History of 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 Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten (日独写真機商店, meaning Japanese-German camera shop). 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.

Milestones

• 1928: Kazuo Tajima establishes 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.
• 1959: The Minolta SR-1.
• 1962: John Glenn takes a specially modified Ansco-logoed Minolta Hi-Matic camera into space aboard Freedom 7. The company changes its name to Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.
• 1966: The Minolta SR-T101 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 (through-the-lens) OTF (off-the-film) exposure metering: the Minolta CLE is the first 35mm rangefinder camera to feature TTL metering and aperture priority autoexposure. 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 Alpha Mount Camera becomes the world's first autofocus 35mm SLR with in-camera autofocus motor.
• 1987: Honeywell files lawsuit against Minolta for patent infringement over autofocus technologies.
• 1991: Minolta's autofocus design was found to infringe on the patents of Honeywell, a U.S. corporation. After protracted litigation, in 1991 Minolta was ordered to pay Honeywell damages, penalties, trial costs, and other expenses in a final amount of $127.6-million (source: NY Times).
• 1992: Minolta finally settles out of court with Honeywell.
• 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, a 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 world's first sensor-based anti-shake, and was the final Minolta product branded prior to the Konica Minolta merger.
• 2004: Minolta and Konica officially merge to become Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc.
• 2005: The company announces joint venture with Sony on CCD and CMOS technologies.
• 2006: Konica Minolta announces it is discontinuing all film and digital camera production, ending a 78-year history as a camera manufacturer. Konica Minolta Photo Image, Inc.'s (the camera business portion of Konica Minolta) assets regarding digital camera technology are transferred to Sony for continued development started from the joint venture.