their lenses, from the beginning, to have the aperture ring next to the camera body. All Minolta had to do was make a minor modification to the f-stop ring on their lenses to tell the meter what the f-stop was set at. It's the same thing with f-stops in the viewfinder. This was easy for Minolta to accomplish because the f-stop ring was located next to the pentaprism from the very beginning. Other camera firms came up with excuses and expensive fixes. And while the older Minolta lenses do not have all of the automatic features of the newer lenses and cameras, they are still very useable on the newest cameras.

But Minolta lenses were far from static over time. New lenses were constantly added to the available arsenal, and various changes were made to the optical formulas and the lens features and cosmetics. To help make sense of it all, Minolta lenses are often grouped by time period or lenses series (see below), based on the primary features of the lenses. One way to help seperate the lenses is to look at the inscription on the front. Here are the faceplates of the various Minolta 135mm f2.8 SLR lenses in chronological order. Keep in mind that all of these lenses have different features.

Many Minolta lenses have an odd letter designation printed on the front, such as Rokkor 35mm HH. This letter designation refers to the optical make-up of the lens. The first letter refers to the number of groups in the lens: T=3; Q=4; P=5; H=6; S=7; O=8; N=9. The second letter refers to the number of elements in the lens: C=3; D=4; E=5; F=6; G=7; H=8; I=9; J=10; K=11; L=12. So an "OK" lens doesn't mean it just passed inspection. It means that the lens has 8 groups with 11 elements, for example.

Minolta also made various lens converters and adapters http://members.aol.com/xkaes/access.htm that are useable with most of these lenses.

There were, of course, many other companies besides Minolta that made lenses to fit on Minolta cameras. Just a few of the names are: Soligor, Tamron, Sigma, Vivitar, Sun, Asanuma, Owen, Bushnell, Osawa, and Tokina. Some of these lenses are of high optical quality, but many are not. When selecting a non-Minolta lens, it's essential to select a lens that provides the level of picture quality that you want, since it is the lens -- not the camera -- that determines the quality of the image. First, compare the non-Minolta lens to an equivalent Minolta lens and see if it has fewer lens elements. This is a common way that competitors cut corners. Is the lens multi-coated? Is the inner-barrel sufficiently baffled to prevent internal reflections? Were any test reports done on the lens in the photographic magazines? These, and other factors, can impact the picture quality. But above and beyond the issue of picture quality, there is the issue of the quality of the non-glass materials in the lens. Many lenses have plastic parts. While reducing weight, they may not hold up under rough conditions or long-term use. And there are many other considerations. Which way does the focusing ring turn? Does it rotate in the same direction as all of your other Minolta lenses (which all rotate the same way)? If not, it can be difficult to get used to. How about the aperture ring? Does it rotate in the same direction as your Minolta's lenses? Believe it or not, some don't. Does it have 1/2 stop detents? Is the f-stop ring imprinted such that the f-stops will appear in the viewfinder? Is the lens auto-aperture? Is it meter-coupled? Does it have the MD feature for the XD and X-700 cameras? What is the filter thread size? Is it standardized like the Minolta lenses or will you have to buy an adapter? Is the lens designed for multiple camera systems, so that you'll need an adapter to attach it to your Minolta camera? If so, these cameras typically have markings designed for other camera systems -- such as f-stop indications in two directions -- that can be confusing. There are many other features to compare as well, such as the lens weight, size, close-focusing distance, built-in depth-of-field scale, infrared marking, etc. When you compare all of the features, you will likely realize that the genuine Minolta lens is a much better deal. For as complete a list as possible, of non-Minolta lenses that will fit on Minolta cameras, we recommend the Third Party Lens Manufacturer page http://medfmt.8k.com/third/index.html .

