Minoltacord
Released in 1953, the Minoltacord wasn't the first TLR (twin lens reflex) produced by Minolta. Sixteen years earlier, the company had rolled out their version of a TLR called the Minoltaflex. It was recognized solely by the silver nameplate bearing the word "Minolta." Introducing some of their technological advancements after World War II, Minolta updated its original design and gave its 1950 version of the TLR the name Minoltacord.
The Minoltacord featured some of the same changes as its main competitor Rollei and their line of Rolleiflex cameras. Most obvious was that the film winding knob on the side had been replaced with a crank. Beyond that, the Minoltacord made several improvements not found on their competitor's TLRs.
Until the Minoltacord, focusing a TLR had involved a knob that moved the front standard forward and backward. With the shutter release on the lower right-hand side of the camera body, this usually meant that photographers had to focus and then re-position their hands to support the camera body from below. The Minoltacord moved the focus to a lever located just under the front standard so that users' hands could stay below the camera to focus and fire without shifting the body and potentially changing composition.
Minolta also reversed the film transport for the Minoltacord so that the supply spool was on the top of the film plane and the take-up spool was underneath. This arrangement helped prevent the film curling that was sometimes an issue when using Rolleiflex cameras.
In order to keep the Minoltacord line affordable, Minolta offered this model with a choice of two different shutters. Most non-professional shooters were fine with the Citizen shutter that had a fastest shutter speed of 1/300th of a second. For more advanced photographers, a model with a Seikosha shutter with a 1/500th of a second shutter speed was also available. Both versions had the same 75mm f/3.5 Chiyoko Primar lens.
With its design changes, Minoltacords and their descendants deserve a place of their own on the evolutionary tree of TLRs. If you fire one, you'll feel the quality that company founder Kazuo Tashima sought. When you see the images from a Minoltacord, you'll see that he and Minolta found that quality.
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