See it here - Sony's FIRST SLR

[beachluvr]

There's been a lot of chatter in recent days about Sony acquiring some of Konica Minolta's fine technology and how they will incorporate it into their new SLR lineup. Certainly KM's metering, autofocus and AntiShake will find new life under the Sony namebadge. If you surf the various websites you might also sense a little resentment about Sony's nerve getting into the DSLR business ... like what do THEY knew about SLRs compared to the old experienced brands like Nikon and Canon?

Are you sitting down? The truth is Sony's first electronic SLR was introduced in 1981, yes that's right, 1981. I actually owned one several years ago. For its time it was a technological marvel while digital SLRs were just a gleam in Nikon's and Canon's eyes. In fact it wouldn't be until 10 years later in 1991 that Kodak released the first professional digital camera system (DCS), aimed at photojournalists. It was a Nikon F-3 camera equipped by Kodak with a 1.3 megapixel sensor.


Here's some info on the original Mavica:

Sony introduced their first 570 x 490 pixel electronic SLR in 1981. It used 2” floppy disks and played them back on a TV. Mavica was a single lens reflex with interchangeable lenses. The original Mavica was sold with three bayonet-mounted lenses: a 25mm f/2, a 50mm f/1.4, and 16-65mm f/1.4 zoom. Sensitivity was rated at ISO 200 with a shutter speed of 1/60th second. Each image was recorded in its own single circle on the floppy disk that Sony called the “Mavipak.” with a capacity of up to fifty color photos.

Sony later came out with a camera toward the end of 1999 that had features we are just starting to see appear on some other brands today ... imagine, a digital camera with 14x true optical zoom lens WITH IMAGE STABILIZATION!!!! Granted it was a beast and beautiful only to its mother, but this was a camera meant to be sold to ordinary people, not pros who could afford a VR/IS lens that costs more than most people spend for their entire camera.

So is Sony the new kid on the block and out of their league getting into the SLR business, or are they going to make companies like Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus and the rest squirm in their seats? Stay tuned ....

[George Riehm]

There's been a lot of chatter in recent days about Sony acquiring some of Konica Minolta's fine technology and how they will incorporate it into their new SLR lineup. Certainly KM's metering, autofocus and AntiShake will find new life under the Sony namebadge. If you surf the various websites you might also sense a little resentment about Sony's nerve getting into the DSLR business ... like what do THEY knew about SLRs compared to the old experienced brands like Nikon and Canon?

Are you sitting down? The truth is Sony's first electronic SLR was introduced in 1981, yes that's right, 1981. I actually owned one several years ago. For its time it was a technological marvel while digital SLRs were just a gleam in Nikon's and Canon's eyes. In fact it wouldn't be until 10 years later in 1991 that Kodak released the first professional digital camera system (DCS), aimed at photojournalists. It was a Nikon F-3 camera equipped by Kodak with a 1.3 megapixel sensor.


Here's some info on the original Mavica:

Sony introduced their first 570 x 490 pixel electronic SLR in 1981. It used 2” floppy disks and played them back on a TV. Mavica was a single lens reflex with interchangeable lenses. The original Mavica was sold with three bayonet-mounted lenses: a 25mm f/2, a 50mm f/1.4, and 16-65mm f/1.4 zoom. Sensitivity was rated at ISO 200 with a shutter speed of 1/60th second. Each image was recorded in its own single circle on the floppy disk that Sony called the “Mavipak.” with a capacity of up to fifty color photos.

Sony later came out with a camera toward the end of 1999 that had features we are just starting to see appear on some other brands today ... imagine, a digital camera with 14x true optical zoom lens WITH IMAGE STABILIZATION!!!! Granted it was a beast and beautiful only to its mother, but this was a camera meant to be sold to ordinary people, not pros who could afford a VR/IS lens that costs more than most people spend for their entire camera.

So is Sony the new kid on the block and out of their league getting into the SLR business, or are they going to make companies like Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus and the rest squirm in their seats? Stay tuned ....

I don't really think that is the case. Most of the speculation I have read is pretty positive about the Sony aquisition of KM's photo business unit. Personally I respect Sony as a company, and tenacity in the marketplace.

Samsung has also proven to be tenacious and has already released their version of the Pentax *ist D series, AND has a like capability to design and manufacture high quality CMOS sensors.

Both of these companies are relative newcomers to dSLR. Even though Sony has experimented with this genre in the past, they gave up on the idea for 25 years, and realized that they did not have the IP or engineering prowess to build a competitive dSLR, so they partnered (reads bought) KM's.

Since both Sony and Samsung absorb technologies very quickly I would expect great things from both, and am looking forward to see what they do with it.

[capedeci]

yes, I expect many breakthrough products from Sony (that made me unsure whether I buy 5D or not, but ordered mine already for $750, bad price).

Many people said that Sony is a joke in SLR or Camera market, but I'm sure they who partnered with KM will be a tough contender.

Sony already have a very good reputation and product lineup on their non SLR digital Cameras, some of Sony's DSCs are even considered phenomenal by many, such as the DSC-D700 and DSC-F717.

