Minolta autofocus 35mm film SLR system

history

1928: Minolta was a Japanese company founded by Kazuo Tashima, under the name Nichidoku Shashinki Shōten
1931: the company was transformed into a stock corporation named Molta Gōshi-gaisha
1933: the name Minolta was applied for and registered
1958: it's 1st 35mm SLR was produced - the SR-2
1962: the Minolta SR-7 SLR was their 1st to include a CdS light meter built-in
1966: the Minolta SR-T series of SLR cameras introduced with the SRT-101 being the most sold SLR of its time
1976: Minolta also produced the Leica R3, R4 and R5 SLRs in the LeicaR series
1985: the revolutionary Minolta 7000 AF SLR camera was introduced with a new AF-compatible lens mount and was the world's first “in-body” autofocus SLR and for the next 5 years, this new AF technology catapulted Minolta to the top selling SLRs in the world until Canon and Nikon caught up.
1991: its autofocus design was found to infringe on the patents of Honeywell and Minolta was ordered to pay Honeywell a final amount of $127.6 million dollars.
2003: Minolta merged with Konica to form Konica Minolta
Nov 2004: Konica-Minolta introduced their 1st digital SLR - the Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum 7D which uniquely had built-in image stabilisation
2006: Konica Minolta's camera and lens manufacture business and technologies were sold to Sony - see Sony Alpha dSLR system

autofocus 35mm film Minolta Maxxum or Alpha SLRs

these use the Minolta "A" autofocus lens mount lenses
earlier manual-focus Minolta MC and MD lenses are incompatible with the AF cameras
no near-silent AF USM / HSM lenses were made for these cameras (unlike Canon and, later, Nikon)
note: wireless x-sync on the later pro models (9x) is only 1/60th sec whereas normal x-sync is 1/300th sec and they do not support wireless HSS flash

year	model	features
1985	7000AF	revolutionary camera with world 1st built-in AF, motor flash zoom compatibility, external LCD, built-in motor drive; arrow buttons to set aperture, shutter speed
1985	9000AF	pro version of the 7000AF with more mechanical controls, 1/4000th sec shutter, 1/250th sec x-sync, 6fps motor drive, and even digital backs to add exposure programs, and an interchangeable video CCD back
1986	5000AF
1988	7000i
1989	3000i / 3700i
1989	5000i / 5700i
1990	8000i / 8700i
1990	2xi
1991	3xi
1991	7xi
1992	5xi
1992	9xi	pro sports; weathersealed; 3rd gen AF with 3D predictive C-AF; 4pt AF; shutter to 1/12,000th sec; 1/300th x-sync; 1/60th wireless x-sync;4.5fps; 14 field meter; remote TTL flash;
1992	SPsi
1993	600si / 507si
1993	700si / 707si
1995	300si / 350si / RZ 330 si
1997	800si / 807si
1998	505i / HTsi
1998	505si Super / XTsi
1998	Dynax 9 / α-9	pro version; built like a tank; weatherproof; 5.5fps; 1/12000th sec shutter; 3 AF points incl. 1 cross point; x-sync 1/300th sec but only 1/60th in wireless; 910g; unlike the 7, does not have Direct manual Focus (DMF) AF mode, Bulb Timer, silent DOF preview, and does not support wireless HSS flash and requires upgrade for Advanced Distance Integration flash metering (ADI)
1999	α-9Ti	rare rugged titanium body pro version
2000	α-7	magnesium frame, plastic outer; supports wireless HSS flash and ADI; has honeycomb metering display on the back; 9 AF points incl. 1 double cross point; 1/200th sec x-sync even in wireless; 1/8000th sec shutter; 4fps; not weathersealed; 575g;
2001	α-Sweet II / 5
2002	α-Sweet II L / 4
2003	3L
2004	30/40/50
2004	60 / α-70	9pt AF incl. 1 cross; 14 segment metering; x-sync 1/90th; wireless x-sync 1/45th; wireless HSS;