23 “Japanese Historical Cameras” of 1999 Named
The Historical Camera Committee (25 Ichibancho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0082 : Chairperson – Ms. MORIYAMA, Mayumi), a review group established within the Japan Camera Industry Institute, has chosen the 23 cameras which were released in 1999 and 1 camera which was released in 1998, a total of 24 cameras listed below as its “Japanese Historical Cameras” of 1999.
Film cameras chosen for “Japanese Historical Cameras” of 1999 (12 models)
| Release Date | Name of Camera | Company Name | Model | Photosensitive Material | Frame Size | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-02-01 | Voigtlander Bessa-L | Cosina Co. Ltd. | Direct-view finder (optional) |
135 | 24×36 | A Leica-type (“M39”) screw mounting manual focus camera with wideangle lens. It has a mechanically controlled focal plane shutter, which is combined with blinding shutter. |
| 1999-02-20 | CONTAX 645 | Kyocera Co. Ltd. | Single Lens Reflex | 120/220 | 45×60 | A built-in dual focus mechanism with no AF / MF switching required. A mid-size format AF SLR camera with improved image flatness when using 220 format film, by the help of “film vacuum”. |
| 1999-03-20 | Canon EOS Kiss III | Canon Inc. | Single Lens Reflex | 135 | 24×36/13×36 | Small-sized and lightweight SLR camera with built-in 35-zone AE metering and 7-point autofocus system. |
| 1999-05-01 | FUJIFILM instax 100 | Fuji Photo Film Co.,Ltd. | Direct-view finder | Instant Film | 62×99 | Adopts a horizontally wide frame size of 62x99mm, based on the golden section ratio (1:1.6) which is closed to a naked eye. |
| 1999-06-19 | MINOLTA Vectis 2000 | Minolta Co., Ltd. | Direct-view finder | IX240 | C/P/H | With the help of precision processing technology, a three-dimensional curvature that was difficult to obtain by metallic materials(aluminium), is achieved. |
| 1999-06-24 | Konica Revio Z3 | Konica Corporation | Direct-view finder | IX240 | C/P/H | The new high-efficiency recharging circuit of the speedlight called the “Eco-flash” system brought 50% increase of film shooting from minimizing the use of electricity. |
| 1999-07-01 | OLYMPUS u [mju;]-II ZOOM VF | Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. | Direct-view finder | 135 | 24×36/13×36 | With the LCD viewfinder indication system, it blacks out when shutter is released, thus you can actually see the shutter release. |
| 1999-08-25 | PENTAX MZ-7 (ZX-7) | The Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. | Single Lens Reflex | 135 | 24×36/13×36 | The ease of use has improved with the help of illuminated mode dial and automatically illuminating LCD panel, and camera shake warning indicator. |
| 1999-09-01 | CONTAX TVS III | Kyocera Co. Ltd. | Direct-view finder | 135 | 24×36 | The folding front cover automatically opens and closes when the power of the camera is turned ON or OFF. |
| 1999-09-01 | Mamiya 645AF | Mamiya O.P. | Single Lens Reflex | 120/220 | 45×60 | Mid-size format AF-SLR camera with CPU placed on each component to achieve precision stability and high precision. |
| 1999-11-27 | Canon Advanced Photo System TM Camera IXY D5 | Canon Inc. | Direct-view finder | IX240 | C/P/H | Underwater macro mode is built in and it can shoot close-up pictures of up to 45 centimeters. |
| 1999-12-21 | Konica Hexar RF | Konica Corporation | Direct-view finder | 135 | 24×36 | A double-image-superimposing rangefinder camera that uses M-bayonet mount (“Konika KM-mount”) lens system and has aperture-priority AE mechanism and automatic film operation. |
Film camera additionally chosen for “Japanese Historical Cameras” of 1998 (1 model)