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Lens Summary
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Information on Minolta's lens mounts
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View all of Minolta's SLR lenses by focal length
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Select the lenses you want to view by time period, lens features, or both:

                                                  TIME PERIOD PRIMARY LENS FEATURE
 
     1958-1966     1966-1972     1972-1977     1977-1981     1981-present
      manual diaphragm     Rokkor         MC Rokkor-X
      Leitz     MD Rokkor-X     Non-Rokkor
      auto-diaphragm added     Auto-Rokkor         MC Rokkor-X     MD Rokkor-X     Non-Rokkor
      meter-coupling tab added         MC Rokkor             
      viewfinder f-stop display added               MC Rokkor-X,
      MC Celtic         
      shutter-preferred tab added                 MD Rokkor-X
      MD Celtic     
      focus-confirmation tab added                         Non-Rokkor
 

ZITAT
TIME PERIOD PRIMARY LENS FEATURE 1958-1966 http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1958.htm 1966-1972 http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1966.htm 1972-1977 http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1972.htm 1977-1981 http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1977.htm 1981-present
http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1981.htm
manual diaphragm Rokkor http://members.aol.com/xkaes/rokkor.htm MC Rokkor-X Leitz
http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mcrokkox.htm MD Rokkor-X http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mdrokkor.htm Non-Rokkor http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1981.htm

auto-diaphragm added Auto-Rokkor http://members.aol.com/xkaes/autorokk.htm MC Rokkor-X http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mcrokkox.htm MD Rokkor-X http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mdrokkor.htm Non-Rokkor
http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1981.htm

meter-coupling tab added http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1966.htm MC Rokkor http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1966.htm

viewfinder f-stop display added http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1972.htm MC Rokkor-X http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mcrokkox.htm,
MC Celtic http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mcceltic.htm

shutter-preferred tab added http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1977.htm MD Rokkor-X http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mdrokkor.htm
MD Celtic http://members.aol.com/xkaes/mdceltic.htm

focus-confirmation tab added http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1981.htm Non-Rokkor http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1981.htm[/quote]
If you are able to provide additional information, please contact us at xkaes@aol.com.

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http://members.aol.com/xkaes/1958.htm
ZITATMinolta Lenses from 1958 to 1966 -- the time period of the Rokkor and Auto-Rokkor lenses

The Rokkor and Auto-Rokkor lines of lenses were the first offering of lenses from Minolta for their SLR cameras. The Auto-Rokkors were the deluxe line of lenses, while the Rokkor line was the simpler line of Minolta's lenses That does not mean that the Rokkors are of inferior quality. It just means that they had smaller maximum apertures (i.e., smaller glass elements), fewer glass elements (since the maximum apertures were smaller), non-automatic diaphragms, and simpler features. This significantly reduced their cost which was a significant concern to the typical photographer at the time. Minolta could not afford to produce lackluster lenses in the competitive SLR world of the 1950's. What would be the point of creating a top-of-the-line SLR, only to have lenses that produced less-than-the-best results?

The SLR cameras of the past were much simpler creatures than those we know today. Similarly, lenses were mechanically much simpler and not coupled to the camera in any way. Today, we call these lenses, "manual lenses". Prior to 1958, nearly all SLR cameras lacked built-in meters, and all of the lenses for SLR cameras had manual diaphragms. This meant that taking a picture was a much more arduous task than it is today.

Whenever the lens was stopped-down, the camera viewfinder got dark. Using small f-stops was a real challenge as the viewfinder quickly became useless. With these older cameras and manual lenses, you first composed and focused the picture with the lens set at the widest and brightest f-stop. Next, you removed the camera from your eye to take a meter reading -- a separate hand-held meter was standard in those days. The meter told you where to set the f-stop on the lens and the shutter speed on the camera. Next, you made the necessary adjustments to the camera and lens. Finally, you raised the camera back to your eye, re-focused the picture and re-composed the scene through a darkened viewfinder, before making the exposure. The viewfinder was darkened because the aperture of the lens had been stopped down. This process was quite awkward and one of the reasons why the SLR design wasn't immediately popular when it was introduced. Other camera designs, such as rangefinder and TLR cameras, didn't have this problem because you didn't look "through the lens". In addition, these cameras were much less expensive. These alternatives to the SLR were very popular and, as a result, SLR sales were rather lackluster.

