This photo of my photoalbum was taken in Okinawa.

Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. (コニカミノルタホールディングス, Konika Minoruta Hōrudingusu?) is a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of photo-copiers, fax machines, laser printers, medical graphic equipments, optical components and sensing meters formed by a merger between Japanese imaging firms Konica and Minolta announced on January 7, 2003. There are many branches of the company worldwide including Ramsey, New Jersey, Mobile, Alabama, Basildon, England and Missisauga, Ontario. Konica Minolta now has a wide range of imaging input/output businesses including office equipment, optical devices, medical imaging, graphic imaging and measuring instruments. On January 19, 2006 the company announced that it was quitting the camera business due to high financial losses. SLR camera service operations were handed over to Sony starting on March 31, 2006 and Sony has continued development of cameras that are compatible with Minolta autofocus lenses. Konica Minolta withdrew from the photo business on September 30, 2007. 3,700 employees were laid off. Konica Minolta closed down their photo imaging division in March 2007. The color film, color paper, photo chemical and digital mini-lab machine divisions have ceased operations. The SLR digital-camera section was transferred to Sony. However, Dai Nippon will be purchasing Konica's Odawara factory site and continue to produce paper under Dai Nippon's brand. Seapac on the other hand will acquire the Konica chemical factory.

The Leica was the first practical 35 mm camera. The first prototypes were built by Oskar Barnack at E. Leitz Optische Werke, Wetzlar, in 1913. Barnack used standard cinema 35 mm film, but extended the image size to 24 × 36 mm. Barnack believed the 2:3 aspect ratio to be the best choice, leaving room for a 36-exposure film length (originally 40 exposures, but some films were found to be thicker). Barnack's words, "Small negatives—large images", would soon change the world of photography. The concept was developed further, and in 1923 Barnack convinced his boss, Ernst Leitz II, to make a prototype series of 31. The camera was an immediate success when introduced at the 1925 Leipzig, Germany Spring Fair as the Leica I (for Leitz Camera). The compactness of the camera, and its reliability and excellent lens, made it a success. The lens was the 4-element Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 objective designed by Dr. Max Berek at Leitz, influenced by the Zeiss Tessar. The focal plane shutter had a range from 1/20 to 1/500 second and Time (marked Z for Zeit). In 1930 the Leica I Schraubgewinde with an exchangeable objective system based on a 39 mm thread was produced, with a 50 mm normal lens, a 35 mm wide-angle lens and a 135 mm telephoto lens available. The Leica II came in 1932, with a built in rangefinder coupled to the lens focusing mechanism. This model had a separate viewfinder (showing a reduced image) and rangefinder (showing a double image which was properly focused when it became one image). The Leica III added slow shutter speeds down to 1 second, and increased rangefinder magnification to 1.5X for more accurate focusing. The model IIIa, introduced in 1935, added the 1/1000 second shutter speed. Also significant about the IIIa is that it is the last model made before Barnack's death, and therefore the last model he was wholly responsible for. Leitz continued to refine the original design through to 1957. The final version, the IIIg, included a large viewfinder with framelines, similar to the M3 finder, but still with the separate view — and rangefinder. These models all had a functional combination of circular dials and square windows that was quite esthetically pleasing, although somewhat busy in appearance. All remain perfectly usable today if serviced properly.