Minolta 7000 Registered as Essential Historical Material for Science and Technology by the National Museum of Nature and Science

The background on the iconic Minolta 7000

In the development of cameras in the early 1980s, it was a major task to incorporate automatic focusing functions while maintaining the characteristics of single-lens reflex cameras with a variety of interchangeable lenses. In order to overcome this challenge, in the course of developing the camera, the decision was made to redesign the mount (the junction between the camera body and the lens). Though the change in the mount meant that the existing lenses could not be used, the product development moved on to further strengthen the technology in the future to provide more value to the customers. The entire system of the camera has been reviewed from a clean slate: the focus detection function has been designed on the body, and a newly developed lens system incorporating an interlocking mechanism with the body has been added to achieve almost perfect auto focus function. This was an innovative product that changed the mainstream of 35mm SLR cameras at once, leading to the current digital SLR camera systems.
 

In 2006, Konica Minolta ended its founding businesses of cameras and photographic films. The imaging technologies it has cultivated over many years, however, are one of its valuable core technologies. Konica Minolta will continue to contribute to society by creating value that meets the needs of the customers by focusing on visualization of the invisible, based on the imaging technologies inherited over the years.
 

Preserving materials with important significance for the next generation – the purpose of “Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology”

This registration system has been implemented by the National Museum of Nature and Science. Its purpose is to preserve and utilize materials that have important significance in passing them on to the next generation, as well as materials that have a noticeable impact on the way of life, society, economy, and culture of the nation. The first registration of products was made in 2008, followed by annual selections since then.
 

A strong heritage as an ideal basis for a leading role in the future

With this strong heritage Konica Minolta today is enabling its clients to champion the digital era: with its unique imaging expertise and data processing capabilities, Konica Minolta creates relevant solutions for its customers and solves issues faced by society. As a provider of comprehensive IT services, Konica Minolta delivers consultancy and services to optimise business processes with workflow automation. The company further offers its customers solutions and managed services in the field of IT infrastructure and IT security as well as cloud environments. As a strong partner for the professional printing market, Konica Minolta offers business consulting, state-of-the-art technology and software and has established itself as the production printing market leader for more than a decade in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa (InfoSource). Innovation has played and will always play a big role for the company: Its Business Innovation Centre in London and four R & D laboratories in Europe enable Konica Minolta to bring innovation forward by collaborating with its customers as well as academic, industrial and entrepreneurial partners.

About Konica Minolta, Inc.

Konica Minolta, Inc. is a global technology company that provides innovative solutions to businesses and society. With its strengths in the combination of its core technologies in advanced imaging, optics, sensing, materials and nano-processing, Konica Minolta is committed to creating new values supporting customers to address challenges in their operations and work processes. Advancing its expertise in digital technologies, the company has been going through business transformation into a digital company, with insights into implicit challenges across the board as ‘One Konica Minolta’ in the era of Internet of the Things (IoT). Konica Minolta is also active in open innovation through various collaborations and alliances with academic, industrial and entrepreneurial partners.Headquartered in Tokyo, Konica Minolta has its Group companies in 50 countries with over 44,300 employees and offers products and services in 150 countries around the world.