SLR manufacturers "solved" the problem in one of two ways -- each more awkward than the other. One approach, sometimes referred to as "semi-automatic", required the SLR photographer to "cock the lens" -- moving a lever on the side of the lens to set it at the largest f-stop -- after cocking the shutter. This kept the lens open to the maximum aperture until the picture was taken. A small lever in the camera released the lens just before the exposure was taken. But separately cocking the shutter and the lens was time-consuming and awkward. Later cameras would "cock the lens" automatically, but back in the 1950's, this was not an option.

The other approach to the manual lens problem is referred to as a "pre-set" lens. These lenses have the standard aperture ring, but have an additional "pre-set" ring right next to it. On the aperture ring, you dial in the f-stop you want to use for the exposure. The pre-set ring is left at the full aperture setting. This set-up let's you compose and focus with the lens wide-open. Then, just before taking the picture, the pre-set ring is turned -- which stops the lens down. It's pretty awkward and prone to errors. First, fast, spontaneous pictures are impossible. And if you forget to turn the pre-set ring, the exposure is way off. Another problem with early SLR lenses was attaching and removing them from the camera. This was a rather awkward and time-consuming process -- and best accomplished with three hands.

By 1958 Minolta had figured out how to make an easy-to-use SLR that included automatic diaphragms in the lenses -- and they hit the ground running! Other manufacturers had to scramble to keep up. It's no secret that the Minolta SR-2 completely changed SLR photography, and made automatic diaphragms the wave of the future. That's why it's listed in the book, "The Evolution of the Japanese Camera" (published by the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York) as one of the most important cameras in photographic history. The SR-2 and the Auto-Rokkor lenses made awkward lenses and blacked-out viewfinders things of the past. All of a sudden SLR cameras were actually fun to use instead of being too technically challenging for most people to master.

It was the Auto-Rokkor lenses that changed everything, by allowing the lens to remain at the maximum aperture until the very instant of exposure -- regardless of which f-stop was manually selected. No longer was there a need to "cock the lens" or use a pre-set ring. With the Auto-Rokkor lenses, the camera body offered automatic control of the lens diaphragm. This means that the lens would remain at full aperture regardless of the f-stop selected without the need to "cock" the lens or deal with a pre-set ring adjustment.. If you dial in f8 (because you know this is the correct setting for the exposure) the aperture stays at the maximum f-stop until the shutter release is pressed. The camera stopped-down the lens to the chosen f-stop automatically at the instant of exposure, and the lens was "cocked" automatically when the film was advanced. It's no big deal today, but at the time it was a huge achievement and big news at the time.

But most of Minolta's initial lenses for the SR-2 were not automatic. In fact, only one was -- the 55mm f1.8 Auto-Rokkor. All of the others, from 35mm to 135mm, were not automatic lenses. Minolta knew how to make the other lenses automatic, but that wouldn't happen until the next year -- 1959. Instead of waiting for all of their lenses to be automated, thereby delaying the release of the SR-2, they opted instead to release the camera with only one automatic lens -- with more to come the next year. The simpler Rokkor line of lenses had manual diaphragms, but Minolta incorporated a pre-set mechanism on the aperture ring of most of these lenses, and a "cocking diaphraghm" on the rest, to make the process of composition and focusing as easy as possible.

Another major innovation in the Rokkor and Auto-Rokkor lenses was a new, easy to use, bayonet lens mount. Instead of the awkward, time-consuming screw-mounts and breech-mounts used by other manufacturers, these Minolta lenses offered a quick, three-pronged, bayonet mount. This mount is so simple that it is easy to use with a single hand, and only requires a quick, 54 degree turn to lock the lens in place. Pre-setting anything on the lens or the camera was no longer needed -- as long as you owned a Minolta SLR camera! Changing lenses could now be done in an instant -- even in the dark -- finally making spontaneous SLR photography a reality.

