Cameracraft magazine – Taking your practical photography further

Tag: Minolta Image

  • Photoworld 2008-2011 Book

    Photoworld 2008-2011 Book

    Icon Publications now has a 316-page book available with all the editions of Photoworld in one volume. Printed on 130gsm silk paper with a 250gsm gloss laminated soft cover, this compilation of news, tecnique and images covers an important period as the Sony Alpha system bridged the gap between Minolta’s legacy and the modern Sony mirrorless E-mount system.

    From the first 24 megapixel full-frame DSLR A900 to the first APS-C mirrorless NEX system and the birth of the short-lived ‘DSLT’ translucent mirror hybrids, this superb full colour A4 compendium puts the final 12 issues of Photoclubalpha’s quarterly magazine into a bookshelf-friendly read to keep.

    • Equipment reviews
    • Expert Minolta/Sony users featured
    • Galleries featuring owners’ best shots
    • News and events from the three-year period
    • Reports from Sony launches
    • Practical tips and technique

    Many standing pages, advertisements and offers have been removed to keep the pagination, cost and posting weight down. Photoclubalpha is the name adopted by The Minolta Club of Great Britain after Sony absorbed the camera brand in 2006.

    A black book cover with red text reading 'photoworld' and an inset monochrome image. Photoworld was pub;ished to continue the Minolta Club's relationship with photographers after Sony acquired the Minolta camera business.

    You can order now from Mixam UK for £32 plus postage.

    ORDER PHOTOWORLD 2008-2011 HERE

    What was the Minolta Club?

    When Minolta established a UK presence in the 1960s through their distributor Japanese Cameras Ltd, it pioneered a direct-to-consumer relationship by combining warranty registration cards with a periodical magazine and a programme of events, courses and training. The Minolta Club of Great Britain had a small membership with a quarterly A5 black and white newsletter called Minolta Photoworld.

    In 1980, Minolta Camera Co. of Osaka set up a direct subsidiary Minolta (UK) Limited. David and Shirley Kilpatrick had a meeting with Rick Kutani when attending photokina ’80 in Köln, and agreed to take on running the club and magazine, which had already expanded to A4 with some colour. The membership expanded rapidly and members opted for Minolta Image as the new name for an improved publication.

    Dick Bryant, the editor of Minolta Mirror the prestige annual from Japan, helped greatly. For 25 years – from 1981 to 2006 when Sony took over the brand – Minolta Image was published quarterly. After Sony’s 2006 take-over the club was formally closed, but with a still active community David and Shirley’s company, Icon Publications Ltd, decided to keep it active without using the Minolta name or any link to Sony. It became Photoclubalpha, with the magazine changing back to its 1979 name.

    Through the Club’s events many amateur and student photographers found a professional career path and training, with exposure in Minolta Image magazine and for the select few, featured work in Minolta Mirror.

    In 2011 without any support from Sony membership had dropped back to 1979 level and Photoworld transformed into Cameracraft.

  • Back issues to 2002

    We have now expanded the archive of downloadable PDF files of our magazine issues, available to subscribers to Photoclubalpha, back to December 2002 with five issues of Minolta Image. The issues make a fascinating record of the transition from film to digital, and then from Minolta to Konica Minolta, and later to Sony.

    The link to the Subscriber page which has active download links is: Subscriber Only Content but this can only be accessed by subscribers. To subscribe, visit Subscriber Registration.

    The list of issues and their content (not including many portfolios, technique and travel or subject related features) is:

