| Camera Name: | Minolta RD-175 |
| Type: | Digital SLR camera |
| Lens Mount: | A-mount |
| Focus: | Automatic |
The Minolta RD-175 was an early digital SLR, introduced in 1995. Minolta combined an existing SLR with a three way splitter and three separate CCD image sensors, giving 1.2 megapixels (MP) of resolution.[1] The base of the DSLR was the Minolta Maxxum 500si Super (the Dynax 500si Super in Europe and as Alpha 303si Super in Asia). Agfa produced a version of the RD-175 retailed as the Agfa ActionCam.
The RD-175 was also notable as the first consumer digital camera to be used in a professional stop motion production, being used to create the full-motion claymation adventure video game The Neverhood.[2]
Since state of the art CCD resolution at the time was sufficient for Minolta, the light entering the central 12 mm × 16 mm area of the RD-175's focal plane was compressed by 0.56x relay optics behind the focal plane, similar to the optical reduction system used in the Nikon E series. The light bundled on the smaller sensor area increased the effective sensitivity (ISO) by stops. Then the light was split and sent to three separate 4.8 × 6.4 mm sized 1200 × 800 pixel (3 × 0.3 MP) image sensors, two used for green and one for the red and blue color, reducing the sensitivity increase to about 2 stops. The only usable ISO was 800.
The three images were combined digitally and interpolated to the final size of 12 MP (4243× 2828 pixels). Images were stored on an internal 128MB PCMCIA hard drive. The camera used Minolta AF A-mount lenses with a crop factor of 2.