The Minolta MAXXUM 7000 (7000 AF in Europe) 35mm SLR camera was introduced in 1985. It marked a significant milestone in photography as it was the first camera to feature integrated autofocus and motorised film advance, the standard configuration for later amateur and professional single lens reflex cameras. Konica Minolta Co. ... Simulated 35 mm film with soundtracks _ The outermost strips (on either side) contain the SDDS soundtrack as an image of a digital signal. ... The single-lens reflex camera, more commonly known by the abbreviation SLR, uses a mirror placed between the lens and the film to project the image seen through the lens to a matte focusing screen. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lens and mounting of a large format camera Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of light. ... Autofocus (or AF) is a feature of some optical systems that allow them to maintain correct focus on a target. ...

Although Pentax ME-F and Chinon CE-5 already had presented autofocus single lens reflex cameras, autofocusing could not be achieved without the use of special motorised AF lenses. The Pentax ME-F had focus sensors in the camera body, while the Chinon CE-5 used a lens with built-in active infrared sensors.

Minolta 7000 had its AF sensors and the focusing drive inside the camera body, and as a result the lenses could be much smaller and cheaper. The aperture and focus were mechanically driven through the lens mount from the camera body. However, electronically controlled buttons on the camera body now replaced the familiar mechanical aperture ring on the lens, and the setting was electronically displayed on the body and in the viewfinder. In photography a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and in many cases to focus, the picture. ...

Minolta decided to introduce a new lens mount, the A system, breaking compatibility with its earlier manual focus lenses in the MC and MD system. Later, with the introduction of the 7000i camera body, the Dynax/Alpha brand was marketed. Besides offering a significant improvement in performance, the model introduced an innovative new flash mount. The A lens mount is still the same today, but some modifications have been made to the electronic contacts to facilitate new functions such as motor zoom (now discontinued) and a more sophisticated flash metering system.

Early Maxxum 7000 cameras were inscribed with "MAXXUM 7000" with linked Xes. The oil company Exxon considered this a violation of their trademark, as the XX in their logo was linked in a similar fashion. As a result, Minolta was allowed to distribute the remainder of their literature and stock, but was forced to change the stylistic XX in Maxxum. All Maxxum cameras to this day have had regularly scripted Xes. X is the twenty-fourth letter of the Latin alphabet. ... Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ... Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), headquartered in Irving, Texas, is an oil producer and distributor formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. ... A logotype, commonly known as a logo, is the graphic element of a trademark or brand, which is set in a special typeface/font, or arranged in a particular, but legible, way. ...

When Pentax and Nikon entered the autofocus segment, they decided to use the same focus transmission system as Minolta, but both manufacturers kept compatibility with their existing K and F mounts respectively. Canon, like Minolta, chose to change their mount completely, introducing the EOS 600-series few years later, breaking the compatibility with the former FL and FD lens mounts. This was the only fully electronic lens mount system, with no mechanical connections between camera body and lens. PENTAX Corp. ... Nikon redirects here; there is also a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church named Patriarch Nikon. ... Categories: Stub | Companies of Japan | Photography companies | Companies traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ... The Canon EOS (Electro-Optical System) film and digital SLR camera system was introduced in 1987 with the Canon EOS 650. ...

References

Eastman House