Pentax ES

By 1970, the m42 screw mount was starting to show its age, along with the Spotmatic. After a failed first attempt at a new electrically controlled Spotmatic, Asahi went back to the drawing board to release something special. This is the 1971 Pentax ES.

GAF L-CM

Minolta, Haking, and Petri were a few of the companies GAF worked with, but Chinon was the sole producer of their SLR line of cameras. The first in this series was an entry level Chinon M42 camera from around a year earlier, the 1974 GAF L-CM.

Hanimex 35 Reflex Flash

Not afraid to bring over anything that would be a new product for the American market, Hanimex looked to a unique SLR camera originally from Fuji in the late 1970s. This was the 1979 Hanimex 35 Reflex Flash.

Cosina CS-2

There are few companies that have an exciting history like Cosina. After the initial Cosina SLR, the Hi-Lite and its various redesigns, the next big SLR series to be released was the Cosina CS line. Out of this new lineup, there was one aperture priority only model. This was the 1978 Cosina CS-2.

Ricoh TLS 401

While a large majority of the Singlex TLS line found their way into other retailer’s hands for rebranding, Ricoh decided to keep the most unique model to themselves. A large departure from the standard TLS series, the Ricoh TLS 401 was released to the public in 1970.

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super

Being one of the last cameras in the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex line, the original Contaflex Super is the first Contaflex with a coupled meter and coupled shutter/aperture system

Sears KS Super

Being one of the many cameras that department stores re branded, the KS Super is a Pentax K mount, aperture priority camera that Sears released in 1981

Minolta XG-1(n)

The Minolta XG-1 was a lower end, entry level model for the XG line at the time. After a couple of years, Minolta decided to redesign the camera, deeming it the XG-1(n), and updating a few features to keep up with the newer cameras to come out of the XG line

Konica FS-1

As the 1970s were coming to a close, Konica was developing a different kind of SLR camera. In 1979 the FS-1 was the first all electronic SLR Konica released and an end to the mechanical era of Konica cameras

Minolta Maxxum 7000

Released as the first fully integrated auto focus camera, the Minolta Maxxum 7000 was critically acclaimed and highly regarded by the public when it debuted in 1985. This camera was the first to really usher in the age of the auto focus camera

Pentacon Pentina II

You don’t hear very much about Pentacon on the internet. You hear even less about their line of leaf shutter SLR cameras to come out in the early 1960s. The Pentacon Pentina line of cameras were fully fledged SLR’s that were solidly built and included some incredible Zeiss lenses

Nikon N2020

Nikon dabbled in autofocus with the F3AF, releasing a small number of lenses for the system, but three years later in 1986, they released a real attempt at an autofocus camera, the Nikon N2020.