This stylish new lightweight and compact camera features a 2.1x zoom lens, take anywhere design, built-in flash and fully automatic operation.

Cologne, Germany, Photokina Hall 1.2, Stand G 2-18 (September 25, 2002) – Minolta Corporation announces today the new Minolta ZOOM 80 Date, a lightweight and compact, fully automatic 35mm point-and-shoot camera. This compact camera is housed in the world’s lightest* body weighing only 5.8 ounces and features a built-in 2.1x zoom lens that ranges between 38mm - 80mm.

The Minolta ZOOM 80 Date features autofocus (AF) and autoexposure, versatile flash modes, clear, bright viewfinder images, and automatic film prewind. All these features combined make it easy to get great photographic results time after time. "With the new Minolta ZOOM 80 Date, even casual photographers will never miss those once-in-a-lifetime photographic moments again," said Jon Sienkiewicz, vice president of marketing, Minolta Corporation’s Consumer Products Group. "This affordable camera is so small it can be discreetly tucked away in a pocket or purse to be available at a moment’s notice." Lightweight, Compact, and Stylish Design

The Minolta ZOOM 80 Date was designed with style and value in mind. The world’s lightest zoom compact camera with a built-in zoom lens up to 80mm in focal length is 40% smaller than its predecessors, the Minolta Freedom Sightseer and Silver Streak Zoom. The Minolta ZOOM 80 Date is designed to be comfortable to hold and features a beautiful metallic silver finish. The clear, bright viewfinder automatically adjusts to match the zoom lens’ field of view, making framing of a subject easy. Fully Automatic with Versatile Flash Modes

The Minolta ZOOM 80 Date automatically controls focusing and exposure, and will even automatically utilize the built-in flash when there is not enough light. The active AF system is fast and accurate, even with low contrast subjects, and the programmed auto exposure system ensures clear, well-exposed images. The frame number and flash mode is clearly displayed on the data panel. Photographs of scenic landscapes, both at night and during the day, are easy to take with the camera’s landscape/night view mode. Worry-Free Automatic Prewind

Automatic prewind saves precious photographs from being ruined if the back cover is opened accidentally. The camera’s film transport system automatically winds the film to the end of the roll when loaded, and then rewinds it into the cartridge as each picture is taken. * Among 35mm compact cameras with a zoom lens up to 80mm in focal length, as of July 20, 2002. Minolta Corporation

Minolta Corporation, headquartered in Ramsey, New Jersey, is the largest subsidiary of Minolta Co. Ltd. of Osaka, Japan, a leading manufacturer of cameras, business equipment, radiometric instruments and planetariums. Minolta Corporation's Consumer Products Group (CPG) markets 35 mm film and Advanced Photo System cameras, digital cameras, binoculars, accessory lenses, photographic light meters, 35mm and Advanced Photo System film scanners and other consumer products.

The corporation's Business Products Group (BPG) markets digital and analog office equipment.  Products include black-and-white copiers, digital black and white printer/copiers, plain-paper laser facsimile machines, digital color printer/copiers, micrographic systems, document management software, and related office equipment.