    • Photoworld 2 2011 (Spring – new flashgun and accessories, Alpha subaqua, Sony World Photography Awards, Nissin Di866 Mark II flash, Sony ultrawide and fisheye converters for NAX tested)
    • Photoworld 1 2011 (Winter – new Cybershots, Alpha in the studio, Kipon tilt adaptor for NEX, Alpha 580 test report, Duncan McEwan shoots the Commonwealth Games)
    • Photoworld 4 2010 (Autumn – photokina & Alpha 55/33, Alpha 55 test, 3D feature)
    • Photoworld 3 2010 (Summer – NEX 3 & 5 launch in  Croatia, full test, NEX lens adaptors, Alpha 390 and 290 announced, Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 HSM and 70-300mm f/4-5.6 OS)
    • Photoworld 2 2010 (Spring – SAM 30mm f/2.8 Macro, PMA 2010, Sigma EX DG 70mm f/2.8 macro, Delta TTL ringflash, Ray-Flash RAC175-2)
    • Photoworld 1 2010 (Winter – Alpha System 25 Year Silver Jubilee issue; Alpha 450)
    • Photoworld 4 2009 (Autumn – Alpha 500, 550 and 850 announced; Samyang 85mm f/1.4 test, HVL-F20AM)
    • Photoworld 3 2009 (Summer – Alpha 230, 330, 380 launch; Alpha 380 test, SAM 18-55mm, Sigma 18-250mm OS, 70-200mm HSM, 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm fisheye)
    • Photoworld 2 2009 (Spring – Sony PVL-EW5 projector, rechipping Sigma 400mm f/5.6)
    • Photoworld 1 2009 (Winter – Sigma 12-24mm and 50mm f/1.4 on A900, tilt and shift adaptors, Teleplus 2X)
    • Photoworld 4 2008 (Autumn – photokina and Alpha 900)
    • Photoworld 3 2008 (Summer – 70-300mm SSM G lens test, HVL-F58AM)
    • Photoworld 2 2008 (Spring – Alpha 300 and 350 launch, 360° panoramas, HVL-F42AM, kit zoom lens choice, Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 LD Di AF Tele Macro test)
    • Photoworld 1 2008 (Winter – Alpha 200 launch, Alpha 700 shoots Cirque du Soleil)
    • Photoworld 4 2007 (Autumn – Alpha 700 launch, 16-105mm SAL lens, 18-250mm SAL)
    • Photoworld 3 2007 (Summer – Photoclubalpha launch, roadmap speculation, 18-250mm Tamron test, Lensbaby 3G)
    • Photoworld 2 2007 (Spring – 700/900 speculation with the wrong names, GPS CS-1 tracker, CZ 16-80mm test, flash choices, Loreo PC Lens In A Cap)
    • Photoworld 1 2007 (Winter – CZ 135mm f/1.8, 8mm Peleng)
    • Photoworld 3 2006 (Autumn – photokina, Apha 100 test, Sony DSC-R1)
    • Photoworld 2 2006 (Summer – the amazing Alpha 100 launch in Morocco)
    • Photoworld 1 2006 (Winter/Spring – the Sony takeover issue, 25 Years of Minolta Club, 18-200mm and 11-18mm KM zooms tested)
    • Photoworld 4 2005 (Autumn – KM 5D test, colour looks, Dimage Master software)
    • Photoworld 3 2005 (Summer – KM 5D announcement, Sony announce joint project, Dimage X1, Dimage A200, Jobo Gigavu Pro, Dimage Master techniques)
    • Photoworld 2 2005 (Spring – Dimage Z5, 28-75m and 17-35mm lenses tested on Dynax 7D, digital infrared with Dimage 7 and Dynax 7D, colour to mono conversions, using Dimage Scan Elite 5400)
    • Photoworld 1 2005 (Winter – Dynax 7D test, Minolta 16mm full frame fisheye)
    • Photoworld 2 2004 (Autumn – photokina and Dynax (Maxxum) 7D launch)
    • Photoworld 1 2004 (Spring-Summer, the first edition after the Konica Minolta merger, and the renaming of Minolta Image which we had published since 1981 back to its 1966-1980 title of Photoworld – mockup D7D shown at Focus on Imaging, Dynax 60 and 40 launch, Dimage Xt underwater, Konica Centuria Super colour film test, Dimage A2 test)
    • Minolta Image Winter 2003-4 (the last edition of Image before the end of Minolta as a separate company – Dimage Z1 test, Dimage E323 test)
    • Minolta Image Autumn 2003 (the A to Z of digital – Dimage A1 and Z1, Dynax 3L and Fujichrome Astia 100F test, A1 anti-shake test)
    • Minolta Image Summer 2003 (Dimage Scan Elite 5400 test, new 28-100mm, Riva Zoom 60, Dimage Xt test, Wireless Flash)
    • Minolta Image Spring 2003 (SSM 30mm and 70-200mm, converters, launched; F300 report)
    • Minolta Image Winter 2002-3 (incomplete but includes – Low Light and Fast Film, Digital Diaries, Dimage 7Hi test, Dimage Scan Dual III)