options are there for an auto-advance, auto focus slr that was not made by the big four

[steve_johnston9]

<p>What options are there for an auto-advance, auto focus slr that was not made by the big four(Nikon, pentax, minolta and canon). I am aware that there was the yashica 230 and contax made one. Any others ?</p>

[c_watson1]

<p>Samsung? Sigma?</p>

[Greg M]

<p>For a very short period of time Olympus produced an AF system based on their OM lens mount. It did not last long as was their last attempt to extend the OM mount.</p>

<p><a href="http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Olympus_OM-707_/_OM-77">http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Olympus_OM-707_/_OM-77</a></p>

<p>After than they concentrated on the fixed zoom lens bodies until they developed the four-thirds digital SLR system.</p>

[Dustin McAmera]

<p>Camera-wiki has these:<br>

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_35mm_autofocus_SLR<br>

, including the Contax N1, and a few others, but most of them are rather weird designs, and fixed-lens. The Olympus OM-707 is a fairly normal 35 mm SLR shape; the write-up at CW isn't a rave review.<br>

<br />If you're not wedded to 35 mm, there's the Mamiya 645AF series.</p>

<p> </p>

[howardstanbury]

<p>The Olympus iS series had autofocus and autowind, though the lenses were not interchangeable. </p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p><strong>Sigma</strong> created the ill-fated SA series of AF cameras, a complete system that never really seemed to gain much traction in the market. The AF system was pretty awful when compared to the competition, though the cameras functioned very well in most other respects. My teenage sons used the system for several years (as I was offered a good deal by the Sigma agents), and produced some nice work with no issues with the cameras. The available lenses were basically selected from the existing Sigma range and fitted with the SA mount, as I recall. I have a SA-300 tucked away somewhere; it might be a suitable subject for a post on this forum, if anyone is interested.</p>

[c_watson1]

<p>Samsung's SLR lenses had Schneider Kreuznach glass.</p>

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[User_502260]

<p>I have heard that the Sigma AF was actually originallly designed by Konica. By the time the Maxxum 7000 came out in 1985 Konica had already decided to get out of the 35mm SLR market and sold the AF SLR design to Sigma. You can also look into one of the Contax (Yashica/Zeiss) SLRs. You can also look into medium format SLRs with AF and winder/motor options from Mamiya. </p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Found one! The SA-300 was actually a well-featured camera, handled well and nice to use, despite the poor A/F and rather light build.</p><div></div>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>The Olympus was sold in the USA as the OM 77 AF. You could get it with the following AF lenses: 50mm f 1.8, 35-70 f3.5-4.5, or 28-85 f3.5-4.5. It offered program, shutter priority, or aperture priority but no manual exposure. The grip housed a built-in flash and 4 AAA batteries. Single sensor AF like early Maxxums. <br>

The Yashica 230 AF offered a unique "trap focus" mode where the lens was pre-focused and whenever a subject entered at that distance the camera would automatically take a photo.<br>

In addition to the Mamiya 645 AF, there were medium format AF SLRs made by Contax, Pentax, and Hasselblad. They were also 6 x 4.5 format.</p>

[fred_c1]

<p>The "Hasselblad" 6x4.5 was actually a re-badged Fuji GX645AF</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>There are some 'bridge' fixed-lens SLR's from companies like Ricoh (e.g. <a href="/modern-film-cameras-forum/00Yk4S">Mirai</a>), Chinon (e.g. <a href="/modern-film-cameras-forum/00YqZO">Genesis</a>) and Yashica (e.g. <a href="/modern-film-cameras-forum/00YvJm">Samurai</a>) maybe more.</p>

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