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Top of camera / rangefinder warn of under/over exposure conditionsį/3.5, f/5.6, f/8, f/16 circular apertureġx CR123A lithium cell (w/battery check feature)Īpproximately 13 rolls of 24-frame film (50% flash) Lights on top of camera / rangefinder warn of under/over exposure conditions (Aperture priority AE)Īperture priority automatic electronic exposure Internal distance indicator (swing needle)Ģ8mm, f/3.5, G-Rokkor (5 elements in 5 groups)ġ/350 and above available only f/3.5 or f/5.6Ģ sec ~ 1/250 sec. The camera uses a single CR-123A lithium-ion cell which should last for 13 rolls of 24-frame film, according to the manufacturer. The diagram below shows the four circular aperture selections: The downside is that intermediate apertures cannot be selected and the camera is aperture-priority auto-exposure only, since the camera body cannot vary the aperture selection itself. This gives wonderful out-of-focus highlights ("bokeh" in Japanese). You can manually select four apertures (f/3.5, f/5.6, f/8, f/16), each of which is a perfectly circle. Perhaps the most unique feature is the circular aperture (diaphragm). This lens design was so highly regarded that it was later reissued by Minolta in the Leica L-mount for Leica rangefinders and sold in a limited batch of 2000 units. Careful attention was made to reduce internal reflections, increasing overall contrast in the images. The multi-coated all-glass design is a classic 5-elements in 5-groups, with two aspheric elements (3 surfaces aspheric). The G-Rokkor 28mm f/3.5 is ranks among the best lens ever put into a fixed lens camera. I am guessing that the TC in the TC-1 stands for Titanium Clad, referring to its titanium shell. It was awarded the Camera Grand Prix award in 1996. The TC-1 originally retailed for ¥148,000 or about $1000, which gives some indication to its market placement. The MTF diagram to the right illustrates the exceedingly high resolution and contrast that the lens achieves. Minolta claims that each unit was handmade by technicians and that the entire optical assembly is made entirely of glass and metal, with no plastic parts in the optical block. (5 elements in 5 groups, with two aspheric elements). Released in 1996, the TC-1 has a very sharp G-Rokkor 28mm f/3.5 lens All are now classics with correspondingly high resale values. At the time, there was an arms race between the various manufacturers to produce a flagship compact camera with sterling optics, with no regard to price: the Contax TVS, the Ricoh GR1s, and the Minolta TC-1. The TC-1 came out in the late nineties, during the golden days of classic high-quality compact cameras. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law. Although it looks like a point-and-shoot (it's actually the smallest 35mm compact camera on the market), the lens quality and auto-exposure performance are superb and the little camera easily rivals most SLRs. A titanium-bodied auto-focus compact 35mm camera with aperture-priority auto-exposure.