You can identify the Rokkor and Auto-Rokkor lenses by the front panel around the lens. The word "ROKKOR" is the main designation and it is marked in white. These lenses were designed for cameras that did not have meters or aperture displays in the viewfinder. As a result, the f-stop rings are not always placed directly next to the camera body (which allows the f-stop to appear in the viewfinder display, if the camera is so equipped). These lenses evolved over time and you are likely to see the same lens with slightly different features. One feature that changed over time concerned the automatic diaphragm. Initially, the Auto-Rokkor were designed for the SR-2 and early SR-1 cameras that had semi-automatic aperture function. With this feature, the automatic aperture on the lens was cocked when the film was advanced. A pin in the camera kept the lens at full aperture. When the shutter was released, the pin in the camera released the pin in the lens, and the lens was stopped down, but it did not automatically re-open to the full aperture setting. Resetting the lens required the slow pressure of the film advance.

But this changed when Minolta introduced the SR-3 and SR-1 (model c) which were designed for fully-automatic aperture operation. These camera automatically reset the lens to full aperture immediately after each exposure -- without advancing the film -- and the old mechanisms proved inadequate to the task. An important change had to be made to the Auto-Rokkor lenses at this time. To allow the new cameras to instantly re-open the aperture in the lens after the exposure, it was necessary for Minolta to modify the aperture linkage in the original Auto-Rokkor lenses. (The Rokkor lenses didn't require any change since they lacked the aperture linkage.) Specifically, the original Auto-Rokkor lenses have their aperture linkage on a rotating, external plate on the back of the lens. This approach proved inadequate to handle the speed of a fully-automatic aperture, and Minolta modified the mechanism to an internal, lateral-operating pin. This approach had additional advantages other than just a fully-automatic aperture.

On the original Auto-Rokkor lenses (those with the rotating external plate), the aperture linkage moved up and down as it rotated. This required a fairly tall lever inside the camera body, to make sure that the two would always engage -- as the pin in the lens moved up and down, and the pin in the camera moved left and right. It also required a fair amount of pressure from the lever in the camera to open the lens up. With the new, lateral-moving aperture pin in the lens, the lever in the camera could be shorter and, as a result, the mirror in the camera could be made bigger. This helped eliminate the image cut-off that was seen with long telephoto lenses. (Minolta called it an over-sized mirror and it was used in all of their subsequent 35mm SLR cameras.) The drawback is that the original Auto-Rokkor lenses will not operate at all f-stops on later cameras. You'll be able to select any f-stop on the lens, but when the older lens stops down, the aperture will stop at around f8. For example, let's say you dial in f16 on the aperture ring. When the exposure is taken, the lens will only stop down to f8 and the picture will be over-exposed by two f-stops. These older lenses were designed for cameras with tall aperture pins and when used on newer cameras, at higher apertures, the tab in the lens is not fully released. While this will not cause damage to the lens or camera, it prevents the smallest f-stops settings from being used.

One of the drawbacks to a lens with an automatic diaphragm is that if the aperture dial is moved accidentally, the photographer won't know because there is no obvious change in the brightness of the viewfinder. As a result, Minolta added an aperture lock on the f-stop ring to address this issue. In order to move the f-stop ring, this button must be pressed and held in place as you turn the aperture ring. Releasing the button locks the aperture in place.

