Digital Cameras

Apple \| Canon \| Casio \| Chinon \| Fuji \| HP \| Kodak \| Konica Minolta \| Nikon \| Olympus \| Panasonic \| Pentax \| Ricoh \| Sony
Apple
Apple QuickTake 100 introduced February 16, 1994, the Apple QuickTake 100 was one of the first consumer digital cameras. Wikipedia - QuickTake has excellent information about it. It came with a heafty price tag of $749 for a single focal length, fixed focus camera with maximum 640 x 480 resolution. Adjusted for inflation the price was nearly $1,100 in 2006 dollars. Shutter sppeds were 1/30 to 1/175 second. The QuickTake 100 could only be used directly with an Apple Mac. The later Quicktake 150, introduced May 1995, could also be used with a Windows PC. Both had only 1mb internal storage and no external storage. They could hold about 16 images before you had to download the images to the computer. Connection to the computer was with a round Apple serial cord. The QuickTake 100 and 150 were made by Kodak. The later Quicktake Model 200, introduced February 17, 1997 was made by Fuji and is similar to the Fuji DS-7. According to Wikipedia - Quicktake none of the models sold well and were discontinued in 1997.	Apple QuickTake 150 introduced May 1995 with a price tag of $700. I have one boxed Quicktake 100 and three QuickTake 150s. All were purchased on eBay. My latest QuickTake 150 came boxed with all of the software for an Apple Macintosh and it worked using a Power Macintosh 5500/225 I acquired at a garage sale in the Summer of 2006 for $25. Pretty cool. I haven't tried to transfer the images to a modern computer yet. My latest Quicktake 150 was purchased on 8-5-06 for $15.50 with $4.05 shipping. It was the seller's first eBay sale. According to Wikipedia - QuickTake the Quicktake 100 only saved images in the PICT and QuickTake file formats, while the 150 and 200 also saved them in BMP,PCX and the JPEG. Now that I have the software, I will be trying out the other QuickTake cameras I have. The QuickTake 100 and 150 had only a simple optical viewfinder and no viewing screen. My QuickTake 150 came with a macro lens attachment which is on top of the box in the image below. Other images: specifications from box, box.
	Apple QuickTake 200 (Introduced 1997) (Large Image, Back) Information at Digitalkamera Museum. A digital still camera made by Fuji for Apple. It was the third and last camera in the Quicktake line. The first two, the QuickTake 100 and 150, were made by Kodak for Apple. The QuickTake 200 is a 0.3 megapixel camera taking 640x480 images. Unlike the prior two QuickTake cameras, the QuickTake 200 had a 1.8 inch LCD screen and stored photos on SmartMedia cards. It had a fixed focal length lens of 8mm, f2.2, with shutter speeds from 1/4 to 1/5000 seconds. It has a clip-on viewfinder in addition to the 1.8 inch LCD screen. It takes 4 AA batteries. The original price was $700, or over $1,300 in March 2023 dollars. I appear to have gotten my QuickTake 200 for free from an ad on Craigslist on July 26, 2009. As I write this in April 2023, I can't get it to turn on. It looks like there was some leakage and corrosion in the battery compartment. Also, as I was trying to get it to work a small piece of the battery door broke off preventing the battery door from staying closed when batteries are in it.
Apple \| Canon \| Casio \| Chinon \| Fuji \| HP \| Kodak \| Konica Minolta \| Nikon \| Olympus \| Panasonic \| Pentax \| Ricoh \| Sony
Canon
	Canon RC-360 Video Still Camera (October 1992). The Canon RC360 is an analog video still camera prior to the wide spread introduction of true digital cameras. Information was stored electronically in analog fashion on small diskettes and could be played back on a television. The Canon Camera Museum states it had "a 1/2 inch 260,000 pixel CCD image sensor, recording and playback with horizontal resolution of 380 TV lines." There is no LCD display of the image. Digicamhistory.com states it cost $2,600 or about $3,650 in 2006 dollars! It had a fixed focus lens equivalent to a 51mm focal length 35mm film camera lens but could be equipped with wide angle (which mine has) and telephoto auxilliary lenses. See Vision Quest. To get a digital image you would need a digital capture board on your computer. The Vision Quest article states the only true digital system at the time was the single lens reflex (SLR) Kodak DCS 200 which cost over $18,000 at the time! The Kodak DCS 200 was a Nikon SLR based camera with 1.54 megapixels and no LCD viewing screen. See Kodak DCS cameras based on Nikon. As of Summer 2006 you can buy a 4 or 5 megapixel compact digital camera for about $100 or an 8 megapixel Canon Digital Rebel XT SLR with lens for under $800. Truly a revolution in photography has occurred in the past 15 years. I purchased my Canon RC-360 on eBay on 5-16-06 for $10.23 and $4.05 shipping. It is in good cosmetic condition. It comes with a miniature diskette. It has a sticker indicating it was owned by the Orange County (Florida) B.C.C. (Board of County Commissioners). It has a small 8 volt sealed lead battery, Canon Battery Pack BP-4P, but no charger. I am therefore not aware of the operating condition. The battery compartment is clean.
	Canon PowerShot 350 (March 1997) (Large Image, Back) 1/3 inch CCD sensor with 350,000 pixels, 640 x 480. 6mm f2.8 lens with same angle of view as 43mm focal length on full frame camera. 1.8 inch LCD monitor. 120 ISO. "Can shoot up to 47 frames using a Compact Flash card (with a 2-MB capacity)." (Only 11 frames on "fine," however.) 1/4 - 1/2000 shutter speed. Built-in flash. "Macro Zoom function for close-up shots (minimum distance 3 cm)." (Canon Camera Museum.) According to Digitalkamera Museum the camera was actually made by Panasonic. The original suggested retail price was $699, or about $1,300 in 2022 dollars. It is powered by three 1.5 volt batteries, a dedicated NiCad battery, or AC adapter. I think I bought this from an ad on Craigslist or from a garage sale maybe around 2010 give or take several years. It has a $10 price sticker on it. It came with the AC adapter, two different cords to connect to serial ports on PC or Apple Mac computers, Adobe PhotoDeluxe Version 1.0, Ulead PhotoImpact 3.0SE with paper manual, PowerShot Utilities with paper manual, and the User's Manual. It is in good cosmetic condition with some marks on front. The battery compartment shows some past battery leakage. The camera seems to work fine both taking and displaying images. It is a very cool camera to show how far we have come in 25 years as I write this in 2022.
	Canon PowerShot S300 Digital Elph (Large Image, Back) Marketed April 2001 according to the Canon Camera Museum. It was called IXY Digital 300 in Japan and Digital Ixus 300 in Europe and Asia. The manual is available at flynngraphics. DPReview has an extensive review recommending the camera but stating it was pricey compared to the competition. The street price was $600 or about $1,070 in 2024 dollars. The S300 Digital Elph is a 2.1 megapixel camera with a 1/2.7 inch CCD sensor with a 3X 5.4mm to 16.2mm (35-105mm 35mm equiv.) f2.7-4.7 lens. The ISO sensitivity is 100 (up to 150 in low light). Shutter speeds are 1 – 1/1500 seconds. It has an optical viewfinder in addition to a 1.5 inch LCD monitor. It's compact with dimensions of 94.8 x 62.5 x 29.9 mm (with lens retracted) and lightweight at 240 grams. It records movies at 20 frames per second at up to 640 X 480 resolution. It records on Compact Flash cards. It is powered by a rechargeable NB-1L lithium ion battery pack. I likely purchased my camera at a garage sale many years ago. It is good cosmetic condition. It works fine although the battery does not hold a charge for long. This takes the same battery as the PowerShot S500. I have two batteries and one Canon charger for the two cameras.
	Canon PowerShot S30 (Large Image, Back) (User Guide) Marketed December 2001 according to the Canon Camera Museum. The expected street price was $599 according to DP Review. It has a 1/1.8 inch, 3.2 megapixel, sensor and a 3X zoom lens 7.1-21.3mm, f2.8-4.9 (angle of view the same as a full frame 35-105mm lens). It was released with the PowerShot S40 which had a 4 megapixel sensor. The S30 had an optical viewfinder as well as a 1.8 inch LCD viewfinder/monitor. Shutter speeds were from 15 seconds to 1/1500 seconds. ISO values of 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800. Images are recorded on a Type I or Type II Compact Flash card. It could record 320 X 240 movies for up to 30 seconds, or 160 X 120 movies for up to 120 seconds. It is powered by a NB-2L rechargeable Lithium battery. I probably acquired my camera at a garage sale. It has a battery, but I need to find a charger for it. I, therefore, do not know if it works. It is in good cosmetic condition although the sliding lens cover is a little wobbly.
	Canon PowerShot A70 (Large Image, Back) Marketed March 2003. 1/2.7″ CCD 3.1 megapixel sensor. 3X zoom 5.4 to 16.2mm (equivalent to angle of view of 35-105mm on full frame camera). Viewing through optical viewfinder or 1.5" (118,000 dot) LCD Monitor. It will shoot movies at up to 640 X 480 resolution but only up to 30 seconds at that resolution and up to 3 minutes at lower resolutions. Uses four 1.5volt AA batteries and can also take rechargeable NiMH batteries. It records on compact flash cards. Original price $350. There is no image stabilization. ISO settings are 50, 100, 200 and 400 although DP Review indicates significant noise above ISO 100. Modern digital cameras have greatly improved with low noise images at much higher ISOs and in low light. This combined with image stabilization in the lens or camera allows for much longer shutter speeds in low light. I probably acquired this camera at a garage sale. It is in decent condition. There was some leakage in the battery compartment resulting in problems powering it on. I sprayed the contacts on the battery door with contact cleaner. When dry, I also lightly sanded the contacts. It now is working reliably. Cosmetically, the camera is in fair condition with some scratches to the body and monitor. The lens looks to be scratch and fungus free. The plastic cover over the input and output ports broke off. I glued it back with Super Glue although it may not hold. As I write this in December 2022, smartphones have almost totally replaced low cost, compact digital cameras except those for children. Canon still posts the User Guide. Additional information is at Canon Camera Museum and DP Review.
	Canon PowerShot G5 (Large Image, Back-Top) Marketed June 2003. Specifications at Canon Camera Museum. 1/1.8 inch CCD 5 megapixel sensor. Zoom lens 7.2mm - 28.8mm (35mm film equivalent: 35 - 140mm), f2 at wide end, f3 at telephoto end. Optical non-TTL zoom viewfinder and 1.8 inch rotating LCD monitor. No image stabilization. TTL autofocus with manual focus available. Close focus 50cm and 5cm(W)-15cm(T) in macro mode or manual focus. Shutter speeds 1/2000 to 15 seconds. Program, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual exposure control. ISO 50, 100, 200 and 400. Built-in flash. High speed continuous shooting at approximately 2 images per second. Uses Type I and II Compact Flash cards. RAW and JPEG. Movies in AVI format at up to 320 X 240 pixels and 15 frames per second for 3 minutes. Uses BP-511 Lithium-ion battery. Dimensions 121.0 x 73.9 x 69.9mm with weight of 410 grams. DPReview has a comprehensive July 1, 2003 review which indicates the street price was $799 (about $1,300 in February 2023 dollars). The review recommended the camera but found the noise levels greater than the competition above ISO 50. Peter Elgar has a January 17, 2023 review of this nearly 20 year old camera. I don't recall where I got my camera. It is in good cosmetic condition. I haven't tried it yet.
	Canon Digital Rebel, introduced September 2003, the Digital Rebel was the first digital optical single lens reflex camera to break the $1,000 price barrier, with a initial street price of $899 for the body only, or $999 with an 18-55mm zoom lens (about 28-90mm 35mm equivalent). I used it frequently for sports photos since it has very little shutter lag, shoots at approximately 2.5 frames per second, and has a top ISO setting of 1600, great for indoor sports. It has a burst mode for up to four shots. Top resolution is 6.3 megapixels with JPEG and RAW settings available. It has the same sensor as the significantly more expensive EOS 10D. I bought my Digital Rebel new from B&H Photo in October 2004 for $815 with lens and a 1gb high speed Compact Flash storage card, after rebates. In March 2005, Canon introduced a new Digital Rebel XT that is 1/2 inch smaller, 3 ounces lighter (due to a smaller battery) and 8 megapixels. It also has a faster startup time. The street price with lens is $999, which has caused the prices of the original Digital Rebel with lens to fall to around $750. The Digital Rebel's look and feel is very similar to EOS film cameras. It has several advantages over film cameras since you can shoot about 300 high resolution JPEG images on a 1 gigabyte CompactFlash card - there's no film to change. You can switch the ISO from frame to frame. You also can see what your image looks like on the back of the camera after you take the photo. The lens that comes with the kit is for the digital camera only - it will not fit film cameras since it will protrude too far into the camera. The Digital Rebel will accept all EOS lenses, however. Since the film sensor is smaller than a 35mm frame, the effective focal length is increased by a factor of 1.6. This is both positive and negative. It effectively gives me fast, telephoto lenses. For example, it makes my 70-210 f4 zoom effectively a 112-336 f4 lens. A lens for a film camera with that range and maximum aperture would be very expensive. On the downside, the 1.6 factor limits the use of wide angle lenses. Unlike other digital cameras, optical digital SLRs at this time could not display the image electronically before the image was taken and did not have video modes. I took another look at this camera in April 2023. The grip material is now extremely sticky and gets black goo all over your hands!
