Minolta Autowide (1958)

The Minolta Autowide, sometimes written "Auto Wide," is a 35mm viewfinder camera introduced in 1958 by Chiyoda Kogaku Seiko K.K. The company didn't become Minolta until 1962. It was one of the earliest 35mm cameras with an integral coupled exposure meter. Some period sources call it Japan's first, arriving just weeks after the Mamiya Elca in February 1957.

The lens is a fixed wide-angle Rokkor, either a 35mm f/2.8 or a 28mm f/2.8 depending on the source. The record is genuinely split here. Focusing is by scale, with click stops for portrait, group, and scenery distances. The viewfinder projects brightlines for the 35mm field of view. Shutter speeds run from 1 to 1/500 second plus Bulb, though one source lists the range as starting at 1/30. The shutter is an "Optiper MXV" leaf type, internally synchronized for both electronic flash and flash bulbs. A Minolta BC flash gun or electronic unit fits into the accessory shoe.

The design has a couple of distinctive touches. A concentric rotating knob-and-wheel on the camera back is internally geared to both aperture and shutter speed, so one move adjusts both. A single-throw lever advances the film, cocks the shutter, and counts the frame in one motion. The original price was $89.50, with the case extra.

Documentation on this model is otherwise thin — no exposure meter specifications, aperture range limits, dimensions, or weight are recorded in the sources available. What is clear is that it was a significant camera for Minolta at a time of intense innovation in the Japanese camera industry.

Known specs:

- Film: 35mm (135)

- Lens: Minolta Rokkor, fixed wide-angle, f/2.8 (focal length variously given as 35mm or 28mm)

- Focus: Scale focus, 2.6 feet to infinity, with click stops

- Shutter: Optiper MXV leaf, B, 1-1/500 sec (one source lists 1/30-1/500)

- Meter: Built-in, coupled (type and range not documented)

- Viewfinder: Scale focus with projected brightlines

- Introduced: 1958, at $89.50 (case extra)