A new feature was added to several of the later Auto-Rokkor lenses as a result of their upgraded automatic operation. Since the newer SR-3 and later cameras are designed for fully automatic aperture operation, a photographer has no way of visually determining the actual depth-of-field by looking through the viewfinder. As a result, a DOF button was added to many of the later Auto-Rokkor lenses. In most instances, this replaced the aperture lock of the earlier lenses

Another change that occurred around the same time involved the LVS numbers that Minolta had put on the SR-2 and early SR-1 cameras. These numbers made exposure easier, but had to be inscribed on the shutter speed dial and on the lens aperture ring. On the shutter speed dial, the shutter speed numbers were on the top while the LVS numbers were on the side. This kept the numbers apart and avoided confusion. But on the aperture ring, the f-stop numbers and the LVS numbers were right next to each other. This created confusion for many budding photographers.

As you can see, the f-stop numbers on this sample lens run 1.8--2.8--4--5.6, while the LVS numbers run 1.7--3--4--5. No wonder people got confused! As a result, on the later Auto-Rokkor and Rokkor lenses, the LV numbers were dropped, just as they were dropped from the shutter speed dials of the later SR cameras. People were just going to have to deal with those pesky f-stop numbers, like it or not.

These lenses were designed for cameras that did not have meters or aperture displays in the viewfinder. As a result, the f-stop rings are not always placed directly next to the camera body which allows the f-stop to appear in the viewfinder display (if the camera is so equipped). You can identify these lenses by the front panel around the lens (see above). The word "AUTO" appears before the word "ROKKOR". The tab on the right is the aperture lock.

These lenses were designed for cameras that lacked TTL meters, but they have the advantage of automatic diaphragms. With these, the aperture remains at the widest, and brightest setting -- until the moment of exposure. Then, for an instant, it stops down and -- an instant later-- it opens back up again. To use them with non-TTL cameras, the correct aperture and shutter speed are determined through the use of an external meter. These settings are then dialed into the camera, and the exposure is taken. The viewfinder will stay bright even when the lens is stopped down -- the aperture remains at full aperture until the moment of exposure. To use these lenses on later cameras with TTL meters, it is necessary to stop the lens down to the taking aperture to get a correct exposure reading. You just can't turn the aperture ring, because these are automatic lenses and the lens stays open. The camera has no way of knowing what f-stop has actually been set. To use on TTL cameras, first, focus and compose the shot. Next, select a shutter speed appropriate for the setting (or set the shutter speed dial to "AUTO". Then, stop down the lens until the selected shutter speed is indicated. This is accomplished by pressing the DOF button on the camera (if it has one), or pressing the DOF button on the lens (if it has one), and then turning the f-stop ring. You can to use the Auto-Rookor lenses that lack DOF buttons on TTL cameras that lack a DOF button, but taking an exposure reading through the camera is not an option.

