SONOCON 16 MB-ZA
When transistors were introduced to the consumer marketplace in the 1950's,
many products could be made much smaller -- and cheaper. One of the
first products to undergo the reduction process was the radio. Soon,
tiny, colorful Japanese transistor radios became the rage around the world
. They were so popular that several camera companies decided to jump
on the bandwagon. No, they weren't making radios, they were adding
radios to their cameras! Minolta was one such company, and it actually
put together a top-quality product, unlike most of the others. The
Sonocon 16 MB-ZA appeared in 1962 and was a stretched-out version of the
Minolta 16 II with a built-in radio or, depending on how you look at it,
a radio with a built-in Minolta 16 II. The radio controls were on one
end and the camera controls on the other. It had a 22mm (f2.8-16) lens
and shutter speeds of B, 1/30-1/500. All other features were the same
as the model II, so we know that this is a top-quailty shooter. It
only was available in a black body. In any case, they are pretty rare.
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