Minolta AC 101 Courrèges (c. 1983–1984)
The Minolta AC 101 Courrèges is a disc film camera from the early 1980s. It is known more for its designer than for its technology. André Courrèges, the French fashion designer, styled it, and his name also appears on the related AC 301 model. Sources conflict on the introduction year. One says 1983, another says 1984, and the record is too thin to settle it. The wavy stripe design is consistent across examples and gives the body a distinct Art Deco flavor. Examples survive in green, pink, and yellow/white.
Past the styling, documentation gets sparse. A Flickr description attached to AC 101 images lists a 12.5mm f/2.8 zone-focusing lens, two shutter speeds (1/100 and 1/200), a built-in flash and a close-up lens. That text is loosely attributed and may describe Minolta disc cameras in general rather than this model. The subclub.org source on Minolta disc cameras confirms the company made only a half-dozen of them. It praises their fast zone-focusing lens as an outstanding feature across the line, with one unnamed exception. It doesn't say whether the AC 101 Courrèges was that exception.
Surviving examples do turn up on the secondhand market. One shopgoodwill.com listing sold it as-is, untested, missing its strap, measuring 4.75 × 1 × 3 inches. A Yahoo Lifestyle gift guide once recommended it as a vintage designer film camera for under $40. Film is the practical problem. Disc film has been out of production for years, and even period buyers noted how hard it was to find.
No original retail price, production run totals, or detailed technical specifications have surfaced. If you own an AC 101 Courrèges and can confirm the lens and shutter details, or fill in the battery type and flash specs, the Archive would welcome the record.
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