	Canon Powershot S500 Digital Elph (Large Image, Back) (Introduced April 2004) 5 megapixel compact digital camera with a 3X zoom lens, 7.4-22.2mm (equivalent to field of view of 36-108mm lens on full frame camera), f2.8-4.9. Autofocus from 1.5 feet to infinity in normal mode and 2 to 18 inches in macro mode. 640x480 resolution movie mode but only with a maximum length of 30 seconds. It has a small 1.8 inch LCD monitor in addition to a real-image optical zoom viewfinder. Suggested retail price at introduction was $499, equivalent to $838 in 2024 dollars. ISO values of 50, 100, 200 and 400. It was small by the standards of the day with dimensions of 3.43 x 2.24 x 1.09 in and weighing 6.53 oz. It uses Compact Flash cards and came with one very low capacity 32 MB card. There is extensive additional information at imaging-resource.com and the Canon Camera Museum. Mine is in good shape cosmetically. It works but has problems. The image in the monitor is often partially purple and there is some purple on the edges of photos. The optical viewfinder also appears fuzzy. Perhaps it's my vision, but there is no diopter adjustment. The camera comes with a a nice black leather(?) case, and a Canon charger and battery. I assume I got this at a garage sale many years ago. The battery and charger work.
	Canon Powershot S70 (Large Image) Introduced September 2004. 7.1 megapixel camera with 3.6X zoom, 5.8 to 20.7mm focal length, with a field of view equivalent to a 28mm to 100mm lens on a 35mm film camera. A 28mm equivalent is quite wide for a compact digital camera and is the main reason I got the camera. Maximum aperture ranges from f2.8 at 28mm to a relatively slow f5.3 at 100mm. ISO can be set at 50, 100, 200 and 400. According to dpreview.com, which gave it a "highly recommended," the original street price was a hefty $549. I got mine with the WP-DC40 underwater housing allowing shots underwater to 40m or 130'. The underwater housing currently sells online for about $163. Recent used sales on eBay of Powershot S70 cameras range from $103.50 (plus shipping) to $137.50 (shipping included) as I write this at the end of August 2009. That's pretty high for a compact digital camera introduced five years ago. A housing went for $45. I purchased my camera and housing in about 2007 used from an ad on Craigslist for $200 as I recall. It is in good working condition. My intention was to use it snorkeling which I haven't done yet! Wide angle lenses are primarily used in underwater photography to reduce the distance, and hence amount of water, between the camera and subject.
	Canon PowerShot A530 (Marketed March 2006) (Large Image, Back) Information and specifications are at Canon Camera Museum and DP Review. The Basic User Guide and Advanced User Guide are available from Canon. The PowerShot A 530 is a compact 5 megapixel digital camera with 1/2.5 inch sensor and 4X optical zoom lens, 5.8-23.2mm (35-140mm full frame equivalent), f2.6-5.5. It has a 1.8 LCD monitor with 77,000 dots and a real-image zoom optical viewfinder. It has TTL autofocus with AF lock and manual focus available. In normal made it focuses from 45cm to infinity. In macro mode it focuses from 5 to 45cm at the wide end and from 33 to 45mm at the telephoto end. Shutter speeds are from 1/2000 to 15 seconds. ISO speed Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400 and 800. Metering is evaluative, center-weighted average or spot. It has exposure compensation of +/- 2 stops in 1/3 stop increments. It has a program mode, manual mode and various scene modes. It takes 640 x 480 movies at 10 frames per second and 320 x 240 video at 20 frames per second. It does not have image stabilization and does not shoot RAW images. It's relatively compact with dimensions of 90.4 x 64 x 43.2mm and weighing 170 grams. It takes SD cards and is powered by two AA batteries. Overall, it was a nice point and shoot camera in its day. My camera is in decent cosmetic condition with some scratches. It came with an SD card with many old images. It seems to work fine. I believe I got it at a garage sale many years ago. There is an extensive favorable August 2006 review at Imaging Resource indicating a street price of less than $200 (about $300 in April 2023 dollars). Ken Rockwell praises it and indicates a street price of less than $150. He states: "For about $150 or less, the A530 is a 5 Megapixel, 4x optical zoom camera which does 80% of everything I'd ever need as a photographer, and 100% of what most normal people would ever need, want or understand." As shown by the Canon PowerShot A720 IS below, the technology continued improve rapidly. The A720 IS had 8 megapixels, six times zoom and image stabilization at a clearance price of $100.
	Canon PowerShot A720 IS, purchased new in mid 2008 for $99.99 on clearance at Office Depot. I purchased one for my older son around March 2008 for $160, also at Office Depot. My sister purchased the similar prior PowerShot A710 IS for about $200, also at office Depot. 8.0 megapixel processor. 6X optical zoom lens. Focal length 5.8-34.8mm, equivalent to 35mm to 210mm in a 35mm format, which is a very nice range from moderate wide angle to telephoto. f2.8 to f4.8. ISO range from 80 to 1600. 2.5" viewing screen. Also, has a simple optical viewfinder. While it is not very accurate, especially with such a wide zoom range, an optical viewfinder is still a very useful item. Even the best LCD screens are difficult to see in bright sunlight. Also, an optical viewfinder conserves battery power and is more stable compared to holding the camera out at arms length. Unfortunately, the majority of compact cameras today omit an optical viewfinder. Uses high capacity SD cards. Close focus on macro to 1cm when at the most wide angle focal length. It is really an astonishing value compared with digital cameras a few years ago or simple film cameras a few decades ago. For example, it's the same price as the Kodak C330 I purchased two years before, yet it has twice the resolution, twice the zoom range, twice the ISO range, and features like optical image stabilization. As indicated above, the Kodak C330's price and features were astonishing compared to the earlier Kodak DC-50. As to film cameras, consider the family camera we had when I was growing up - a Kodak Instamatic 104. The list price in 1965 was $15.95. Sounds like a bargain, but adjusted for inflation that's equal to $108 in 2008 dollars. The Instamatic 104 has a single focus length, fixed focus lens, with no exposure adjustment. Close focus was I think around 4 feet. Added to that, you had to buy film, flash cubes, and batteries for the flash. You could only view your photos as prints. (Slide film was available, but you really should have exposure controls to use slide film.) Reviews for the PowerShot A720 IS include dpreview (highly recommended) and DCRP Review. I recommend setting the ISO level yourself since the auto ISO can unexpectedly bump up the ISO and result in considerable noise.
	Canon EOS 40D (announced August 2007) (Large Image, Back, Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM lens, Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM lens) A 10.1 megapixel APS-C Canon format digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera. The original list price was $1,299 according to DP Review or about $1,875 in February 2023 dollars. DP Review "highly recommended" the camera. The Canon 40D was featured on the cover of December 2007 Popular Photography Magazine. The Canon 40D article begins on page 86. They confirm the price as $1,300 for the body alone and $1,500 with the EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Compared to its predecessor Canon 30D, the Canon 40D boosted the resolution from 8.1 to 10.1 megapixels, increased the burst rate to 6.5 fps, speeded up the AF system, improved the viewfinder, and improved the LCD to a 3-inch LCD with live preview mode. Specifications from the article include shutter speeds from 1/8000 to 30 seconds, ISO range from 100-1600 expandable to 3200, built-in flash, and 3 inch LCD monitor with 230,000 dot resolution and live preview mode. The camera has the usual program, aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual exposure modes. The camera still took CF cards instead of SD cards and did not have a movie mode. The absence of a movie mode was standard in DSLRs at the time. The magazine concluded at page 92 that it was a "$1,300 knockout" with "its stellar image quality, speedy and sensitive AF performance, blazing burst rate, and useful live preview."
The December 2007 Popular Photography Magazine at page 95 also reviewed the Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. They noted that they tested it years ago as a full frame lens, but wanted test it with the ASP-C format. The lens was originally designed for film cameras. They note that despite starting to show its age, the lens is still a solid choice especially at its low price. It was only $200 more with the body or $410 if purchased alone. The lens has a 1.6 crop factor on Canon APS-C cameras. It hence has a field of view on a Canon ASP-C camera the same as a 45mm-216mm lens on a full frame camera. At page 96, the magazine reviewed the Sony Alpha 700 DSLR, a direct competitor to the Canon 40D. Some advantages of the Sony A-700 were a higher resolution at 12.2 megapixels and sensor based image stabilization in the camera body instead of requiring the lenses to be image stabilized. The Sony A-700 did not have live view, however, and was more somewhat more expensive. The Canon 40D is very familiar to use if you have used Canon EOS cameras before. It is a very solid camera although well past its prime as I write this in April 2023. Several additional sites discuss the Canon EOS 40D including Wikipedia, Canon Camera Museum, Imaging Resource, Ken Rockwell, and Camera-Wiki. I purchased my Canon 40D on April 7, 2023 from an ad on Craigslist. The camera included a CF card, batteries, and two chargers. The main part of the deal was a Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM lens in very good condition and to a lesser degree a Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM lens also in very good condition. The total price was $250. I would attribute $25 or less to the camera with most of the value in the 300mm lens. I was not really in the market for the 300mm lens, but it was generally less than half the price of those at the used camera stores and eBay. I believe both lenses date back to the 1990s Canon EOS film camera days. They are still very nice lenses, however, which can be used on both full frame and APS-C cameras. On Canon APS-C cameras there will be a 1.6X crop factor giving it the same field of view as a 480mm lens on a full frame camera.
	Canon EOS Rebel T1i (aka Canon Kiss X3 (Japan), Canon EOS 500D (Europe)) (Large, Back) First marketed in April 2009, the Rebel T1i has a 15.1-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, with ISO settings from 100 to 3200 (expandable to ISO 6400 and 12800). It was the first digital Rebel to record full HD video (1080). (Canon Camera Museum.) It has an optical DSLR viewfinder. Mine came with the standard 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens with image stabilization (IS). I purchased it at a garage sale in the College area of San Diego as I recall sometime in the mid-2010s. I paid $75. I haven't used it much since I had the Sony a58. I later purchased a new 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS lens for $75 in La Jolla when Radio Shack stores were going out of business. The camera and the two lenses are in excellent working condition. Even as I write this in 2022, it is still a decent system. It came with the original box with a price tag of $899 from Fry's Electronics.
	Canon EOS Rebel T5i (aka Canon Kiss X7i (Japan), Canon EOS 7500D (Europe)) (Large, Back, Flip-out Monitor) Marketed April 2013, the Rebel T5i is a digital single lens reflex camera with a 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, with ISO settings from 100 to 12800 (expandable to 25600). It records full HD video (1080) at up to 30 frames per second. (Canon Camera Museum.) In addition to the optical DSLR viewfinder, the camera has a 3:2 flip-out 1.04m dot touch screen. The camera has nine cross-type AF points. In addition to program, aperture priority and shutter priority, it has a large range of scene modes as well as a Multi Shot Noise Reduction mode. My cameras have the standard 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 STM kit lens with image stabilization (IS). I purchased two of these from an ad on Craigslist on June 12, 2023 for a total of $250. Each came with a Canon Speedlite 270EX II which is a small flash that takes two AA batteries. While very small it can tilt up in the horizontal position. Each outfit also came with a Neewer PT 176 LED light with AC adapter but no batteries. These LED lights can use a NP-F550 battery. Each outfit also came with a USA GEAR FlexARMOR X DSLR SLR Camera Case Sleeve as well as a Gator gadget bag. Each outfit also has a Fantaseal magic arm clamp. Each camera has a dummy battery AC adapter kit. They did not come with batteries or chargers. The cameras are in excellent working and cosmetic condition. Why the odd assortment of accessories? The seller was a events planner who used the cameras for photo booths at events. Overall, I thought it was a very good deal especially with the external flashes and LED lights.
Apple \| Canon \| Casio \| Chinon \| Fuji \| HP \| Kodak \| Konica Minolta \| Nikon \| Olympus \| Panasonic \| Pentax \| Ricoh \| Sony
Casio
	Casio QV-10 (1995) (Large Image, Back) The Verge states the Casio QV-10 was "the first consumer-grade LCD digital camera." It was "awarded the status of 'Essential Historical Material for Science and Technology' by Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science." Wherry.com has a 1996 review with detailed information. The QV-10 had a 1.8-inch color LCD display allowing the user to view and display the image. It has a 250,000 element, 1/5 inch CCD sensor. The camera has 2 megabytes of flash RAM to store up to 96 images. It does not have any removable memory card. It has two apertures, f2 and f8. It has a fixed focus lens with everything from 60cm to 310cm at F2 in focus, or everything beyond 28cm at F8 in focus. That large depth of field is due to the very small sensor and short focal length. The lens could rotate independently of the body facilitating low angle photography and over the head photography. There is a detailed discussion of the QV-10 and some internal images at medium.com. The camera originally cost $900. $900 in 1996 has the same buying power as about $1,700 as I write this in December 2022. Casio still posts the manual. The manual cautions you to use alkaline batteries only. Rechargeable batteries with lower voltage can cause internal software errors requiring the camera to be sent back to Casio for repair. Overall this was a rather quirky camera with poor image quality, but also a revolutionary trail-blazing camera. Mine comes with a soft case. The case has a strip of masking tape on it with the number "3" leading me to believe I purchased this at a garage or estate sale many years ago for $3 or less. The camera is in good cosmetic condition. It turns on and displays about 70 photos stored on it from a prior owner. I couldn't get it to take a photo, however.
