Quinone (company)
Chinon KK ( Japanese チ ノ ン 株式会社 , Chinon Kabushiki kaisha , English Chinon Industries Inc. ) was a Japanese camera manufacturer .
In Germany, Chinon products were sold exclusively by the Photo Porst chain under their real names , but also identical in construction by the Quelle mail-order company under the Revue or Revueflex own brand . The Swiss camera manufacturer Alpa and the American department store Sears did the same . Agfa had outwardly modernized quinone reflex cameras under the name Agfa Selectronic .
While the model history is documented in detail, the company history in the 1980s is hardly. In the meantime, quinone was represented as a subsidiary of Minolta (but without any discernible technological cooperation).
history
Chinon was in 1948 Chino in Nagano Prefecture established. In the 1980s, quinone was best known for its inexpensive SLR cameras . In addition, numerous compact and Super 8 cameras were produced.
From 1988 to 1995, Chinon also produced CD-ROM drives .
Later Chinon developed numerous digital cameras for Kodak , which acquired in 1997 a majority stake and the company in 2004 as a complete KK Kodak Digital Product Center ( 株式会社コダックデジタルプロダクトセンター Kabushiki-gaisha Kodakku Dejitaru Purodakuto Senta , Eng. Kodak Digital Product Center, Japan Ltd. ) took over.
In 2006 Kodak sold the company to Flextronics . Flextronics, an electronic manufacturing services provider, incorporated the company as Flextronics Digital Design Japan. In March 2009 the R&D center in Japan was brought into a joint venture with the Taiwanese company Asia Optical, in which Flextronics will hold 20%.
SLR cameras
The SLR cameras were initially equipped with an M42 lens thread , later with the popular Pentax K bayonet (PK bayonet).
In the early 1980s, Chinon developed an autofocus lens that - unlike Pentax - contained the entire control system and the motor for focusing. As a result, the autofocus lenses for this camera were not compatible with those from Pentax, not even with the lenses with power zoom that were later added by Pentax. In addition, the contacts that transmit further settings between the lens and camera were arranged differently with Chinon than with Pentax, so that although the lenses could be mechanically exchanged, the newer functions (such as recognizing and setting the aperture or the focal length) could not be used .
A special feature of earlier quinone SLR cameras with PK bayonet was the dip lever, which is otherwise rather rare in the lower to middle price range . With it, the aperture could be closed before the exposure to check the depth of field . In this way, inexpensive models were already suitable for ambitious amateur photographers who wanted to use the sharpness and blurring distribution as a design tool when creating images.
| model | features | connection |
|---|---|---|
| M-1 | M42 | |
| AT 3 | M42 | |
| SLR | M42 | |
| DSL | M42 | |
| CS | (black and silver) identical Revueflex 2000 CL (silver) and 3000 SL (black) | M42 |
| CS-4 | identical: Revueflex SD-1. Manual (B, min. 1 / 1000s), without self-timer, only release light | M42 |
| CM-1 | identical: Argus CR-1, Revueflex SC1 | M42 |
| CM-2 | M42 | |
| CM-3 | M42 | |
| CM-4 | identical: Agfa Selectronic 1, Revueflex SC2. Manual (B, min. 1 / 1000s), without self-timer, only release light | PK |
| CM-4s | identical: Revue SC3. With self-release lever | PK |
| CM-5 | identical: Revue SC4, manufactured by Cosina (recognizable by the Cosina shutter release) | PK |
| CM-7 | made by Cosina (recognizable by the Cosina trigger). Manual (B, 1 / 2000s, X = 1 / 125s) | PK |
| CX | ||
| CX-1 | ||
| CX-II | ||
| CE | ||
| CE-II Memotron | Automatic (A, B, min. 1 / 2000s, X) | M42 |
| CA-4 | identical: Revueflex ACX, Agfa Selectronic 2nd timer without manual times (A, B, X = 1 / 125s mechanical) | PK |
| CA-4s | identical: Revue AX3 | PK |
| CE-3 Memotron | identical: Revueflex AC1 | M42 |
| CE-4 | identical: Revueflex AC2, Agfa Selectronic 3, Alpa Si3000 automatic (timing wheel A, B, 8s – 1 / 1000s), with dimming lever, without aperture window | PK |
| CE-4s | identical: Revue AC3. Automatic (A, B-4s-2000), with aperture window, without AF contacts, with dimming lever | PK |
| CE-5 | identical: Revue AC3s. Automatic (A, B, min. 1 / 2000s, X = 1 / 60s), with aperture window, AF contacts, dip lever | PK |
| CG-5 | Automatic (A, B, 1 / 1000s, X = 1 / 90s), without aperture window, with AF contacts, dip lever | PK |
| CP-5 Twin Program | identical: Revue AC4 SP and Sears KSX-P Dual2 Program. Automatic program (P1, P2, A, X, B, min. 1 / 1000s), without DX, with two time buttons, viewfinder image (aperture window, with only LED light for exposure scale, times cannot be seen in the dark) | PK |
| CP-5s Twin Program | s. o. (P1, P2, Avg, Spot, X, B, min. 1 / 1000s), with DX recognition, two time buttons, viewfinder image (aperture window, viewfinder display with only LED light for exposure scale), DIN / ASA values classically recognizable in the top view | PK |
| DP-5 | Chrome-plated version of the CP-5 | PK |
| CP-X program | identical: Revue AC4 P1. Programmed automatic (P, A, B, min. 1 / 1000s, X), viewfinder image (no aperture window, no times) | PK |
| CP-6 Spot Twin Program | identical: Revue AC4 SP DX. Automatic program, spot metering (P1, P2, Avg, Spot, B, min. 1 / 1000s), with DX recognition, two time buttons, viewfinder display (aperture window, LED, spot, P, overexposure), DIN / ASA values on the side optimized DIN / ASA wheel recognizable, exposure correction values in plan view | PK |
| CP-7m | identical: Revue AC5 Digital DX | PK |
| CP-9AF | identical: Revue Compact AC6AF | PK |
| GS-7 Genesis Reflex Zoom | ||
| GS-8 Genesis II | ||
| Genesis III Macro Zoom Lens | ||
| Genesis IV | ||
| GS135 |