| Release Date | Name of Camera | Company Name | Model | Photosensitive Material | Frame Size | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-11-10 | FUJIFILM instax mini 10 CHEKI ! | Fuji Photo Film Co.,Ltd. | Direct-view finder | Instant film | 42×62 | Used 42x62mm size film and was very popular due to a reasonable market price. |
Digital cameras chosen for “Japanese Historical Cameras” of 1999 (11 models)
| Release Date | Name of Camera | Company Name | Model | Storage Media | Total Numbers of Pixels | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-03-04 | FUJIFILM Finepix 2700 (MX-2700) | Fuji Photo Film Co.,Ltd. | Optical viewfinder | SmartMediaTM | 2.3 million pixels | Lens equivalent to 35mm on a 35mm(135) format camera, and it can achieve picture of 3:2 vertical-horizontal ratio, just like a 35mm camera. |
| 1999-03-13 | CASIO QV-5500SX | Casio Computer Co.,Ltd. | Optical viewfinder | CompactFlashTM | 1.31 million pixels | A large buffer memory of 16MB and can take the next picture in 0.5 second. |
| 1999-03-25 | Nikon COOLPIX 950 | Nikon Corporation | Optical viewfinder | CompactFlashTM | 2.11 million pixels | Best-Shot Selector mode, which chooses the “sharpest” image out of 10 consecutive shots, is built in. (It has 2.11 million-pixel 1/2-in. CCD and uses 3x zoom lens equivalent to 38 -115mm on a 35mm(135) format camera.) |
| 1999-04-08 | OLYMPUS CAMEDIA C-2000 ZOOM | Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. | Optical viewfinder | SmartMediaTM | 2.11 million pixels | It has 2.11 million-pixel 1/2-in. CCD and uses 3x zoom lens equivalent to 35 -105mm on a 35mm(135) format camera. |
| 1999-09-10 | CASIO QV-2000UX | Casio Computer Co.,Ltd. | LCD screen | CompactFlashTM | 2.11 million pixels | Uses CompactFlashTM storage media Type II, and with the combination of IBM’s “MicrodriveTM” (340MB), it can store approx. 400 pictures in “Fine” mode. It also has a vertical-position shooting sensor and by using a software called “PhotoLoader”, the image is automatically converted to vertical image. |
| 1999-09-15 | OLYMPUS CAMEDIA C-2500L | Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. | Single Lens Reflex | SmartMediaTM, CompactFlashTM |
2.5 million pixels | To store images, it can use SmartMediaTM storage media, as well as CompactFlashTM card. Both storage medias can be used to store images at the same time interchangeably. |
| 1999-09-21 | SONY Cybershot DSC-F505K (DSC-F505) | Sony Electronics Inc. | LCD screen | Memory StickTM | 2.11 million pixels | A unique design with 5x optical zoom lens and by also using 2x digital zoom, it becomes “10x precision digital zoom”. |
| 1999-09-29 | Nikon Digital SLR Camera D1 | Nikon Corporation | Single Lens Reflex | CompactFlashTM | 2.74 million pixels | A digital camera with 2.74 million pixel CCD, and is operational like the Nikon F5 or F100. |
| 1999-10-16 | Canon Powershot S10 | Canon Inc. | Optical viewfinder | CompactFlashTM | 2.11 million pixels | A camera that is designed like the Canon’s “IXY” (“ELPH”) Series Advanced Photo SystemTM camera, and it has a 2x zoom lens equivalent to 35 -70mm on a 35mm camera. |
| 1999-10-21 | MINOLTA Dimage RD3000 | Minolta Co., Ltd. | Single Lens Reflex | CompactFlashTM | 2.7 million pixels | Uses dual CCD system, which uses two 1.5 million pixel 1/2-in. CCD. The lens is compatible to “V lens” series of Advanced Photo SystemTM SLR camera Vectis S-1 / S-100. |
| 1999-11-20 | FUJIFILM FinePix PR21 Princam | Fuji Photo Film Co.,Ltd. | Optical viewfinder | SmartMediaTM | 2.3 million pixels | A digital camera that has a built-in instant film printer. |