	Casio QV-120 (1996) (Large Image, Back) The Casio QV-120 shares the same basic design as the QV-10 above with a slightly larger CCD sensor (1/4 inch vs. 1/5 inch) and a larger number of pixels (360,000 vs. 250,000). It still has 2 megabytes of flash RAM to store up to 96 images in normal mode (only 32 images in fine mode). Like the QV-10 there is no removable memory card. It has a 4.2mm fixed focus lens with an aperture of f2.8 or f8 selected by a switch on the lens side of the camera. (The QV-10 has a 5.6mm lens with an f2 or f8 aperture.) Like the QV-10 there is a normal and macro setting. Shutter speeds are from 1/8 to 1/4000 seconds. The QV-120 seems to have the same 1.8 inch, 61,380 LCD monitor as the QV-10. The camera takes four 1.5 volt AA alkaline or Lithium batteries. There is much less information online about the QV-120, but Casio still posts the owner's manual where most of the above information is from. The MSRP is listed as $499 at www.digitalkameramuseum.de and $350 at digitcamhistory.com. In any event, the price came down dramatically from the $900 for a QV-10 a year earlier. As I write this in December 2022, I assume I got this at a garage or estate sale many years ago. It is in very good cosmetic condition and appears to work fine. There were three pictures on it from a prior owner of some sort of interesting industrial looking machine.
	Casio EX-Z750 (Announced February 2005) (Large Image, Back, Side) A compact 7.2 megapixel digital camera with 3X optical zoom lens 7.9-23.7mm (38 - 114 mm 35 mm equiv.) f2.8-5.1. It has a 1/1.8 inch CCD sensor. The manual is available at casio.com (long download). Casio was formed in 1946 and Casio Computer Co., Ltd. was formed in June 1957. Casio - Wikipedia. Today it is noted for its electronic watches, calculators and electronic musical keyboards. I recommended the Casio fx-300ES Plus scientific calculator when I was a middle school math teacher. I have also had rugged Casio watches and I even have a Casio musical keyboard which someday I may attempt to play. Casio was a player in the consumer digital camera market also. As seen above, the Casio QV-10 was "the first consumer-grade LCD digital camera." (The Verge.) Casio left the digital camera market in 2018 with the sharp decline in compact consumer digital cameras with the rise in smartphones. (Thephoblographer, DP Review.) The Casio EX-Z750 received excellent reviews at DP Review, Imaging Resources, and even Ken Rockwell who usually reviews higher end Nikon and Canon equipment. It has an automatic mode, numerous scene modes, an aperture preferred mode and a manual mode allowing the user to select the shutter speed and aperture. It also displays histograms. Shutter speeds are from 1/1600 to 60 seconds. ISO values are auto, 50, 100, 200 and 400. It has spot (center), center-weighted and multi pattern metering. The auto focusing can be multi, spot, or the ability to choose a spot. There is also some sort of manual mode. Close focus in regular mode is 40cm. In macro mode focusing is from 10cm to 50cm. It has a 2.5 inch LCD monitor with 115,200 pixels (480x240). It also has a small optical viewfinder. It takes a CB-40 3.7 volt battery. For storage it uses SD cards and has a small amount of internal storage. It takes 640x480 video with sound at 30 frames per second. The camera is very compact at about 3.5 inches x 2.375 inches x 1 inch. The original street price was $449 according to DP Review or almost $700 in April 2023 dollars. I don't recall where I got this camera. It is in fair cosmetic condition. I purchased a new battery and charger. It works although it is sometimes fussy in focusing. Also a few times the automatic lens cap wouldn't open fully.
Apple \| Canon \| Casio \| Chinon \| Fuji \| HP \| Kodak \| Konica Minolta \| Nikon \| Olympus \| Panasonic \| Pentax \| Ricoh \| Sony
Chinon
	Chinon ES-3000 (Large Image, Back, Top) (1995) Basic specifications at Digital Kamera Museum and digicamhistory.com. 3X Zoom 7-21mm (38mm to 114mm 35mm camera equivalent), f2.5, Autofocus, 1/16 to 1/500 second shutter, 1/2 inch CCD sensor, producing 640 x 480 (0.3 megapixel) images. Original cost was $995 or almost $2,000 in December 2022 dollars. Chinon marketed this camera under the Chinon name but also licensed the design to Kodak (DC 50 see below), Dycam, Logitech, Promaster and Dakota. Images were stored internally or on a PCMCIA flashcard. Dansdata.com reviews the Chinon ES-3000 and Kodak DC-50 as well as several other digital cameras from around 1996. (See also epi-centre.com, iconpublications.com, PCMCIA and Kodak DC50 vs Chinon 3000.) This YouTube video shows a Chinon ES_3000. Kodak DC50 - Camera-Wiki describes the similar Kodak DC50 which is based on the Chinon ES-3000. I couldn't fine a manual for the ES-3000, although ManualLib has a manual for the Kodak DC50. Searching my email, I discovered I purchased this camera on eBay on April 28, 2008 for 95 cents together with a working Fujifilm DX-7 digital camera also for 95 cents. Combined shipping was $12.90. My Chinon ES-3000 is in good cosmetic condition although the LCD has severely deteriorated. It came with a 4MB PCMCIA flashcard. As I write this in February 2023, I have not gotten it to turn on.
Apple \| Canon \| Casio \| Chinon \| Fuji \| HP \| Kodak \| Konica Minolta \| Nikon \| Olympus \| Panasonic \| Pentax \| Ricoh \| Sony
Fuji
	Fujifilm Finepix 6900 (2001) Purchased new in December 2001 for nearly $1,000 as I recall. 3.3 megapixel, 6.0 megapixel file size, 6X optical zoom, f2.8-3.1, numerous exposure controls including manual, auto and manual focus. This is a fine camera. The major drawback in this class of camera was the electronic viewfinder which makes it very difficult to focus manually. The next step up was a true optical SLR digital camera such as the Canon Digital Rebel. However, by the time I got my Sony a58 in 2014, electronic viewfinders had evolved to point that the image viewed was very clear and it was no problem focusing manually. As I update this in 2024, most new SLR type cameras are mirrorless camers with very high resolution electronic viewfinders. I actually prefer electronic viewfinders today since it is easy to review your images through the eyepiece even in bright light.
	Fujifilm Finepix 2650 (2002) (Large Image, Back) Announced August 1, 2002 according to dpreview.com. The suggested retail price was $199 (or almost $350 in 2024 dollars) according to Imaging Resource which has an extensive review. It is a 2.0 megapixel camera with a 1/2.7" CCD sensor and a 3X optical zoom autofocus lens (equivalent to a 38-114mm lens on a 35mm camera), with an aperture range from 3.5 to 8.7, and shutter speeds from 1/1000 to 1/2 second. Exposure is automatic with some ability to increase or decrease the exposure. The aperture and shutter speed are not displayed. In addition to still images, it takes silent video with resolution at 320 x 240 pixels or 160 x 120 pixels. It does not have optical image stabilization. It is powered by two AA batteries and stores data on xD-Picture cards. It has an optical viewfinder in addition to the 1.5 inch LCD monitor. I don't recall where I got it. It is in decent cosmetic condition with scratches to the body. The lens and monitor look good. It works fine as I write this in 2024. All in all, it was a nice little snapshot camera in its day!
	Fujifilm S5000 (Announced July 29, 2003) (Large Image, Back) Extensive review with detailed information at DPReview. 3.1 megapixel 1/2.7 inch (5.27 x 3.96mm) CCD sensor. RAW and JPEG images. ISO - Auto 160-200, 200, 400 and only at 1 megapixel 800. 5.7 to 57mm (37 to 370mm full frame equivalent angle of view) lens with maximum aperture f2.8-3.1. It has both an LCD screen and an electronic viewfinder. The list price was $499. It takes four AA batteries. I don't recall where I got mine. It is in excellent cosmetic condition. Unfortunately, it has electronic issues. I couldn't get it to turn on initially. I rubbed the contacts with an eraser and eventually got it to start. The time setting screen came up as it should. Then I started to get a scrambled image. It was on even when switched off. (I searched eBay on May 29, 2023 as I was researching the Fujifilm S3000 below. 41 of 65 of the S5000 cameras for sale were for parts, faulty or untested.) It seems like it would have been a nice camera back in 2003 with the electronic viewfinder and 10X zoom. DPReview found the image quality only average among 3 megapixel cameras, however.
	Fujifilm S3000 (Announced August 26, 2003) (Large Image, Back) A 3.2 megapixel digital camera with a similar design as the S5000 above and introduced around the same time. It was more of a budget model priced at $399.99 with a 6X optical zoom lens and a single ISO of 100 (100-200 with flash). The S5000 was priced at $499 with a 10X optical zoom and ISOs of Auto (160-200), 200, 400 and 800 (at 1280 x 960 only). While both cameras also had 320 x 240 video, only the S5000 had sound. Both cameras had a 1/2.7 inch CCD sensor. Also introduced in the summer of 2003 was the S7000 with a 6 megapixel sensor and $799 list price. (DP Review - S7000.) The S3000 has a 6-36mm (38-228mm full frame equivalent) f2.8-3.0 Fujinon zoom lens. Normal close focus is 2.6 feet. In macro mode it focuses from 0.3 to 2.6 feet. The S3000's shutter speeds vary from 1/1500 to 3 seconds. Apertures are limited to f2.8, f4.8 and f8.2. It has programmed automatic exposure and various scene modes. It also has a limited "manual" mode which has EV compensation and limited aperture priority control. It has a 1.8 inch 62,000 pixel LCD monitor as well as a 0.33 inch 110,000 pixel electronic eye-level viewfinder. It is conveniently powered by four AA alkaline batteries. I think I got it at a garage or estate sale on Saturday October 12, 2012 since I have a photo of my dog with that date on the camera. The camera is in in excellent cosmetic and working condition. It comes with a 16MB xD-Picture Card. That's not very much storage, but thankfully it came with a card since they are no longer made and are relatively expensive used on eBay.
	Fujifilm Finepix J10 (Announced January 24, 2008) (Large Image, Back) Specifications at DP Review. This entry level point and shoot digital camera has a 1/2.5 inch 8 megapixel CCD sensor with an ISO range of 64-1600 and a 3X zoom lens, 38-113mm, f2.8-5.2. The camera is very compact with dimensions of 91 x 55 x 19mm and weighing only 150 grams. Shutter speeds are 1/1500 to 8 seconds. The LCD screen is 2.5 inches. There is no eye-level finder. Videos are 320 x 240 at 30 frames per second. It takes SD cards and is powered a NP-45 rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. It does not have image stabilization. It was the first Fujifilm camera in their J series of cameras. (Wikipedia - Fujifilm J Series.) The camera is made in China. Trusted Reviews gave it a 6 out of 10 on image quality finding vignetting at the wide end and significant image noise above ISO 400. It lists the price as £95.00. The exchange rate in 2008 was about 1.85. Therefore, that's about $175. Adjusted for inflation that about $245 in April 2023 dollars. Entry level point and shoot digital cameras like this have largely been replaced by smart cell phones as I write this in May 2023. I likely purchased this at a garage sale around May 2013 since I have test photos of some dog friends from that time. It was in good working condition then. I need to find the charger as a write this ten years later in May 2023. Fujifilm posts the manual.
	Fujifilm XP-135, (Large Image, Back) The Fujifilm XP-135 seems to be the same as the Fujifilm XP-130. The Fujifilm XP-130 was announced Jan 24, 2018. (DP Review.) The black XP-135 appears to be the version sold at Walmart. The manual for the XP-130 with specifications is available at Fujifilm. It is listed as waterproof to 20m or 65ft, and shockproof to 1.75m or 5.8ft. It has a 1/2.3 inch, 16.4 megapixel CMOS sensor. NP-45S 3.7 volt rechargeable lithium battery. It has a 5X optical zoom lens, 5.0mm-25.0mm (35-mm format equivalent: 28mm-140mm), Aperture f3.9/f6.2 (wide angle), f4.9/f8.0 (telephoto). Focus range (distance from front of lens) Approx. 60cm (1.9ft.)-infinity (wide angle); 1.0m (3.2ft.)-infinity (telephoto) Macro: approx. 9cm-2.0m/3.5in.-6.5ft. (wide angle); 1.0m-3.0m/3.2ft.-9.8ft. (telephoto). ISO to 6400. Optical image stabilization. 1920 X 1080 HD video. MSRP $229.95. Several reviews including pcmag.com and havecamerawilltravel.com. Purchased new or like new on eBay on May 29, 2019 for $74.99 total.
