Minolta X-1
Encyclopedia
The Minolta
X-1 (XK in North America, XM in Europe and elsewhere) was the professional model in the Minolta line-up. It took about ten years to develop and started a new era in the Minolta SR system. It was the first Minolta SLR
with interchangeable lenses to have an electronically controlled shutter, a horizontically traveling shutter with titanium foil curtains and capable of a shortest speed of 1/2000s (longest selectable was 16 s). It had interchangeable finders:
And the photographer had the choice among nine (later eleven) interchangeable focussing screens. It further had a socket for a synchronised flash shoe, mirror lock up feature, stop down lever, multi-exposure capability.
The X-1 was the first of the X-series and so a completely new designed lens line was introduced and labelled with 'MC Rokkor-X' in the North American market (the rest of the world kept the plain 'MC Rokkor' designation). The most striking attribute was the new waffled rubber coating of the focus grip. The X-1 and its export descendents were available in black finish only.
Minolta
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It is perhaps best known for making the first integrated autofocus 35mm SLR camera system...
X-1 (XK in North America, XM in Europe and elsewhere) was the professional model in the Minolta line-up. It took about ten years to develop and started a new era in the Minolta SR system. It was the first Minolta SLR
SLR
The initialism SLR can refer to:* Satellite laser ranging* Scalable Linear Recording Tape Drive Backup* Self-Loading Rifle, see semi-automatic rifle.** The UK version of the Belgian FN FAL select fire battle rifle, the L1A1 SLR.* Semi-linear resolution...
with interchangeable lenses to have an electronically controlled shutter, a horizontically traveling shutter with titanium foil curtains and capable of a shortest speed of 1/2000s (longest selectable was 16 s). It had interchangeable finders:
- AE-Finder: The standard finder with a refined CLC metering system (introduced by the SR-T 101Minolta SR-T 101The Minolta range of 35mm SLR cameras was introduced in 1958 by Chiyoda Kogaku launching the Minolta SR-2, the first Japanese manufacturer to get their 35mm SLR camera design right from the start...
) and aperture priorityAperture priorityAperture priority, often abbreviated A or Av on a camera mode dial, is a setting on some cameras that allows the user to choose a specific aperture value while the camera selects a shutter speed to match. The camera will ensure proper exposure...
auto exposure mode. - M-Finder: A simpler and cheaper version of the AE-finder, the match-needle finder. It did not show metered shutter times but had only a needle to align. It lacked the automatic mode.
- P-finder: The plain finder, an unmetered pentaprismPentaprismA pentaprism is a five-sided reflecting prism used to deviate a beam of light by 90°. The beam reflects inside the prism twice, allowing the transmission of an image through a right angle without inverting it as an ordinary right-angle prism or mirror would.The reflections inside the prism are not...
finder, which gave the X-1 a much more compact silhouette than the bulky finders above. - High-Magnification-Finder: Unmetered finder with 6.2 magnification ratio and diopter adjustment.
- Waist-Level-Finder: Unmetered with magnifier.
- AE-S-Finder: Introduced with the X-1 Motor and equipped with a silicon cell instead of the slower CdS-cellCDS-Computing and electronics:* Cadence Design Systems, American Electronic Design Automation software company* Chromatography data system, software to control chromatography instruments* Cockpit display system* Compact Discs...
of the AE-Finder. This was necessary for the auto exposure mode with motorized action.
And the photographer had the choice among nine (later eleven) interchangeable focussing screens. It further had a socket for a synchronised flash shoe, mirror lock up feature, stop down lever, multi-exposure capability.
The X-1 was the first of the X-series and so a completely new designed lens line was introduced and labelled with 'MC Rokkor-X' in the North American market (the rest of the world kept the plain 'MC Rokkor' designation). The most striking attribute was the new waffled rubber coating of the focus grip. The X-1 and its export descendents were available in black finish only.