1958-1966
THE TIME PERIOD OF THE ROKKOR AND AUTO-ROKKOR LENSES
FOCAL LENGTH     f-STOP RANGE     LENS INSCRIPTION     VIEW     DESIGN     FILTER THREAD     DIAPHRAGM     MC     MD     CLOSE FOCUS     SIZE     WEIGHT
18mm     9.5-22     MINOLTA UW ROKKOR - PG 1:9.5 f=18mm     180     7/5     37.5     manual     no     no     1.5'     1.9"x2.4"     8.5oz.
21mm     4.5-16     MINOLTA W. ROKKOR - PI 1:4.5 f=21mm     92     9/5     55     manual     no     no     3'     0.7"x2.4"     5.9oz.
21mm     4-16     MINOLTA W. ROKKOR - QH 1:4 f=21mm     92     8/4     55     manual     no     no     3'     0.7"x2.4"     6oz.
28mm     3.5-16     MINOLTA AUTO W. ROKKOR - SG 1:3.5 f=28mm     75     7/7     67     auto     no     no     2'     1.7"x2.5"     8.5oz.
35mm     4-22     MINOLTA W. ROKKOR - QE 1:4 f=35mm     63     5/4     52     preset     no     no     1.25'     1.4"x2.4"     6.5oz.
35mm     4-22     MINOLTA W. ROKKOR - QE 1:4 f=35mm     63     5/4     55     preset     no     no     1.25'     1.4"x2.4"     6.5oz.
35mm     2.8-22     MINOLTA W. ROKKOR - HG 1:2.8 f=35mm     63     7/6     55     preset     no     no     1'     1.9"x2.5"     10.5oz.
35mm     2.8-22     MINOLTA AUTO W. ROKKOR - HG 1:2.8 f=35mm     63     7/6     55     auto     no     no     1'     1.7"x2.5"     7.5oz.
35mm     2.8-22     MINOLTA AUTO W. ROKKOR - HG 1:2.8 f=35mm     63     7/6     55     auto     no     no     1'     1.7"x2.5"     7.5oz.
35mm     2.8-22     MINOLTA AUTO W. ROKKOR - HG 1:2.8 f=35mm     63     7/6     52     auto     no     no     1'     1.7"x2.5"     7.5oz
45mm     2.8-16     MINOLTA AUTO ROKKOR - TD 1:2.8 f=45mm     52     4/3     46     auto     no     no     3'     0.6"x2.5"     4.5oz.
50mm     3.5-22     MINOLTA ROKKOR - QF 1:3.5 f=50mm     47     6/4     55     preset     no     no     8"     2.2"x2.5"     7.5oz.
50-100mm     3.5-22     MINOLTA AUTO ZOOM ROKKOR 1:3.5 f=50-100mm     47-24     15/9     77     auto     no     no     6.6'     5.0"x3.2"     1lb. 14oz.
53mm     2-16     MINOLTA AUTO ROKKOR - PF 1:2 f=53mm     45     6/5     52     auto     no     no     1.75'     ?     ?
55mm     2-16     MINOLTA AUTO ROKKOR - PF 1:2 f=55mm     43     6/5     52     auto     no     no     1.75'     1.4"x2.4"     7oz.
55mm     1.8-22     MINOLTA AUTO ROKKOR - PF 1:1.8 f=55mm     43     6/5     52     auto     no     no     1.2'     1.4"x2.4"     7oz.
55mm     1.8-22     MINOLTA AUTO ROKKOR - PF 1:1.8 f=55mm     43     6/5     55     auto     no     no     1.2'     1.4"x2.4"     7oz.
58mm     1.4-16     MINOLTA AUTO ROKKOR - PF 1:1.4 f=58mm     41     6/5     55     auto     no     no     2'     1.6"x2.5"     10oz.
80-160mm     3.5-22     MINOLTA AUTO ZOOM ROKKOR 1:3.5 f=80-160mm     30-15     15/10     77     auto     no     no     8'     8.1"x3.4"     4lb.
100mm     4-22     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - TC 1:4 f=100mm     24     3/3     43     preset     no     no     ?     3.1"x2.2"     8.5oz.
100mm     4-22     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - TC 1:4 f=100mm     24     3/3     46     preset     no     no     4'     3.1"x2.2"     8.5oz.