Apple \| Canon \| Casio \| Chinon \| Fuji \| HP \| Kodak \| Konica Minolta \| Nikon \| Olympus \| Panasonic \| Pentax \| Ricoh \| Sony
HP Photosmart
	HP Photosmart M415 (Large Image, Back) (2006) Hewlett-Packard was founded as an electronics company in 1938 in a garage in Palo Alto, California. They are noted for their personal computers and printers. (Hewlett-Parkard - Wikipedia.) They were also noted for their HP calculators including the 1972 HP-35 scientific calculator. Around April 1997 they announced their original Photosmart system. The original system was made by Konica. (Digitalkamera Museum. Dozens of Photosmart camera models were marketed through 2007. (See HP Photosmart - Wikipedia.) There was a corporate reorganization in 2015 with HP Inc. becoming the successor to the original company. Hewlett Packard Enterprise was formed to conduct the company's enterprise product and business services division. (HP Inc. - Wikipedia.) The M415 manual is available from HP. Photography Blog has an extensive review of the HP Photosmart M415. It is 5.2 megapixel camera with a 1/2.5 inch CCD sensor forming 2620 x 1984 images. It has a 6 to 18mm lens (36 to 108mm 35mm camera equivalent), with apertures from f2.9 to f4.9 at the wide end and f4.9 to f8 at the telephoto end. Shutter speeds are 1/2000 to 2 seconds. The manual indicates it has TTL autofocus. Normal focus is from 0.5m to infinity. Close focus is from 10 to 80cm. ISO settings are Auto, 100, 200 and 400. It has 16MB internal memory and takes SD cards. It can shoot movies up to 640 x 480 pixels with sound. It has a 1.5 inch color LCD monitor with 130,338 pixels (557 x 234) along with a simple optical zoom viewfinder. The price according to Photography Blog was a reasonable $199, or about $310 in 2024 dollars adjusting for inflation. All in all, it was a nice point and shoot camera in its day and a big step up from compact digital cameras from just a few years earlier. My camera is in good cosmetic condition. It works although the automatic lens cap/closure mechanism gets stuck and you have to pry it open with your fingers. It seems to be stuck open now which is a good solution. I assume I purchased this at a garage sale likely on Saturday, October 1, 2011 since I have a photo that I took on that day.
Apple \| Canon \| Casio \| Chinon \| Fuji \| HP \| Kodak \| Konica Minolta \| Nikon \| Olympus \| Panasonic \| Pentax \| Ricoh \| Sony
Kodak
	Kodak DCS 420 (based on Nikon N90s) (Large Image, Back) Introduced August 1994, the Kodak DCS 420 has a 1.5 megapixel, 9.2 mm x 13.8 mm sensor with a crop factor of 2.6 and an area of about 127 sq mm, or slightly larger than a modern 1 inch sensor at 123 sq mm. (See discussion of sensor sizes under Nikon D600 below.) I purchased this on February 16, 2009 on eBay for $69.95 plus $20.25 shipping for a total of $90.20. At over 8 inches tall, it is a large camera. The suggested retail price in 1994 was $11,000! (www.digitalkameramuseum.de.) That's equivalent to $22,000 in 2022 dollars! As I write this in December 2022 you can get a 24.3 megapixel Nikon Z5 full frame mirrorless camera with in-camera image stabilization and ISO values up to 51,200 for $1,000. It is amazing how fast technology has progressed in less than 30 years. The power source for the Kodak DCS 420 was a rechargeable NiMH battery. Images were recorded on a PCMCIA card. I don't have the battery and hence do not know if the camera works. It is in very good cosmetic condition, however.
Large Image	Large Image
Kodak DC-50 (1996) the first digital zoom camera with external storage selling for (just) under $1,000. The manual is available in PDF format from Kodak. Specifications at page 74 indicate 754 x 504 pixel image size at high resolution which equals 381,024 pixels or 0.38 megapixels. 3X optical zoom from 7mm to 21mm equal to about 37mm to 111mm in 35mm format. Dimensions of the camera are 15.2cm X 11.9cm X 6.4cm which equals a volume of about 1.158 Liters. (It is roughly a rectangular prism. I hence multiplied length X width X height and expressed the answer in Liters.) It weighs 1.16 lbs or 18.56 oz. Compare the 1996 DC-50 with the Kodak EasyShare C330 that I purchased on clearance at Office Depot in July 2006 for $100 which included a Kodak docking station/printer. The manual at pages 50-53 states the C330 is a 4.0 megapixel 3X optical zoom (34mm to 102mm 35mm equivalent) camera with dimensions of 9.15cm X 6.5cm X 3.5cm which equals a volume of about 0.208 liters. (It is also roughly a rectangular prism.) It weighs 5.6 oz. In 10 years the C330 has 10 times the resolution at one tenth the price, one fifth the size and about one third the weight! My DC-50 came with a 5mb PCMCIA ATA flash card. A 1.0 gb SD card for the C330 has 200 times more capacity with a physical volume of about one tenth that of the PCMIA card. (I just eye-balled this. The SD card looks to be about half the thickness and you can fit nearly 6 SD cards on top of the PCMCIA card.) This rapid change in a single decade is amazing! My fascination with such rapid technological growth is why Mr. Martin's Web Site's Museum exists. DCVIEWS has a similar wonderful comparison of the DC-50 with Kodak's smallest camera in 2006, the Easyshare V550. Also, compare the DC-50 with the first sub-$1,000 digital SLR, the 2003 Canon Digital Rebel below, which came out only seven years later. I purchased my DC-50 on eBay on 8-20-06 for $5 plus $6.05 shipping. Pretty steep depreciation in ten years! It works well although it took awhile to figure that out. There is no LCD image display. (Camera back.) You have to download the images to a computer to view them. Kodak states that the DC-50 is "fully supported" by "Windows 95, 98, 98SE, Mac OS 7.6.1 - 9.x" and is "not supported" by "Windows 3.1, NT, 2000, ME, XP; Mac OS 7.5.0 and earlier, OS X." The camera also stores images in a unique file format. Therefore, if you want to see the images you better have some old computers sitting around. No problem there for me. Here are the steps I went through to view the images! I took some photos. Put the PCMCIA card into the PCMCIA slot in my laptop running Windows XP and hence not supported. Transferred the images from the PCMCIA card to an external floppy drive hooked up to my laptop. Went over to my old HP computer running Windows 98 Second Edition. Loaded the Picture Works Photo Enhancer Software that came with the camera onto my old HP. I first had to copy the program files to the desktop since it was not installing from the floppy disk. It did install from the desktop. Copy the images from the floppy disk to the desktop and then open them with Picture Works. Save them in Picture Works in a JPEG or TIFF format. From there I could view them on my desktop running Windows XP and should also be able to view them on a modern Macintosh. Here are some DC-50 photos of some canine friends of mine: dog 1 and dog 2. Dog 1 (159 kb) is not changed in any way. Dog 2 (63.3 kb) was cropped and the contrast increased slightly in Picture Works. Both were saved in JPEG format from the original Kodak format. Many sites discuss the DC-50: DC Views Photo Opportunities Mount Holyoke Dvorak Uncensored DC50 Page Testing the Kodak DC50 GCN Digital Cameras
	Kodak DC120 Zoom (1997) (Large Image, Side, Back) Kodak DC120 Zoom - Camera-Wiki states "it was the first affordable (under $1,000 USD) one megapixel consumer digital camera." (See also Kodak Digital Camera, Under $1,000, New York Times, April 15, 1997.) By September 1997 the price had been reduced to $799 and the price of the similarly shaped but lower resolution predecessor Kodak DC 50 was reduced to $499. (cnet.com; See Wikipedia - Kodak DC Series.) $799 in September 1997 is equal to $1,500 in April 2023 dollars. The manual is at kodak.com with the specifications at page 2-29. Maximum picture resolution is 1280 x 960 pixels (1.2 million pixels) with an 850 x 984 pixel (836,400 pixels) CCD sensor. It has a 1.5 inch LCD display which displays photos that have been taken. It does not have live-view, however. There is a simple optical viewfinder for composing the shot. The camera has a Kodak Ektanar 3X autofocus optical quality glass zoom lens with a focal length of 7 to 21mm, or a equivalent angle of view of a 38 to 114mm on a 35mm camera. The aperture range is f2.5 to f16 on the wide end and f3.8 to f24 on the telephoto end. The shutter speed range is from 1/500 to 16 seconds. The ISO rating is 160. The close-up range is 0.7 to 1.6 feet. The camera weighs 1.15 pounds without its four AA batteries. The monitor lifts up to review the battery compartment and the compartment for the Compact Flash card for storage. Four 1.7 volt lithium AA batteries are recommended. While lower voltage batteries can be used, they wear out quickly and may not have sufficient power for the flash. (Wikipedia - Kodak DC Series.) In addition to the Compact Flash card storage, the camera has 2MB of internal storage. I have two of these cameras. One is in good condition and works. It looks like it may have a small spot of fungus on the inner part of the front element. The second one has some problems. First, the batteries leaked. I cleaned out the battery compartment. To turn on these cameras you move the flash assembly to the left. On this second camera that part is loose. Due to this loose part and/or the corroded battery compartment, the second camera is not turning on. On the second camera the part that holds the front of the handle broke off. A prior owner fixed it by securing the front of the handle with a zip tie which actually works well. Other sources of information include DigitalKamera Museum, John Henshall, and Dan's Data (comparing it to the later DC220).
	Kodak DCS 330 (with Nikon Pronea 6i) (Large, Back) Announced August 1999. This 3 megapixel camera is based on the same body as the 1.5 megapixel Kodak DCS 315 launched in 1998. The Kodak DCS 315 could process and store images in JPEG format. The Kodak DCS 330 only stored photos in RAW format. Both cameras used the Nikon Pronea 6i APS (Advanced Photo System) film SLR camera replacing the camera's film back with Kodak's digital back which extended beneath the camera doubling its height. The bottom provided space for the two large Type II PC Cards and the 6 AA battery holder. Both cameras CCD's sensors were smaller than either full frame 35mm or APS frames with the Kodak DCS 330 having a crop factor of 1.9. I assume the sensor was therefore slightly larger than a micro four-thirds sensor which has a crop factor of 2. The Kodak back had one screen for viewing images and another screen for viewing camera settings. ISO values for the DCS 330 were from 125 to 400. These two cameras were the least expensive of the Kodak DCS cameras, although the Kodak DCS 330 cost around $5,000 when new. That's equal to almost $9,000 in 2022 dollars. (See The DCS Story - nikonweb.com for a description of all the Kodak DCS cameras from 1987 to 2004.) I purchased my camera on eBay in January 2009 for $28 with $9.95 shipping. From $5,000 to $28 is a lot of depreciation in ten years and represents the rapid advance in digital camera technology at the time. The camera uses two "Type II PC Cards" each holding 260MB. The cards are about 8.5cm tall, 5.5cm wide, and 4mm thick, considerably bigger than either a CF card or a SD card as shown in this photo. The Kodak User's Guide for the DCS 300 Series is online. Chapter 2 discusses the power requirements. Power is supplied by six 1.5V AA batteries in a battery tray. As of December 2022, the battery tray is available at eBay. Kodak also supplied an AC adapter. I have neither the power tray nor the adapter and have hence not tested the camera. It is in decent cosmetic condition. The Kodak back/bottom had a tactile coating, however, which is very sticky now. The camera generally takes Nikon F mount lens, but there are exceptions for several lenses. Also, for some lenses you have to first remove the antialiasing filter. The acceptable lenses are specified in the manual. It is amazing how fast digital cameras have advanced in a relatively short period of time. For example, I purchased my new Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II with lens in 2020 (camera announced in 2015) for $300, or more than 15 times less than the new price of the Kodak DCS 330. The Olympus has a similar sized sensor with 5 times more megapixels, a much larger screen, high definition video, in-camera image stabilization, ISO values from 200 - 25600, and countless other features. Also, compare it with full frame 24 megapixel Nikon D600 introduced just over 12 years after the Kodak DCS 330. Several sites have excellent information about the Kodak DCS 330: www.digitalkameramuseum.de, Kodak DCS 300 Series - Wikipedia, DPReview, and mir.com.
