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Maxxum 7000The Minolta MAXXUM 7000 (7000 AF in Europe) 35mm SLR camera was introduced in 1985. It marked a significant milestone in photography as it was the first camera to feature integrated autofocus and motorised film advance, the standard configuration for later amateur and professional single lens reflex cameras. Although Pentax ME-F and Chinon CE-5 already had presented autofocus single lens reflex cameras, autofocusing could not be achieved without the use of special motorised AF lenses. The Pentax ME-F had focus sensors in the camera body, while the Chinon CE-5 used a lens with built-in active infrared sensors. Minolta 7000 had its AF sensors and the focusing drive inside the camera body, and as a result the lenses could be much smaller and cheaper. The aperture and focus were mechanically driven through the lens mount from the camera body. However, electronically controlled buttons on the camera body now replaced the familiar mechanical aperture ring on the lens, and the setting was electronically displayed on the body and in the viewfinder. Minolta decided to introduce a new lens mount, the A system, breaking compatibility with its earlier manual focus lenses in the MC and MD system. Later, with the introduction of the 7000i camera body, the Dynax/Alpha brand was marketed. Besides offering a significant improvement in performance, the model introduced an innovative new flash mount. The A lens mount is still the same today, but some modifications have been made to the electronic contacts to facilitate new functions such as motor zoom (now discontinued) and a more sophisticated flash metering system. When Pentax and Nikon entered the autofocus segment, they decided to use the same focus transmission system as Minolta, but both manufacturers kept compatibility with their existing K and F mounts respectively. Canon, like Minolta, chose to change their mount completely, introducing the EOS 600-series few years later, breaking the compatibility with the former FL and FD lens mounts. This was the only fully electronic lens mount system, with no mechanical connections between camera body and lens.
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