I'm sure Sony will do well, even in the market they just entered, we can see how good they are in:
-> Game console = Playstation beats SNES and N64 clearly, as well as Sega Saturn, how PS2 sends Sega Dreamcast to bankruptcy, and sold many over Nintendo's GC (considering Sega and Nintendo have been dominating the market for years)
-> Handheld game console, formerly dominated easily by Nintendo's "Game Boy" lineup, but Sony PSP sells like peanuts, while others like Neo Geo Pocket, Bandai WonderSwan, Sega GameGear failed miserably.
->Sony Ericsson mobile phones, which is among the best (I myself prefer SE over Nokia for better quality (quality, not features).
->VAIO notebooks, which lineup is getting better and more innovative such as the U-series miniature notebooks

So, I'm on Sony's side in dSLR market, I really hope Sony could pop better cameras than KM, and that is definitely going to happen ;) NOt for professionals though, as they already married with "L" lenses.

[JTL]

When I see pros shooting at the Super Bowl and the World Series shooting with a Sony...when I see the White House press corps, the New York Times, Washington Post, Time and Newsweek photogs shooting with a Sony...when I see the covers of Cosmo and Elle shot with a Sony...then I might start to believe that they are more than a gadget company...

[beachluvr]

When I see pros shooting at the Super Bowl and the World Series shooting with a Sony...when I see the White House press corps, the New York Times, Washington Post, Time and Newsweek photogs shooting with a Sony...when I see the covers of Cosmo and Elle shot with a Sony...then I might start to believe that they are more than a gadget company...

The blurb on the original Sony Mavica didn't mention it but that was not a consumer camera. It was intended for, and enthusiastically welcomed, by the national press and professional photojournalists. It gave them the ability they never had before ... to transmit a photograph from camera to pressroom for publication without developing film and scanning the image.

Oh, by the way, in my career I have seen nearly every Super Bowl, World Series, the White House press corps, every major worldwide broadcast network and many more shooting with Sony Professional Video Equipment where they have been the world leader for many, many years. Check out http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10014/market_10014.shtml - Sony is hardly just a "gadget" company by anyone's standards.

George ... my article used the term "sense a little resentment" - still think that's not the case? :)

[JTL]

The blurb on the original Sony Mavica didn't mention it but that was not a consumer camera. It was intended for, and enthusiastically welcomed, by the national press and professional photojournalists. It gave them the ability they never had before ... to transmit a photograph from camera to pressroom for publication without developing film and scanning the image.

Oh, by the way, in my career I have seen nearly every Super Bowl, World Series, the White House press corps, every major worldwide broadcast network and many more shooting with Sony Professional Video Equipment where they have been the world leader for many, many years. Check out http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10014/market_10014.shtml - Sony is hardly just a "gadget" company by anyone's standards.

George ... my article used the term "sense a little resentment" - still think that's not the case? :)O.K. if you want to nit-pick, that's fine...just insert the word dSLR after every time I used Sony! :rolleyes:

[Balrog]

Much as I hate Sony (not out of loyalty to the 'old guard' of camera companies, but because of their annoying proprietary-everything strategies and other things like hidden rootkits on music CDs..) I think in today's digital camera market, being a good 'gadget company' is at least as important as being a good 'camera company' ...

[George Riehm]

When I see pros shooting at the Super Bowl and the World Series shooting with a Sony...when I see the White House press corps, the New York Times, Washington Post, Time and Newsweek photogs shooting with a Sony...when I see the covers of Cosmo and Elle shot with a Sony...then I might start to believe that they are more than a gadget company...

Don't blast me here, as this is not meant to be a scalding critique, but just a reminder, that the "gadget company" is actually a little more competent than that.

At those sports venues, press conferences, on the battlefields, baseball fields, and soccer fields, and if you watch outdoor programs and events in HD... you will most likely be viewing those Nikon and Canon still cameras, as-well-as a lot of that news and entertainment content, via Sony professional video cameras, and studio equipment... Sony has been an industry standard in portable professional video cameras/camcorders, and studio recorders and monitors, for as long as I can remember. They are also no strangers in professional medical and dental imaging systems.

I have a feeling that Sony is looking to enter the hi-end professional digital still photography arena and I wouldn't be surprised if they do. Knowing Sony at the development engineering level for many years, I can tell you that, whatever was lacking, technically, at K-M, will not be lacking at Sony.

I'll certainly concede that the PJ market is dominated by Canon and Nikon, but I'm thinking that most magazine covers, and full-page center-fold shots, are still using medium format film and digital backs, as are most glamour shots. I don't remember seeing a 35mm type, film or digital, SLR used in any of the few magazine studios I've visited.

To my recollection, none of the pro dSLR makers are in medium format digital markets which are currently supported by Leaf, Phase-One, and now Hasselblad. Although, I think Fuji is in MF digital backs also... but I don't think that drops Nikon and Canon to the "gadget" catagory.

For as much as Sony is perceived as a somewhat arrogant company, you can't argue with their overwhelming success in both consumer and professional video imaging systems. You can try to trivialize their accomplishments in the marketplace, but you can't deny their continued dominating presence.