	Kodak DC4800 (Large, Back) Announced June 6, 2000, the Kodak DC4800 is a 3.1 megapixel digital camera with a 1/1.8 inch CCD sensor. DP Review has a complete review. The manual is available at manualslib.com. Camera-Wiki also has an entry. The Kodak DC4800 has an optical quality glass lens with a 6mm to 18mm focal length lens (28-84mm full frame equivalent) with maximum apertures from f2.8 to f4.5. It weighs 11.6 ounces without battery. It takes one 3.7 volt Lithium Ion KLIC-3000 rechargeable battery. Storage is with Compact Flash (CF) cards. It has a program mode, an aperture priority mode and a manual mode. There are only three apertures that can be selected, f2.8, f5.6 and f8. Shutter speeds are from 1/1000 to 16 seconds. Close focus in normal mode is 0.5m and 0.2m to 0.7m in macro mode. It has a 1.8 inch LCD monitor as well as a non-TTL optical viewfinder with diopter adjustment. ISO is Auto, 100, 200 and 400. It could take jpg and tiff images. It does not take Raw images. DP Review states the original street price was $750 to $800, but an update to the conclusion stated as of April 30, 2001 the price had been decreased to $500 or about $857 in April 2023 dollars. With the price decrease, the review gave it an "above average" rating. Photography on a Budget has 2021 video review. The National Air and Space Museum has a partially disassembled sample. Art Vaughan has has a DC4800 completely disassembled. The camera was made in Japan. I don't know who the actual manufacturer is. The battery is the same as used by some models of FujiFilm (NP-80), Ricoh (DB-20, DB-20L), Toshiba (PDR-BT1, PDR-BT2), and Epson in conjunction with Cosina. (See amazon.com - Battery and Charger.) I don't recall where I got my camera. I purchased a battery for it. It works although the LCD screen only works intermittently. Sometimes it is fine. Sometimes it is very light. It camera with a 128MB compact flash card with pictures on it.
	Kodak DX 3900 (Large, Back) Announced August 27, 2001. (dpreview.com.) 3.1 megapixel camera with 2X zoom lens, 35-70mm full frame equivalent, f3.3-4.5. 1/1.8 inch sensor. ISO 100, 200, 400 and auto. Powered by two AA batteries. 1.5 inch LCD screen for composing and viewing photos along with a simple optical viewfinder. Shutter speed and aperture displayed on the LCD screen. Apparently, exposures were fully automatic, however, with no manual adjustment of shutter speed or aperture. Original price according to dpreview.com was $449 (about $750 in 2022 dollars), although an extensive Imaging Resource review written in April 2002 lists the price as $349 (about $585 in 2022 dollars). Takes Compact Flash (CF) card and originally came with an 8 MB card. The Imaging Resource review suggests getting a 64 MB card for $20-$40. As I write this in January 2023, you can get a 128 GB SD card for less than $20. That's 2,000 times more memory. It was part of Kodak's EasyShare system. There's a connection on the bottom that fits into a docking station that can recharge rechargeable batteries and communicate with a computer. I assume I got this camera for a $1 or so at a garage sale many years ago. It turns on but I don't have a low capacity CF card handy to test it.
	Kodak DX6340, Announced Feb 27, 2003, available in May 2003 at a suggested retail price of $329. DP Review. 3.1 megapixels, 4X optical zoom Schneider-Kreuznach lens, aperture and shutter preferred automatic in PAS mode, up to 400 ISO, movies with sound and speaker in camera, + or - 2 stop exposure adjustment. Good low light capabilities. This is is a step up from the CX 6330 below, but after rebates was purchased for the same price, $150. It was purchased around March 2004. A wonderful point and shoot camera for the family or at school with some advanced features. This camera was used to take many of the early museum photographs in 2004. It was part of Kodak's EasyShare system. There's a connection on the bottom that fits into a docking station that can recharge rechargeable batteries and communicate with a computer.
	Kodak DX4530 (2003) (Large Image, Back) Announced August 5, 2003 according to the press release at DP Review. It has a 5.0 megapixel CCD sensor. The lens is a Kodak Retinar 8-24mm (38-114mm full frame equivalent), f2.8-4.8. Normal mode close focus is 0.6 meters. In macro mode close focus ranges from 7 (wide) to 70cm (tele). It has an optical viewfinder and a 1.8 inch LCD monitor. Apertures at the wide end range from f2.8 to f5.1 and at the telephoto end from f4.8 to 8.7. Shutter speeds are from 1/2 to 1/1700 seconds. ISO is automatically set and ranges from 130 to 200. It has a program mode and various scene modes. There are no manual, aperture preferred or shutter preferred modes. It takes movies with sound at 320 x 240 pixels at 15 frames per second. Imaging Resource has a review indicating the suggested retail price at introduction was $399 or about $650 in March 2023 dollars. It takes one 3 volt CRV3 Lithium battery, or two AA NiMH rechargeable batteries or one rechargeable KAA2HR NiMH battery pack. The manual, available at kodakmanual.com, recommends against using alkaline batteries. My camera is in good cosmetic and working condition. Despite the recommendation I tried it with alkaline batteries. It actually took a few seconds to turn on, but then it worked fine. It looks like I acquired my camera in January 2014 since I have a few test photos from that time. I assume I got it at a garage or estate sale. It comes with a 128 MB SD card. Currently, in 2023 I use a 128 GB SD card in my cameras today. That's 1,000 times more storage!
	Kodak CX6330 Announced June 2, 2003, available in June 2003, at a price of $279 according to a Kodak press release reproduced at DP Review. 3.1 megapixel, 3X Optical Zoom, SD card storage. Purchased December 2003 for $150. It was part of Kodak's EasyShare system. There's a connection on the bottom that fits into a docking station that can recharge rechargeable batteries and communicate with a computer.
	Kodak DX6440 (Large Image, Back) Announced with the Kodak CX 6330 above on June 2, 2003 and available in August 2003, at a price of $399 according to a Kodak press release reproduced at DP Review. The Kodak DX6440 appears to be essentially the same camera as the earlier Kodak DX6340 with an increase in the resolution to 4.0 megapixels. I assume in the model number the first 4 is for 4 megapixels and the second 4 is the 4X zoom. Specifications are in the manual. The DX6440 has the same 4X optical zoom as the DX 6340 with an angle of view equivalent to a 33mm–132mm lens on a full frame camera. Apertures - Wide: f/2.2 - f/5.6; Tele: f/4.8 - f/13. It has a 1.8-inch LCD screen (134,000 dots) as well as a simple optical (non-reflex) viewfinder which zooms in and out and has diopter adjustment. These cameras did not have image stabilization. ISO Auto, 100, 200, and 400. Shutter speeds from 1/2200 to 4 seconds. Aperture and shutter preferred automatic in PAS mode. Video at 320 x 240 pixels, 15 fps. It takes two AA NiMH rechargeable batteries. I purchased this on eBay in January 2023 for $11.19 plus $5 shipping plus $.95 tax for a total of $17.14. It is excellent working and cosmetic condition. It replaced one I had many years ago. Like the others, it was part of the EasyShare system.
	Kodak CX6445 (Large Image, Back) (Circa 2004) Date is from a comment on DP Review Forums stating that this is the date on the manual. The manual is available at manualowl.com. From what I can tell, this is the same camera as the DX6440 above except it does not have the PAS mode for program, aperture preferred and shutter preferred modes. Rather, it only has the green auto mode and the various scene modes. I forget where I got this camera. I may have gotten it new on sale. It is in excellent condition and works well.
	Kodak C330 (Large Image, Back) Announced May 4, 2005 according to Wikipedia. Digital camera with 1/2.5 inch 4.0 megapixel CCD sensor. It takes SD cards and also has internal memory for about 16 photos. DP Review has specification and the manual is available at Kodak.com. It has a 1.5 inch LCD monitor with 61,000 pixels as well as a simple optical viewfinder. It has a 3X optical zoom, aspheric all-glass Kodak Retinar lens, f/2.7–4.6 (35 mm equivalent: 34–102 mm) with automatic focus. Close focus in normal mode is 0.6 meter. In macro mode 0.13m wide and 0.22m telephoto. ISO auto is from 80 to 160, and selectable 80, 100, 200 and 400. Shutter speeds from 1/1,400 to 4 seconds. Exposure is fully automatic with no manual. In addition to the basic automatic mode there are various scene modes. Electronic flash. Video capture at 320 x 240 pixels without sound. Weighs only 5.6 ounces without batteries. It takes two AA batteries. It does not support or recommend alkaline batteries. Specifically, the manual at page 52 states: "2 Kodak Oxy-Alkaline digital camera batteries AA; 2-AA lithium batteries; 2 Kodak Ni-MH rechargeable digital camera batteries AA; 1 Kodak Lithium digital camera battery CRV3; 1 Kodak Ni-MH rechargeable digital camera battery KAA2HR; 3V AC adapter." The original price was $179 or about $279 in March 2023 dollars. (dpreview) I don't recall where I got this camera. I may have bought it new on clearance. It is in excellent working and cosmetic condition.
	Kodak C340 (Announced Feb 20, 2005) (Large Image, Back) The Kodak C340 digital camera with 3X 34mm-102mm glass lens is essentially the same camera as the Kodak C330 except it has 5 megapixels instead of 4, a slightly larger LCD screen (1.6 inch vs. 1.5 inch), and a better video mode. (Cnet.) The movie mode in the C340 can shoot up to 640 x 480 pixels at 13 frames per second with sound. The movie mode in the C330 is limited to 320 x 240 and has no sound. The C340 was announced slightly before the C330. (February 20, 2005 vs. May 4, 2005.) The C330 was less expensive at $179 (dpreview) compared to the C340 at under $250 (USA Today). $250 equals about $390 in March 2023 dollars. I don't recall where I got mine. It is in excellent cosmetic and working condition.
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Konica-Minolta
	Minolta Dimage-Pic (1997) (Large Image, Back) Date is from DigitalKamera Museum which indicates that camera was made by Pretec Corp. Taiwan and licensed to Minolta as well as other companies. Minolta made some of their own digital cameras at the time including innovative modular designs such as the Dimage V and the professional level RD-175, one of the earliest digital single lens reflex cameras. DigitalKamera Museum indicates the suggested retail price for the Dimage-Pic was $299. That's nearly $600 in 2024 dollars adjusted for inflation. The manual for the Dimage-Pic is available at fotoklikk.eu.The Dimage-Pic was a basic camera with a fixed focus 5mm f5.6 lens. It has a macro and normal setting. With the normal setting you can take photos from 0.4m to infinity. In macro mode it takes photos from 15 to 30cm. It has a 0.27 megapixel, 1/4 inch CCD sensor producing 320X240 pixel images. It has 2 megabytes internal memory and does not take any external memory cards. It has a 1.8 inch LCD monitor and no optical viewfinder. It takes four AA batteries. It has a single ISO sensitivity of 200. My camera is in good cosmetic and working condition even as a write this in 2024. It has 16 images from the prior owner. I was also able to take photos. The flash works. You need good light to see the image in the monitor. I assume I purchased this at a garage sale many years ago.
	Konica Minolta Dimage A2, (Large Image) introduced February 12, 2004. PC Magazine lists a street price of $1,100. Manufactured by Konica Minolta which was formed by a merger of Konica and Minolta in 2003 (Wikipedia Konica Minolta), both well-known photography companies with Konica have roots dating back to 1873 (Wikipedia Konica) and Minolta (Wikipedia Minolta) with roots dating back to 1928. Both companies produced excellent 35mm single lens reflex cameras. Konica Minolta still exists today as a business copier and printer company. Konica Minolta sold its photography and camera operations to Sony in 2006, however. The Sony Alpha system is the successor to the Minolta digital single lens reflex cameras. The Dimage A2 has an electronic viewing screen and an electronic viewfinder. There is no optical viewfinder and I do not think there is any reflex mirror. It is an 8 megapixel camera. According to Digital Camera Database, the "Konica-Minolta DiMAGE A2 comes with a 2/3" (~ 8.8 x 6.6 mm) CCD sensor, which has a diagonal of 11.00 mm (0.43") and a surface area of 58.08 sq mm." Current Sony Alpha series A cameras with APS sized sensors have "23.2 x 15.4 mm CMOS sensor, which has a diagonal of 27.85 mm (1.1") and a surface area of 357.28 sq mm." (Digital Camera Database for Sony A58), or about six times more than the Dimage A2. The Dimage A2 sensor is considerably larger than a recent compact digital camera such as the Sony HX80 which has an area of only 28.46 mm, however. The Dimage A2 has a non-interchangeable lens with a wide and useful zoom focal length range of 7.2mm to 50.8mm, the equivalent angle of view of a 35mm camera with a focal length from 28 to 200mm. The maximum aperture ranges from f2.8 to f3.5. The minimum aperture is f11. It has optical image stabilization called "anti-shake" which moves the sensor to reduce the effects of camera shake. The ISO ranges from 64 to 800. There is an extensive review at DPReview. My Dimage A2 was thrown in as part of the purchase of a Sony A65 with kit lens, a Sony 16-50mm f2.8 lens, a Sony 18-250mm lens, a Minolta 70-210 autofocus lens, and a Tamron 75-300mm lens in Coronado, California on August 10, 2017.
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Nikon
Kodak DCS 420 (based on Nikon N90s) and Kodak DCS 330 (with Nikon Pronea 6i) - See Kodak Section above
	Nikon Coolpix 800 (Large, Back) (Announced September 27, 1999) 2.1 megapixel digital camera with 2X zoom lens, 7-14mm (38-76 full frame equivalent), f3.5-4.8. Takes 4 AA batteries. Uses Compact Flash (CF) cards. According to Imaging Resource it has a 1.2 inch CCD sensor. ISO from 100 to 400. Macro focusing to 2.8 inches. 1.8 inch 112,000 pixel LCD screen plus simple optical viewfinder. The camera was designed as a less expensive camera based on the Coolpix 950. I don't recall where I got my camera. It is in good cosmetic condition. I haven't got it to turn on. It also seems to have haze under the front protective lens element.
