Modern Classic SLR Series
Minolta Maxxum 7000 AF SLR       camera - Part VII
First Generation AF Lenses by Minolta for Maxxum       7000- Part I

Naturally, the first           generation of early Minolta AF lenses were not as "fanciful" as           compared with today's modern AF series of lenses. But during those           days, Minolta did has a lot of things to yelled about as that tactical           advantage of being the first to introduced a body integrated AF system           has offered the designers a free hand to express their talents. These           lenses, each has been exactingly crafted by Minolta's           ''opto-electronics" technology to create not only completely new           system of extremely compact, lightweight, high-performance optics for           the Minolta 7000 but also total camera-to-lens system integration. A           ROM IC (Read Only Memory Integrated Circuit) has been built           into each of those Minolta AF lenses to automatically transfer more           than 30 essential lens data to the camera's computer           for autofocusing and automatic exposure control, etc.

Initially, there were   twelve Minolta autofocus lenses to choose from between 24mm and 300mm in focal   length; although the selection was still considered limited but it was still   by far regarded as having the widest selection of interchangeable lenses for   any AF SLR on the market, the focal length and lens types was carefully   introduced with the speed and precision of Minolta's high-tech Autofocus   System in an extremely wide range of applications.

The           lens family has grown in strength and it has mushroomed to more than           50 lens types being introduced over the years. Naturally and           amazingly, most of these lenses, regardless as current models or           discontinued ones, still able to serve the original Maxxum 7000 AF           camera which was introduced almost 1-1/2 decade ago.

I           cannot keep tracked with all these years of development of lens types           in this site, instead, just for cross reference, listed here featuring           with the original batch of the Minolta AF lenses to enable some of you           who has the special interest to compared the rapid development of AF           technologies employ in Minolta AF system. Well, despite their aging           history, it was quite amazing to realize many of those original lenses           were indeed high performance optical tools that have incorporated many           up-to-date technological advantages which you may even find them           ranked highly with today's modern AF lenses. Some of which deployed           are listed below:


         

Compound Aspherical           Lens In the Minolta AF 35-70mm f/4 zoom lens, an exclusive           compound aspherical element is used to make the AF 35-70mm lightweight           and compact. Minolta's advanced lens manufacturing techniques assure           utmost performance from this unique new lens.

Double Floating           System With its adoption of a unique double floating           system, the Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 macro lens corrects inherent           distortion, field curvature and other spherical aberrations in           addition to providing life-size macro photography without use of an           adapter. During focusing, three groups of elements move independently           for minimal barrel extension and faster autofocusing.

Internal Focusing           System Both the Minolta AF 135mm f/2.8 and AF 300mm f/2.8           APO tele lenses use an internal-focusing optical design to enhance           high-speed autofocusing. Since focus is adjusted by moving the           smaller, lighter central elements rather than the heavier front           elements, autofocusing is faster and more precise.

Rear Focusing           System The Minolta AF 28-135mm f/4-4.5 zoom lens is the           first zoom lens in the world to use a unique rear-focusing optical           design. Three major design benefits are- faster autofocusing since the           moving mass of lens elements is greatly reduced; reduction. of overall           size and weight; closer minimum focusing distances.