100mm     3.5-22     MINOLTA AUTO TELE ROKKOR - QE 1:3.5 f=100mm     24     5/4     52     auto     no     no     3.3'     2.3"x2.5"     8.5oz.
100mm     3.5-22     MINOLTA AUTO TELE ROKKOR - QE 1:3.5 f=100mm     24     5/4     55     auto     no     no     3.3'     2.3"x2.5"     8.5oz.
100mm     2-22     MINOLTA AUTO TELE ROKKOR - PF 1:2 f=100mm     24     6/5     62     auto     no     no     4'     2.5"x2.6"     150z.
100-200mm     5.6-22     MINOLTA ZOOM ROKKOR 1:5.6 f=100-200mm     24-12.5     8/5     52     preset     no     no     7'     2.5"x6.9"     1lb. 4oz.
135mm     4-22     EARLY STYLE: MINOLTA BELLOWS ROKKOR - TC 1:4 f=135mm
LATE STYLE: MINOLTA BELLOWS ROKKOR - TC 1:4 f=135mm LENS MADE IN JAPAN     18     3/3     46     preset     no     no     --     2.2"x2.2"     7oz.
135mm     4-22     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - TC 1:4 f=135mm     18     3/3     46     preset     no     no     5'     4.5"x2.2"     14oz.
135mm     2.8-22     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - PG 1:2.8 f=135mm     18     7/5     55     preset     no     no     4'     5.9"x2.2"     ?
135mm     2.8-22     MINOLTA AUTO TELE ROKKOR - PF 1:2.8 f=135mm     18     6/5     55     semi-auto     no     no     4'     3.5"x2.5"     1lb.3oz.
135mm     2.8-22     MINOLTA AUTO TELE ROKKOR - PG 1:2.8 f=135mm     18     7/5     55     auto     no     no     4'     ?     ?
135mm     2.8-22     MINOLTA AUTO TELE ROKKOR - PF 1:2.8 f=135mm     18     6/5     55     auto     no     no     4'     3.5"x2.5"     1lb.3oz.
160-500mm     8-22     MINOLTA AUTO ZOOM ROKKOR 1:8 f=160-500mm     15-5     16/11     77     auto     no     no     15'     19.2"x3.4"     6lb.1oz.
180mm     2.5-22     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - F 1:2.5 f=180mm     13     6/?     ?     preset     no     no     5'     ?     ?
200mm     5.0-22     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - QE 1:5.0 f=200mm     12.5     5/4     52     preset     no     no     18'     6.0"x2.2"     15oz.
200mm     3.5-22     MINOLTA AUTO TELE ROKKOR - QF 1:3.5 f=200mm     12.5     6/4     67     semi-auto     no     no     8'     5.5"x2.7"     1lb.9oz.
200mm     3.5-22     MINOLTA AUTO TELE ROKKOR - QF 1:3.5 f=200mm     12.5     6/4     67     auto     no     no     8'     5.5"x2.7"     1lb.9oz.
250mm     4-22     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - QF 1:4 f=250mm     10     6/4     67     preset     no     no     10'     2.8"x9.1"     3lbs. 1.3oz.
300mm     5.6-32     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - QD 1:5.6 f=30cm     8     4/4     62     preset     no     no     15'     7.7"x2.5"     1lb. 3oz.
300mm     4.5-32     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - QD 1:4.5 f=30cm     8     4/4     77     preset     no     no     15'     9.1"x3.1"     2lb. 4oz.
600mm     5.6-45     MINOLTA TELE ROKKOR - TD 1:5.6 f=60cm     4     4/3     126     preset     no     no     33'     21.0"x5.2"     10lb. 5oz.
1000mm     6.3     MINOLTA RF ROKKOR 1:6.3 f=1000mm     2.5     7/6     49/200     fixed     no     no     100'     8.5"x17.7"     23lb. 7oz.
 