I have a feeling that Sony-KM (and rival Samsung-Pentax) may be knocking on the pro dSLR door sooner than you think. The R-1 was just for practice. With CMOS imager prowess, and no legacy cameras to box them in, a serious shift in the dSLR paradigm may be on the horizon.

Let's put it this way: I'm not investing in Nikkor pro glass at this point, because, frankly, my next dSLR may may take KM or KAF mount lenses, and have the Sony or Samsung logo on it.

[George Riehm]

George ... my article used the term "sense a little resentment" - still think that's not the case? :)[/QUOTE]

They'll get over it. As did I.;)

[arigato]

Interesting. I found a link about this camera that had a little more info than what beachluvr has provided at:

http://dchis.com/1980_1983.html

This was not a digital SLR at all or even a SLR for that matter, it was a Video Camera that was capable of writing onto floppy disks that can carry as many as 50 color photos which translated to around 14 megs of space maximum. My question is why didnt Sony developy the 2" floppy disk for pc's then if for that time people were fumbling with 512k disks?

[George Riehm]

Interesting. I found a link about this camera that had a little more info than what beachluvr has provided at:

http://dchis.com/1980_1983.html

This was not a digital SLR at all or even a SLR for that matter, it was a Video Camera that was capable of writing onto floppy disks that can carry as many as 50 color photos which translated to around 14 megs of space maximum. My question is why didnt Sony developy the 2" floppy disk for pc's then if for that time people were fumbling with 512k disks?

The article states that this was a single lens reflex camera:

"The Mavica was a single lens reflex with interchangeable lenses."

As for the disks:

As it turns out, in 1981 Sony (in leu of the 2" drive) did introduce the more usable 3.5 inch floppy (preceeded by the, Shugart designed, 8" in 1971 from IBM and the 5.25" in 1976 from Shugart/Wang).

As I remember, the first 3.5 inch held 720KB of data, a huge improvment over the 360KB 5.25. As for the capacity of 2 inch floppies it was not 14MB! With compression the cameras data files were about 25-30KB each so it was more like maybe 1.44MB (720KB per side).

I had all 3 drive sizes in the lab at the time (1982) connected to an Alair 8800 and a Cromemco Z80. For reference about the largest commercially availabe hard drive was the Shugart 10MB, so you can see why a 14MB 2 inch floppy might not have been feasable at the time.;) I don't remember the cost but $800 sticks in my mind, and it was available in RTL and SCSII interface.

It was an exciting time in the computer world... you had to be there.;)

[beachluvr]

Interesting. I found a link about this camera that had a little more info than what beachluvr has provided at:

http://dchis.com/1980_1983.html

This was not a digital SLR at all or even a SLR for that matter, it was a Video Camera that was capable of writing onto floppy disks that can carry as many as 50 color photos which translated to around 14 megs of space maximum. My question is why didnt Sony developy the 2" floppy disk for pc's then if for that time people were fumbling with 512k disks?

Thanks arigato (redundant??) I was careful to say that the first Mavica SLR was an "electronic" SLR, not a "digital" SLR. Digital had yet to be invented as far as cameras were concerned in 1981. However it was in fact a true "SLR" as the website you referenced clearly states and the photo reinforces. It used interchangeable bayonet-mount lenses and a pentaprism/mirror viewfinder arrangement ... the classic definition of a SLR. Most likely those lenses were proprietary and exclusive to Sony :rolleyes:

And yes it was a "video" (though not a motion video camera as we would define one). It recorded each still picture as one frame of video on each track of the Mavipak disk, which was a true analogue (hence non-digital) recording system. Ingenious of Sony! And actually Sony did have a computer line (back when people were saying what the heck does Sony know about computers!) that used the Mavipak disk. Then Sony got out of the computer business for several years, only to come back as one of the largest selling brands today.

Moral of story? Don't underestimate Sony ... they make big bucks off their "gadgets"

[beachluvr]

Thanks for both very informative posts George. You are right about Sony coming out with the 3.5" disk. Their first computer, which as I recall was silver (when ALL computers seemed to be beige), had the the first 3.5" disk drive in it. The model I used also had a slot for the Mavipak disk (I still have a couple of Mavipak disks!). They also had a stand-alone reader drive that was meant to "transmit" the image, which if memory serves had a video out, some sort of output to a computer (no one knew why you would want to put a still picture on a computer), AND a modem output to send the picture back to your editor via a telephone line. The early Mavica was used pretty extensively in combat zones.

Also, good catch on the fact that those high-end fashion magazine photographers usually won't be seen toting a Nikon or Canon, 35mm is still looked down on as an inferior format in those industries and digital is laughed at.

In another post I recommmended a student to the "Arizona Highways" website. If you click on photographers guidelines you will find that they absolutely, posititively refuse to accept digital photographs, no matter how "nice" they look. Their medium of choice is 4 x 5 transparency or better. Reading that would be excellent information to the person who just bought a $900 DSLR kit and thinks that it is "professional" equipment. But then again, a shoebox with a pinhole in the right hands can make a better "photograph" than the world's most expensive camera. The camera is just a tool.