	Nikon Coolpix 950 (Large, Front Flat, Back Flat, Back) Announced February 1999, the Nikon Coolpix 950 2.11 megapixel digital camera with 3X 7-21mm (38-115mm full frame equivalent) f2.6-4 zoom lens was the second in the Nikon swivel lens models following the Nikon Coolpix 900s (aka E910 in Japan). No video.
	Nikon Coolpix 775 (Large, Back) (2001) Small, light (230g), compact 2.1 megapixel digital camera with a 1/2.7 inch CCD sensor and a 3X Zoom, 5.8-17.4mm (38-115mm equiv.), f2.8-4.9 lens with a street price of approximately $450, or about $760 in January 2023 dollars. DP Review has an extensive review and full specifications. Nikon gave out foam rubber models of these as a promotion. I remember getting one of the foam rubber models while on vacation in Boston in August 2001. I was impressed by its small size. Auto ISO 100-200. Shutter speeds are 1/1000 to 1 second. Only two apertures f2.8/f7.9 at wide angle. Takes compact flash cards. It has a movie mode but no sound. DP Review liked its features but found the images soft. I think I got my camera at a garage sale many years ago. It has the battery and a CF card. I need to find a charger to test it. Cosmetically, it is pretty well worn.
	Nikon Coolpix 995 (Large, Front Flat, Back Flat, Back) DP Review has a complete review. Announced April 25, 2001, the Nikon Coolpix has a 3.1 megapixel, 1/1.8 inch CCD sensor, with a 4X optical zoom, 8-32mm (38-152mm full frame equivalent), f2.6-5.1 lens. ISO levels are from 100 to 800. Image formats are JPEG and TIFF but not RAW. In addition to multi-point autofocus, it also has manual focus from 2 cm to infinity. Shutter speeds are from 1/2300 to 8 seconds plus Blub in manual exposure mode up to 60 seconds. Built-in pop-up flash. Uses Type I and II Compact Flash (CF) cards. It has a 1.8 inch, 110,000 pixel LCD screen and an optical viewfinder with diopter adjustment. It weighs around one pound. It has the unique design of the 900 series where the lens portion of the camera can rotate 180 degrees in relation to the body of the camera. This is great for low lever shots and selfies. It has multiple automatic exposure modes including program, aperture preferred and shutter preferred. ISO from 100 to 800. DP Review calls it a prosumer camera and lists the street price as $900. Adjusted for inflation, that's over $1,500 in March 2023 dollars. I remember seeing an early 900 series camera at a teacher conference once and being impressed with its macro capabilities. Playing around with it as I write this in April 2023, I'm still impressed with its macro capabilities. I have more than one 900 series cameras. I think I got them at garage sales many years ago. The camera is in excellent cosmetic condition and seems to work fine. The manual is available from Nikon. Michigan Technological University also has a user guide. Studocu.com has a guide to use it with a microscope. Several sites discuss the Nikon Coolpix 995 including Wikipedia, Imaging Resource, philip.greenspun.com, and Camera-Wiki. There are also YouTube videos about the camera including Elias Olsen, Shutter Slaps, and Matt's Notes.
	Nikon Coolpix 4500 (Large, Back, Flat) According to Wikipedia the Coolpix 4500 was announced on May 29, 2002 and marketed until 2006. It was the second to the last camera in the 950-995 swivel lens models. The 178 page manual is available from Nikon and Michigan Technological University has a User Guide. It increased the resolution from the Coolpix 995 above from 3.1 to 4 megapixels. It has a somewhat smaller body and a smaller 1.5 inch LCD compared to the Coolpix 995. It uses Nikon's EN-EL1 Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery or a non-rechargeable 2CR5 6 volt Lithium battery. DP Review details the difference between the Coolpix 995 and 4500 as well as the history of the "9 series" cameras. The Coolpix 4500 had a lower street price of $700, or about $1,175 in March 2023 dollars. While the Coolpix 4500 exhibited shutter lag typical of the 9 series cameras, DP Review highly recommended the camera. Imaging Resource likewise noted the shutter lag, but concluded: "With its larger, 4.0-megapixel CCD and a return to an all-metal body, the Coolpix 4500 looks like a great update to what was already an excellent digicam, the Coolpix 995." Shutter lag was a common problem on early digital cameras which made it difficult to photograph sports or other fast moving situations. I think I got this camera at a garage sale many years ago. It is in good cosmetic condition. There is black fringing around the LCD screen, although this doesn't show up when the camera is on and in live view. It came with a rechargeable Nikon EN-EL1 battery. I didn't have a charger handy so I used a 2CR5 battery. As I write this in April 2023, the camera seems to work fine and had a few photos on the CF card from the prior owner.
	Nikon Coolpix 5700 (Large, Back, Other Side, Front) (2002) A very nice camera in its day, the Nikon Coolpix 5700 is a 5 megapixel camera with an 8X optical zoom, a 2/3 inch CCD sensor, an electronic eye-level viewfinder, a tilting/rotating monitor, and Quicktime movies with sound, all in a relatively compact package with excellent handling. DP Review has a comprehensive 2002 review where it highly recommended the camera. The instruction manual is at cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com and Nikon product details are at Nikon USA. The lens focal length is 8.9 to 71.2mm, with an equivalent angle of view of a 35mm to 280mm lens in a 35mm full frame camera. Maximum aperture is f2.8 at the wide end and f4.2 at the telephoto end. Auto-focus and manual focus. Close focus is 3cm in macro mode. ISO range from 100-800. Built-in flash and also a hot shoe for an external flash. The street price was $1,200 (nearly $2,000 in January 2023 dollars). It takes an EN-EL1 rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery, but can also take a 2CR5 (DL245) 6 volt Lithium battery. Wikipedia states: "Despite the solid construction, these cameras suffer from unprovoked sensor failure, a common problem for which Nikon has issued a service advisory." There is a YouTube video showing the camera. I purchased my camera at a garage sale or estate sale many years ago. According to a copy of the product registration, my camera was originally purchased on October 19, 2002 for $1,000 at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Exchange in San Diego. The camera is in excellent cosmetic and working condition. It had 51 existing photos on the CF card in the camera. The LCD screen is only 1.5 inches. Both it and the eye level electronic viewfinder work well but are low resolution by today's standards.
	Nikon Coolpix 4300 (Large, Back) Based on the 3 megapixel Coolpix 885, the Nikon Coolpix 2100, announced on August 29, 2002, increased the resolution to 4 megapixels with its 1/1.8 inch CCD sensor. It has a 3X 8-24mm (38-114 full frame equivalent), f2.8-4.9 lens that focuses from 30 cm to infinity in normal mode and down to 4cm in macro mode. ISO levels are from 100 to 400. Complete specifications are at DP Review. Imaging Resources has a complete review which indicates the original suggested retail price was $499. The manual is available from Nikon. I don't recall where I got my camera. It is in very good cosmetic condition. It takes "a single rechargeable Nikon EN-EL1 lithium-ion battery or a non-rechargeable 2CR5 (DL245) lithium battery." Mine comes with the rechargeable battery although I need to find a charger. My camera turns on with a 2CR5 battery and seems to work. I still need to try it with a CF card.
	Nikon Coolpix 2100 (Large, Back) Small and lightweight (150 grams), the 2.0 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 2100 was announced February 18, 2003 together with the similar 3.2 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 3100. (DP Review.) Both have a 1.5 inch LCD monitor as well as a simple optical viewfinder which zooms in and out with the 3X Zoom lens, 4.7-14.1mm (38-115mm full frame equivalent), f2.6-4.7. It has a 1/3.2 inch (4.544 x 3.408 mm) CCD sensor. (Id.) Imaging Resource in its review indicates the original suggested retail price was $249. Shutter speeds from 1/3,000 to four seconds. It takes two AA batteries. I don't recall where I got mine. The cosmetic condition is decent with some body scratches. It turns on and appears to work fine. I have not tested it with a Compact Flash (CF) card yet.
	Nikon Coolpix 7600 (Large, Back) Announced April 25, 2005, the Nikon Coolpix 7600 is a 7.1 megapixel camera with a 1/1.8 inch CCD sensor, with a 7.8-23.4mm 3X Zoom lens, f2.8-4.9 (38–114 mm full frame equivalent). (DP Review. It has a 1.8 inch screen with 85,000 dots, as well as a simple optical viewfinder which zooms in and out. Shutter speeds are 1/2000 to 4 seconds. Close focus is 30cm in normal mode and 4cm in macro mode. It takes 640 x 480 videos at 30 frames per second. It is powered by two AA batteries. It takes SD cards and has 14 megabytes of internal memory. The manual is available at www.libble.com. Page 123 of the manual states the sensitivity is "approximately equivalent to ISO 50 (auto gain of two to four times) (up to equivalent of ISO 200)." The ISO is not adjustable. The camera just has an automatic mode and various scene modes. It is a very small camera with dimensions of approximately 3.3 inches x 2.4 inches x 1.5 inches. It weighs only 5.2 ounces without batteries or SD card. Imaging Resource has a very complete review. It states that the original list price at time of introduction was $299.95. That's about $472 in March 2023 dollars. I'm not sure where I got this camera. From a test photo on the camera, I'm guessing I got it in the early 2010s. It is in excellent cosmetic condition and seems to work fine.
	Nikon Coolpix P7000 (Large, Back) Announced September 8, 2010, the Nikon P7000 is a 10 megapixel camera with a 1/1.7 inch sensor. It was likely designed to compete with Canon's Powershot G-series. It has a 7.1 optical zoom lens, 6.0 to 42.6mm (28-200mm full frame equivalent), f2.8-5.6. It has a simple optical viewfinder (not through the lens) as well as a 3 inch rear LCD monitor. ISO 100 to 3200. Specifications and features are at Nikon. I purchased mine for $20 on May 21, 2020 in the Bay Park area of San Diego from an ad on Craigslist. I thought it would be a nice, inexpensive camera for hiking. I liked the wide zoom and the optical viewfinder. It works fine and the images are fine. I think the controls are nicely laid out. The camera received a mediocre rating of 65% in DP Review with the reviewers finding good image quality but stating "the P7000 is let down by a laggy, glitch-ridden user interface and relatively poor operational speed." The original price was $499.
	Nikon D5100 (Large, Back) Announced April 5, 2011, the Nikon D5100 is a 16.2 megapixel ASP-C (DX) camera with an optical DSLR viewfinder. It has a live view articulated screen joined to the camera on the side. ISO is from 100 to 6400, expandable to Hi 2 (ISO 25600 equivalent). (Nikon Lineup - D5100.) It records full HD video (1080) and was "the first Nikon DSLR to offer 1080p video at a choice of frame rates." (Nikon D5100 - Wikipedia.) It does not have an in-camera focus motor and hence can only autofocus with lenses with a built-in motor. Nikon D5100 - Wikipedia states: "It can mount unmodified A-lenses (also called Non-AI, Pre-AI or F-type) with support of the electronic rangefinder and without metering." I have not tried that, however, and would want to make sure it would not damage the camera. I purchased mine at Target with 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 VR (vibration reduction) kit lens around November 2013 for around $350 as I recall. It was an unboxed return and hence selling for about half the usual price. (I couldn't resist.) It is in great cosmetic and working condition. I also purchased a used Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G AF-S DX VR lens for about $90 on Craigslist. Ken Rockwell states: "The D5100 the exact same technical image quality of the unbeaten Nikon D7000 in a smaller, lighter and much less expensive package." Even as I write this in 2022, it is still a decent camera to use. (See also YouTube - "Is the Nikon D5100 still good in 2022+??".)
	Nikon D600 (2012) (Large Image) I purchased this used in October 2022 for $430 plus tax from MPB. It was listed as in excellent condition with a shutter count around 9,000. The new price for the Nikon D600 was about $2,100. It was launched in 2012 about the same time as the Canon 6d. The Nikon D600 has a full frame 24 megapixel sensor. It has a traditional optical mirror reflex viewfinder along with a rear live view lcd screen. I got it to try out photography with a full frame sensor. A full frame sensor is 36mm x 24mm, the same dimensions as the image area with 35mm film cameras, for an area of 864 square mm. A Nikon or Sony APS-C camera has a sensor 23.6mm x 15.6mm, or 368.16 square mm, or about 42.6% the area of a full frame camera. (Canon APS-C cameras have slightly smaller sensors.) A micro four thirds sensor is 17.3mm x 13mm, or 224.9 square mm, or 26% the area of a full frame camera. Other common sensor sizes include 1 inch sensors (12.8mm x 9.6mm = 122.88 sq. mm = 14% full frame area) and typical cell phone cameras with 1/2.55 inch sensors (6.17mm x 4.55 = 28 sq. mm = 3.25% full frame area). While there are many factors, larger sensors generally mean more light, better image quality and less noise at high ISOs. Each pixel can be larger compared to a smaller frame camera with a similar number of pixels. (See, e.g., BH Photo - Sensor Size.) It also allows for a shallower depth of field which can be useful in isolating a subject. It also generally means a larger, more expensive camera, with larger more expensive lenses. Many smaller frame cameras also produce excellent images. (See the weight comparisons with my Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II camera below.)