We didin't want to do this, but since other websites have been stealing our stuff, we have no alternative but to state:
COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004 by Joe McGloin.

All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.

The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

http://www.subclub.org/minman/about.htm
ZITATWELCOME TO MINMAN -- The ONLY website in the world that provides details on all of Minolta's manual-focus cameras. Other websites TALK big, but WE Deliver.


We are always looking for great Minolta pictures to post on our website. These can be taken with any Minolta camera. Just send the picture to us with a title and a brief description (see sample below). We can use just about any file format, but jpeg or bmp is best. Also include details on the camera and lens settings. Please be specific about what lens was used. Don't just say "Minolta 28mm 2.8". Please tell us which 28mm 2.8 -- Auto Rokkor, MC Rokkor, MC Rokkor-X, MD Rokkor-X, etc. For clarification, see our lens pages.


"Glacier Lilies", Mt. Zirkel Wilderness, Colorado, 1977
Minolta SRT102 at 1/25 with Minolta Auto Bellows I
Minolta Auto Bellows Rokkor-X 100mm f4.0 at f8
Kodachrome 25 color slide film
Hoya UV filter
Copyright @ 1977 by Joe McGloin

If you wish to contact the MINMAN about other issues, please email XKAES@AOL.COM.
MINMAN is not the only website dedicated to manual-focusing cameras. There is also a group for manual-focusing Nikon cameras and one for manual-focusing Canon cameras. And now there is a website dedicated just to manual cameras at
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/japan/manual-camera/index_e.htm
.
[Dieser Link wurde von uns entschärft, da die Seite am 2011-03-21 eine Schadsoftware enthielt, die auf pakkagit.com.tr/swf/is-basvurusu-form-gonderici.php gehostet wird. Bitte keinesfalls mit Browsern aufrufen, bei denen aktive Inhalte / Skriptsprachen (JavaScript, Flash) aktiviert sind.]
If you know of other manual-focusing websites or groups, please let us know.

RETURN TO THE MANUAL MINOLTA HOME PAGEWe didin't want to do this, but since other websites have been stealing our stuff, we have no alternative but to state:
COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 by Joe McGloin.

All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.

The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/contact.htm
ZITATCONTACT OTHER MINOLTA USERS

Unlike other Minolta sites, MINMAN has a full-blown interaction suite to choose from. We have a list server so that you can view discussion from other minolta users -- or send comments and questions to everyone else on the list. Currently we have well over 3,000 members -- and we are growing strong!. We also have a chat room where you can discuss all things Minolta 24 hours a day -- on-line. Check it out at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/minolta-manual-focus. It's absolutely free.

You first must create an account with YAHOO -- easy and completely free. Then you can sign up for the various services under "minolta-manual-focus".

But perhaps you don't want to get email everyday. Perhaps you just want to ask one or two Minolta-related questions. In this case, you have a couple of options. First, you can join the YAHOO "minolta-manual-focus" group -- for one day. You can get your questions answered and then delete your membership so you won't receive future email. That's fine. Another option is to check out our MINMAN archives. This is a storage of all our past discussions on the "minolta-manual-focus" board. There is a good chance you can find the information you need there. All you have to do it go to the YAHOO "minolta-manual-focus" group and search under the keywords that are important to you. For example, if you want information about the SRT102 camera, just type in SRT102. Then a list of all past messages pertaining to this camera will appear.

See you there!

RETURN TO THE MANUAL MINOLTA HOME PAGEWe didin't want to do this, but since other websites have been stealing our stuff, we have no alternative but to state:
COPYRIGHT@1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 by Joe McGloin.

All Rights Reserved. The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.

The material on this website is protected by US Federal copyright laws. It cannot be copied or used in any manner without specific approval from the owner.[/quote]

http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/swapmeet.htm
ZITATWELCOME TO THE SWAP MEET

The SWAPMEET provides a place for the non-commercial buying and selling of used Minolta equipment. The SWAPMEET is a YAHOO-based Group and here's how it works. Click on the link below and you'll be taken to the YAHOO website. Then sign up -- it's easy and free. Finally, you can view the existing ads or place your own ad.

If you place an ad, it will automatically be sent to everyone else on the list. It will remain on the YAHOO website so that people can see it in the future. If you don't get a response to your ad in a reasonable amount of time, you can repost your ad as often and as long as it takes.

If someone else places an ad it will automatically be sent to you, so there is no need to revisit the YAHOO website -- unless you want to recheck previous ads.

But please remember, MINMAN makes no guarantee about the quality of the equipment listed on these pages, nor about the respectability of those listing items for sale. While the vast majority of buyers and sellers are beyond reprehension, it is best to be cautious.

* PERSONAL BUY, SELL OR TRADE ADS

RETURN TO THE MANUAL MINOLTA HOME PAGE[/quote]