Minolta Auto Focus Tele
Released in 1985, the Minolta Auto Focus Tele is part of the relatively small club of compact cameras that features dual focal lengths, as opposed to a zoom lens. The AF Tele is trying to find that balance between the jack-of-all-trades point-and-shoot, whose zoom lenses sacrificed quality or speed, versus the fixed lens compacts that generally offer greater lens quality at the cost of versatility. In the AF Tele's case the user can switch between a 38mm f/2.8 (four elements in three groups) or a 60mm f/4.3 (seven elements in five groups). This is done quite simply and easily, via a switch to the side of the lens. While we've never dissected one of these cameras to see exactly how this works, our guess is the switch simply moves another grouping of optics into place behind the front elements, converting the lens' focal length to the more telephoto setting. This also has the effect of changing the shutter's placement from "behind the lens" at the 38mm setting, to "between the lens" at the 60mm setting.
These lens specs aside, the Auto Focus Tele boasts a camera that gives you the benefits of a fixed lens compact, times two! It is a nifty system that we feel was never realized often enough in camera design. This type of camera is perfect for the photographer who likes the faster maximum apertures of prime lenses, but wants just a bit more variety in terms of focal lengths.
Now, the AF Tele is certainly more than a two trick pony. It uses a subject weighted meter system which is similar to the later "partial metering" of some Canon cameras. The camera reads a central spot in the viewfinder for all its metering decisions, thereby handling backlit situations a bit better by ignoring bright or dark backgrounds that may surround your subject. While the AF Tele isn't overloaded with features, it does have a built-in flash that automatically triggers when needed, this flash can also be manually set off via a fill flash button, as well as a 10 second self timer.
The Auto Focus Tele would later be succeeded by the Minolta AF-Tele Super, aka the Freedom Tele.
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