As a frugal amateur photographer, I generally considered full-frame cameras out of my price range. The price in the used market has come down, however, and the features of a ten year old camera are still useful today. Prices have especially come down for optical mirror reflex cameras as mirrorless cameras have become more popular. Mirrorless cameras have electronic eyepiece viewfinders. Because the image is produced electronically, an optical reflex system is not needed. Initially, these viewfinders were low resolution. In recent years, however, electronic eyepiece viewfinders have been very bright and high resolution allowing for accurate viewing and manual focusing. They also allow for smaller cameras. Prices of even full-frame mirrorless cameras are becoming competitive with a new Nikon Z5 body about $1,000 as I write this in October 2022.
I got the Nikon D600 to try out full-frame photography. I thought it would be particularly useful photographing the night sky since it is rated highly for low light, high ISO situations. I also am using it to take digital images of old 35mm slides with a macro bellows. I am using a Canon FL macro bellows with an adapter to fit the Nikon F-AI mount of the Nikon D600. The Nikon D600 is also a neat camera for nostalgia reasons. With its optical mirror reflex system and full-frame sensor size, it is a direct descendent of film single lens reflex cameras such as the Nikon F dating back to 1959. It will mount and operate with most Nikon F-AI lenses. I have several old manual focus Nikon lenses to try with it including a Nikon 85mm f1.4 and a Nikon 55mm f1.2. I also have a Tokina 17mm f3.5 AI manual focus lens that Ken Rockwell reviews favorably. The camera will not work with pre-AI Nikon lenses, however, unless those lenses are converted to AI. Old manual lenses, of course, do not autofocus and do not have vibration reduction. The new Nikon Z5, however, has in-camera vibration reduction and can use a variety of lenses with an adapter. I bought three used autofocus lenses around the time I bought this camera. First, is a Nikon AF 24-85mm f3.4-4.5 VR purchased on eBay for about $105 total, including shipping and tax. It was cheaper than most since it has a tiny scratch near the edge of the front element. The scratch should not have any effect on the image quality. Second, I purchased a Tamron AF 28-300mm f3.5-6.3 VR lens in like new condition for about a total of $95 including tax and free shipping. It came with a very nice 67mm B+W UV filter. From my limited experience with it, the image quality appears to be great. The auto focus is not as fast or quiet as the Nikon 24-85mm lens, however. Finally, I bought an older Quantary AF 18-35mm f3.5-4.5 (not image stabilized) lens which seems to be made by Sigma. It was only about $38 total with the tax and should be a fun wide angle lens. It is in excellent condition. When mounting this lens you must set it to f22. Otherwise, you get an error message. My camera and lenses are all in excellent cosmetic condition and seem to work fine so far. The shutter count on the camera is well under 8,000. The Nikon D600 is noted for oil and dust spotting on the sensor due to a problem with the shutter. The Nikon D610 was apparently introduced to fix these problems. Nikon also would replace the shutter on a D600 to fix the problem. This program has expired, however. While I noticed some dust spots on a sky image at f22 with "haze removal" while processing on Photoshop Elements, I cleaned the sensor and have not noticed any dust or oil spots since.
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Olympus
	Olympus Camedia C-2100 Ultra Zoom (June 2000) (Large Image) 2.1 megapixel with 10X optical zoom lens with a focal length of 7mm to 70mm (equal to angle of view for 38 to 380mm in 35mm format). The maximum aperture is f2.8-3.5. It has optical image stabilization. According to www.dpreview.com the suggested list price was $1,300 and the street price was $900. It has a 1/2 inch CCD sensor. ISO is 100, 200 or 400. Shutter speeds are 1/2 to 1/800 second in automatic modes and up to 16 seconds in manual mode. It takes the very thin Smart Media cards. Mine has one 128MB card in it, which I think was the maximum capacity for SmartMedia cards. It takes 4AA batteries. It has auto focus and manual focus. It takes 42 second movies at 320 x 240, 15 frames per second with audio. www.dpreview.com gave it a recommended rating but wished it had 3 megapixels. It averaged 4.8 out of 5 stars in 80 ratings at amazon.com. To me it seems very well balanced with a large grip where the batteries go. The size and mass aren't bad with dimensions of 113 x 78x 141 mm and a mass of 540g. The lens is wonderful and the images are good for 2.1 megapixels. Even at the time 2.1 megapixels didn't really let you replace your film camera, however. Once resolution started to get over 3 megapixels I left my film camera behind more often. I bought my C-2100 from an ad on Craigslist on June 28, 2012 in the Clairemont Mesa area of San Diego. I purchased this and a Yashica TL-Electro 35mm SLR with extra lens and flash for $25. The price on Craigslist was $25 for the Yashica and $10 for this. I negotiated the price down to $25 since the slower shutter speeds on the Yashica are hanging up and the Olympus was only intermittently turning on. When I got home and put fresh batteries in the Olympus it worked perfectly, however. It is still a very useable camera if you are just putting things on the web. It is nice that it has both the regular screen and an electronic eye level viewfinder. Today, most point and shoot cameras just have the regular LCD screen which can be difficult to view in sunlight. The problem with these early electronic viewfinders, however, is that the image is not clear enough to see fine detail or focus manually. That may finally be changing with the very high resolution electronic viewfinders in the new Sony Alpha SLRs such as the Sony Alpha 55 that has 1,152,000 dots used in the electronic viewfinder compared to I think 114,000 in the Olympus C-2100. (Dpreview.com specifications for the Sony Alpha 55 compared to Steves-digicams.com specifications for the Olympus C-2100 (describes electronic viewfinder as "0.55 inch wide-angle colour TFT LCD monitor with 114,000 pixels (low-temperature poly-silicon)," although that pixel count is the same as for the large LCD viewfinder.)
	Olympus D-490 Zoom (Large Image, Back) Announced August 1, 2000 according to the press release at DP Review, the Olympus D-490 Zoom is a 2.11 megapixel digital camera with 3X optical autofocus zoom lens with a focal length of 5.4mm to 16.2mm (equal to angle of view for 35 to 105mm in 35mm format). The 8-element all-glass aspherical lens has maximum apertures of f2.8 (wide) - 4.4 (tele). DP Review's Overview, indicates the CCD sensor size is 1/2.7 inches. ISO values are 100, 200 and 400. It has a 1.8 inch LCD monitor as well as a simple optical viewfinder with a diopter adjustment. Shutter speeds from 1/2 to 1/1000 second. The normal focus close focus is 80cm, down to 20cm in macro mode. It takes Smart Media cards. It does not have image stabilization. It takes up to 320 X 240 Quicktime movies up to 15 seconds and 160 X 120 videos for up to 60 seconds. The videos do not have sound. The manual is at intructionmanuals.com. Imaging Resource has a complete review concluding: "Overall, we found the D-490 Zoom an excellent camera for consumers accustomed to the point-and-shoot style." The original price was $499 or about $870 in March 2023 dollars. I don't recall where I got my camera. It is in excellent cosmetic condition and seems to work fine. It came with a 16 MB Smart Media card.
	Olympus Camedia C-700 Ultra Zoom (Large Image, Back) Announced on March 19, 2001, the C-700 features a 1/2.7 inch, 2.11 megapixel sensor, and a 10X optical zoom lens 5.9mm-59mm, f 2.8-3.5 lens (full frame equivalent angle of view as 38-380mm). (DP Review - Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom.) It was proclaimed as the world's smallest 10X optical zoom digital camera at the time. The estimated street price was $700, or almost $1,200 in 2022 dollars. It seems to be a smaller, less expensive replacement for the C-2100 above. It takes SmartMedia cards. Mine came with a full 64MB card with 141 photos on it. SmartMedia cards were about the size of a Compact Flash (CF) card, but much thinner. Wikipedia states: "SmartMedia is an obsolete flash memory card standard owned by Toshiba, with capacities ranging from 2 MB to 128 MB." An SD card is roughly half the size. As I write this in 2022, 128 GB SD cards, holding 1,000X more than the largest SmartMedia card, are common and inexpensive. The camera is powered by four 1.5 volt AA batteries or two CR-V3 Lithium batteries. Specifications are at the end of DP Review - Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom. The C-700 has both an "Electronic TTL Viewfinder (0.55" LCD)" and a "1.5-inch, 113,000-pixel color TFT LCD monitor." ISO values are 100, 200, 400, and 800. It takes Quicktime movies, 15fps, 320 x 240 (max 15 sec), 160 x 120 (max 60 sec). It is relatively light at only 11 oz., although I get 14.4 oz. with the batteries. I assume I got mine at a garage sale. It is in really good cosmetic and working condition - pretty good for over 20 years old - a cool blast from the past!
	Olympus Camedia E-20N (Large Image, Back Large) Announced Septeber 20, 2001, the press release at DP Review states: "The Camedia E-20N offers a unique dual mode image capture capability: the Interlaced Scan mode allows users to set the 2/3" RGB CCD for 5 Megapixel (effective) resolution to capture images with the highest possible detail for brilliant pictures up to 11'' x 14"." It continues: "The 9mm - 36mm Zoom ED and aspherical glass lens is specifically designed to focus light evenly and accurately over the entire 5 Megapixel CCD for clear, sharp photos. This fully multi-coated, f2.0 - f11 lens offers the equivalent of a 35mm - 140mm zoom range in 35mm photography." Close focus is 0.2m. It has dual memory slots for SmartMedia cards and CompactFlash Type I and II cards. "The Camedia E-20N rounds out its robust capabilities with a dual AutoFocus system. It employs Olympus' patented IR-active focus system for initial focusing, as well as a TTL passive focus for fine, accurate focus." It has a 114,000 pixel 1.8 inch live view LCD display which rotates up and down allowing for over the head and waist level shots. In addition, it has optical single lens reflex reviewing. Having a DSLR with live view was unique at the time. It takes two CR-3V Lithium batteries which fit into the bottom of the hand grip. It can also take rechargeable batteries or four AA batteries. It has a pop-flash and also a flash hot shoe. It has program, aperture preferred, shutter preferred and manual exposure modes. ISO values are from 80 to 320. The camera feels great in the hands with excellent controls. There is no image stabilitization and no movie mode which were not common at the time in professional level cameras. All of the features of the came at a steep price. DP Review's complete review indicates the street price was $1,900. That's over $3,200 adjusted for inflation in March 2023 dollars. DP Review recommended it, but found it expensive compared to the competition at the time. Your investment would also diminish relatively rapidly in value. In the early 2000s was a period of rapid innovation. In just a few more years sub $1,000 ASP-C interchangeable lens SLRs with greater resolution would become common. It really is a nice camera. It's too bad you can't upgrade the sensor, and give the camera image stabilization and a larger and higher resolution LCD screen. Pro level digital cameras were expensive at the time, however. In contrast to DP Review, Imaging Resource found it a bargain compared to other professional level digital SLRs at the time. James Warner has a review of the camera from a modern 2021 viewpoint. I don't recall where I got my camera. I bought it used many years ago and certainly for a tiny fraction of the original price. My camera is in near new cosmetic condition except the coating on the grip has become sticky with age and leaves a black residue on your hands. It seems to work fine and still takes nice photos.
	Olympus Camedia D-150 Zoom, 1.3 megapixel, 3x optical zoom, 5mm-15mm, f2.4-4.3. Takes Smart Media cards. No movies. Purchased around late 2001 for $150 at Costco. Compare with the Kodak DX 6340 a little over two years later - same price, 3.1 megapixel, 4X optical zoom, movies with sound, adjustable exposure, etc.
	Olympus Camedia C-765 Ultra Zoom (Announced February 12, 2004) (Large Image, Back with Image, Box, Box Key Features) DPReview has an announcement article with specifications. It was claimed to be the smallest digital camera with a 10X optical zoom lens, 6.3-63mm (38-380mm equivalent) f2.8-3.7. It has a 1/2.5 inch CCD 4.0 megapixel image sensor. In addition to the 1.8 inch LCD monitor with 110,000 pixels it has a 240,000 pixel electronic viewfinder. It has program, shutter priority, aperture priority and full manual modes, as well as MOV movie recording with sound. ISO from 50-400. Shutter speeds from 1/1000 to 16 seconds. It weighs 280 grams. It takes xD-Picture Cards for storage and is powered by a rechargeable Li-128 3.7v Olympus battery. The original street price was $499, or about $800 in February 2023 dollars. CNET indicates it is the budget version of the Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom. Imaging Resource has a complete review. The manual is available at Olympus.
