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Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photo-copiers, fax machines and laser printers. Minolta was founded in Osaka, Japan in 1928 as Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten (日独写真機商店; meaning Japanese-German camera shop). more...

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It is perhaps best known for making the first integrated autofocus 35 mm SLR camera system. It was not until 1933 that the brand name appeared on a camera, a copy of the Plaubel Makina simply called "Minolta".

In 2003, Konica Corporation merged with Minolta to form Konica Minolta.

On January 19, 2006, Konica Minolta announced that it was leaving the camera and photo business and that it would sell a portion of its SLR camera business to Sony as part of its move to pull completely out of the business of selling cameras and photographic film.

History

Milestones

1928: Kazuo Tajima established Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten (Japanese-German photo company; the precursor of Minolta Co., Ltd.).; 1929: Marketed the Company's first camera, the "Nifcalette".; 1937: The "Minolta Flex" is Japan's first twin-lens reflex camera.; 1958: The Minolta SR-2 is Minolta's first single-lens reflex camera.; 1962: John Glenn takes a specially modified Ansco-logo'd Minolta Hi-Matic camera into space aboard Freedom 7. The company changes its name to Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.; 1966: The Minolta SR-T 101 SLR camera is Minolta's first with through-the-lens full aperture (TTL) light metering.; 1972: Minolta signs an agreement to cooperate with Leica in SLR development.; 1973: The Minolta CL is the first fruit of this agreement.; 1976: The Leica R3 is introduced. Minolta produces the R3, R4, and R5 models in the Leica R series. Subsequent cameras are built in Germany by Leica themselves.; 1981: Implementation of Minolta's invention and patent of TTL OTF Through The Lens Off The Film exposure metering: The Minolta CLE is the first 35 mm rangefinder camera to feature TTL metering and aperture priority auto-exposure. The Minolta X-700 manual-focus SLR is introduced; this model is sold until 1999 and is enormously successful. The Minolta XD-11 (Model E) is the first Minolta product branded with an updated logo in caps, which was in use until the 2003 merger with Konica.; 1985: The Minolta Maxxum 7000 becomes the world's first truly successful autofocus SLR. Other manufacturers soon follow suit, but Minolta's innovation gives much sales success.; 1991: Minolta's innovative autofocus design was found to infringe on the patents of Honeywell, a U.S. corporation. After protracted litigation, Minolta in 1991 was ordered to pay Honeywell damages, penalties, trial costs and other expenses in a final amount of 127.6 million dollars (source: NY Times).; 1994: The company changes its name to Minolta Co., Ltd. because it no longer is primarily a camera company.; 1995: Introduction of the Minolta RD-175, an early 1.75 megapixel digital SLR camera.; 1996: The Minolta Vectis camera is a completely new SLR system designed around the Advanced Photo System (APS) film format.; 1998: The Minolta Maxxum 9 autofocus SLR is introduced. This system is targeted toward the professional photographer and has many features not duplicated by the competition.; 2003: DiMAGE A1 introduced, replacing the DiMAGE 7HI. DiMAGE A1 final Minolta product branded prior to the Konica Minolta merger.; 2006: Minolta announces it is discontinuing all film and digital camera production, ending a 78-year history as a camera manufacturer.;

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