My camera is in good cosmetic condition except it has black fringing around the LCD monitor. This does not show up when the camera is on, however. Both the live and review images show up fine. The camera works fine. It comes with the box, strap, 37mm UV/PL/FD filters (the PL filter is defective), a macro/.45 wide angle adapter, a macro/2X adapter, a filter adapter, two batteries, four xd-Picture cards (16mb, 128mb, 1GB and 1GB) in a holder, software and the manual and other paperwork. The warranty card states it was originally purchased on April 14, 2005. I probably purchased it roughly five years after that for apparently $10 at a garage or estate sale. (There are $10 and $15 handwritten stickers on the box.) It was a nice camera in its day. It's a good example of how rapidly camera technology increased in the early 2000s. This C-765 sold for a small fraction of its original price at a garage sale just several years after initial purchase. A small sensor camera like this has largely been replaced by smartphones as I write this in April 2023, 19 years after the introduction of the C-765. There is still a place for larger sensor cameras like my Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II camera below that was introduced about eleven years after this camera. While having a smaller sensor than a full frame or ASP-C camera, the E-M10 II's micro four-thirds sensor is 900 percent greater than the area of the C-765's 1/2.5 inch sensor. (See Wikipedia - Image Sensor Format - scroll down to "Common image sensor formats.") That combined with 400 percent more pixels allows for much higher ISO levels with lower noise and greater resolution. Combined with the 14-150mm lens, the E-M10 II still has over a 10X zoom.
	Olympus Camedia D-535 Zoom (Announced September 16, 2004) (Large Image, Back) DP Review has specifications for this 3 megapixel compact digital camera with a 1/2.7 inch CCD sensor with an autofocus 5.8-17.4mm (38-114mm full frame equivalent angle of view) f2.9-5 3X zoom lens. Normal close focus is 50cm. In macro mode close focus is 2cm. It has a 1.5 inch monitor and no optical viewfinder. Maximum shutter speed is 1/2000 second. It takes xD Picture Cards and has 12 MB internal memory. It takes two AA batteries. It is small weighing only 190 grams with dimensions of 88x63x39mm. It takes 320x240 videos at 15 frames per second I believe without sound since I do not see any microphone or speaker holes. According to the preview at cnet.com the introductory price was $149, or about $237 in April 2023 dollars. The Quickstart Guide and the reference manual are available from Olympus. I don't recall where I got my camera. It is in good cosmetic condition. It turns on but only makes a whining noise like the lens is trying to open. The lens does not open, however.
	Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II (2015) (Large Image) I purchased my Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II with M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-42 f3.5-5.6 II R Lens, Silver, from Adorama Camera through Target on April 13, 2020 for $299 less $14.95 for the Target 5% Redcard discount, plus $24.14 sales tax for a total of $308.19. It was on sale since by that time the Mark III model had come out. The Mark III has 4K video while the Mark II has only 1080 high definition video. I already had a Sony a58 with a larger APS-C sensor and 20.1 megapixel. I thought the Olympus would be a good camera for hiking, however, with its reasonably small size and much larger sensor than a compact digital camera. The Sony a58 with battery and SD card weighs 573 g, while the Olympus weighs 399 g with battery and SD card. (Ratio of Sony:Olympus = 1.4) The Olympus micro 4/3 sensor size is 17.3mm x 13.0 mm for an area of 224.9 sq mm. That's 26% of the area of a full frame camera and 61% of the area of an ASP-C sized sensor camera, but 183% the area of a camera with a one inch sensor. The weight difference is more evident when comparing it to the full frame Nikon D600. The D600 with 28-85mm lens weighs about 3.1 lbs (1386 grams) while the Olympus with the 14-42mm lens weighs only 1.15 lbs (522 grams). The D600 with the 28-300mm Tamron lens weighs 3.1 lbs (1415 grams) compared to 1.5 lbs (683 grams) for the Olympus with 14-150mm lens. I have used the camera extensively during the first 2.5 years I have had it. The image quality seems great for most of the work I do. A nice advantage is that my camera has in-camera image stabilization.
Olympus was formed in 1919 making microscopes. It still makes microscopes as well as medical equipment such endoscopes. It introduced the microcassette sound recording tape in 1969. Olympus started making cameras in 1936 and over the years have made medium format folding cameras, twin lens reflex cameras, 35mm rangefinder and viewfinder cameras, 35mm Pen half frame cameras, and in 1972 the OM series of single lens reflex (SLR) cameras. The Olympus OM-1 was the smallest and lightest 35mm SLR camera. (See the excellent Olympus History Page.) Many of these cameras can be found in the Rangefinder and SLR sections of Mr. Martin's Museum. The Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II has a remarkable resemblance to the 1972 Olympus OM-1 as seen in these photographs: front, top, back. I have been asked multiple times while using my Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II if I was shooting with film! Olympus also has a long history of digital cameras, most recently the OM-D mirrorless micro 4/3 series. Olympus sold off its camera division in 2020. The new camera company is now called OM Digital Systems.
While the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II looks like a digital single lens reflex camera, it is actually a mirrorless camera. While it has an eyepiece, the image in the eyepiece is electronic. Early electronic eyepiece images were not very high resolution making manual focusing difficult or impossible. Recent electronic eyepieces are very high resolution making easy to tell if the image is in focus. I also like that you can review the image in the eyepiece which is very helpful in bright sunlight where it is difficult to see the back screen. Mirrorless cameras also make it easy to use adapters to use vintage lenses. Adapters have always been available. For example, I could get an adapter to use a Nikon lens on a Canon SLR. The problem is that the adapter sticks the lens out too far and it will hence no longer focus at a distance. It is like putting on an extension tube. You can get adapters that have an optical element in them to allow focusing at infinity. You are really changing the quality of the optics, however, with that additional element. With mirrorless cameras, the camera lens mount is closer to the sensor since you don't have to make room for a mirror and a pentaprism. Adapters therefore don't make the lens stick out tofar. Rather, they are made the right length to allow focus at infinity with no optical element. I purchased several inexpensive (e.g. $10) adapters to allow me to use Nikon F, Canon FL/FD, Olympus OM, Pentax screw mount, Minolta and other manual focus lenses on my Olympus OM-D camera. The camera meter works using aperture preferred metering. You must use lenses that have an aperture ring. The smaller micro 4/3 format results in a 2 times "crop factor" compared to the full frame format. For example, a 50mm lens will have the same angle of view as a 100mm lens on a full frame camera. With Olympus' in-camera image stabilization, these old lenses effectively become image stabilized.
My camera came with a Olympus 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens which is only about 5.5cm long in its retracted locked position. In its working position, it extends to about 7 to 8cm long. The filter size is only 37mm. I also purchased used Olympus Fisheye Converter FCON-P01. It fits over the front element of the Olympus 14-42 lens. At its widest position it gives an angle of view at least as wide as a 18mm lens on a full frame camera. There is obvious fish-eye distortion, however, compared to my Quantary AF 18-35mm discussed under the Nikon D600. While not as good as a true wide angle lens, it is well built, gives quality images, and is easy to install and remove with its bayonet mount. I actually returned one of these converters thinking it did not fit. I did not realize that there is a small silver ring on the front of the Olympus 14-42 which you must unscrew before putting on the converter. The second lens I purchased was an Olympus 40-150mm f4-5.6 purchased used in excellent condition from KEH for just under $70 including tax. (See Photo of four lenses.) The 14-42mm and 40-150mm gave me a nice range with an angle of view the same as 28-300mm on a full frame camera. I found myself frequently needing to change from one lens to another while hiking, however. I, therefore, purchased an Olympus 14-150mm f4-5.6. A new 14-150mm lens costs around $550. (This is for the version II.) Used, they are usually over $200. I purchased one on eBay for a total of $95.48 including tax. It has the same angle of view as a 28-300mm which is great for over 90% of my photography. The lens has two disclosed flaws, however, in the front element. First, it has a very small smudge in the middle of the front element. Second, a little off of center it has an area of concentric rings which you can only see when looking at the front element from the side. I think the front element may be made of two pieces of glass cemented together and perhaps both problems may be some sort of separation. (See, e.g., KEH Blog - Lens Separation.) The flaws sound bad, but you don't even see them unless you look closely. I've used the lens extensively over two years and have not noticed a problem in the images. It does bug me somewhat, however, and if I could find a "parts only" lens for cheap with a good front element, I would buy it. You can take out the front element of this lens by simply removing a few screws. My third lens is an Olympus 75-300mm f4.8-6.7 which I purchased used for a total of $66.31 on eBay. That was a great deal since new these sell for $450. I think this sold for cheap since it had some sticky stuff on the front of the lens. This came off easily, however, and the lens is in excellent condition. It is great for wildlife photos. My fourth lens is a manual focus 12mm, f2 Rokinon lens. I bought it used in excellent condition on eBay with a B+W 67mm UV filter for a total of $173.42 including shipping and tax. I got it primarily to try some night sky photography. It has the same angle of view as a 24mm full frame camera lens.
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Panasonic
	Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 with DMW-MCZX1 Marine Case (Large Image, Back, Housing Front Large, Housing Back) Features and specifications at many sites including DP Review, Amazon, and B&H. The owner's manual is available from Panasonic. Announced Jul 27, 2009, the ZR1 (ZX1 in Europe) was a very compact camera with an 8X zoom due in part to its incorporation of the world’s first 0.3mm aspherical and spherical lens elements. Specifications include 12 megapixels, 1/2.33 inch CCD sensor, ISO 100-1600 plus 6400 boosted, 4.5mm to 36mm focal length (equivalent angle of view of 25-200mm in full frame camera), maximum aperture f3.3–5.9, autofocus only, 1/2000 to 8 seconds shutter speeds plus Starry Sky mode: 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds. Exposure control is automatic - you cannot manually select aperture or shutter speed. JPEG images only - no RAW mode. Video 1280 x 720 pixels. It is a very small camera with dimensions of approximately 97.8 mm (W) x 54.6 mm (H) x 26.0 mm (D). It weighs only 160 grams (about 5.6 oz.) with the battery and SD card. The original new launch price was apparently $280. (pxlmag.com.) B&H appears to have listed it once at $214.95. I bought mine on used eBay on December 15, 2015 for a total of $20.54, shipping included. I bought another used one earlier on August 13, 2015 from KEH for $47 in excellent plus condition. I bought these cameras because Roberts Camera was selling new Panasonic DMW-MCZX1 Marine Cases for the ZR1 for less than one tenth the original price. I bought two new housings in August 2015, one for $18 and another for $20.32, shipping included. B&H appears to have previously sold the housing for $219.95 and divervision.com appears to have previously sold the housing for $319.95. Therefore, despite the ZR1 being an older model, it seemed like a good deal with the inexpensive housing rated to 40 meters (130 feet) underwater. The housing unfortunately can only be used with the ZR1 and no other newer cameras. Housings like this are specifically designed for the lens and buttons of a specific camera only. As I write this in January 2023 there are, of course, much more sophisticated underwater camera combinations. I figure at 12 megapixels and up to 1600 ISO (probably more like ISO 800 to be useable) this camera and housing combination is still useable, however, and if it floods it is not a huge loss. The ZR1's wide angle of 25mm (equiv.) is important for underwater photography. Wide angle lenses allow the user to get close to the subject matter to reduce the amount of water and debris between the camera and subject. Indeed, much wider lenses than 25mm are often used in underwater photography. Overall, it is a much better system than the Kodak DX 6340 3.1 megapixel camera and Ewa-Marine flexible housing I used snorkeling the last time I was in Hawaii in 2005. That camera in turn was better than the Ikelite Auto35 Camera and Housing (scroll down) I used snorkeling and Scuba diving in Hawaii in 2000. I think I paid several hundred dollars for that camera, housing and flash.
	Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 with Ikelite Housing (Large Image, Back, Housing Front Large, Housing Back, Housing with Flash) Announced July 21, 2010, this is a high-end compact digital camera with a 1/1.63 inch (8.07 x 5.56 mm) CCD, 10 megapixel sensor, with a Leica 5.1mm-19.2mm focal length lens (24-90mm equiv. full frame angle of view), f2.0-3.3. It produces both JPEG and RAW images, and has program, aperture preferred, shutter preferred, and manual exposure, along with both manual and auto focusing. It has a 3.0 inch LCD screen with an optional electronic viewfinder (DMW-LVF1). It has a pop-up flash as well as a hot shoe. Shutter speeds are from 60 seconds to 1/4000 second. The original new price was $500 but later sold at B&H for $300. The Lumix LX5 is largely the same as the Leica D-Lux 5, announced Sep 21, 2010, except the Leica "has its own exterior design and firmware implementation." (Panasonic Lumix - Wikipedia.) While relatively small, the 1/1.63 inch sensor nevertheless has a 67% increase in area over the 1/2.3 inch sensor found in many other compact cameras. (See, generally, the discussion of sensor size under the Lumix ZS-40 below. A 1/1.63 inch sensor is 8.07mm x 5.56mm = 44.8692 square mm. A 1/2.3 inch sensor is 6.17mm x 4.55mm = 28.0735 sq mm. The difference is 16.7957. Difference divided by area of 1/2.3 inch sensor is 16.7957 divided by 28.0735 = .67 = 67%.) I purchased my LX5 on May 1, 2019 with the Ikelite underwater housing on eBay for a total of $111.90 ($99 plus $12.90 shipping). Both the camera and housing are in excellent condition. They look like they have not been used much at all. The housing is Ikelite model 6171.05 for the Lumix LX5 only. Ikelite housings are precision and sturdy. The housing sold new at B&H for $499.95 or you could get the camera and housing at B&H for $785.95. I later purchased a used Ikelite DS50 strobe on eBay on May 7, 2019 for $88.65 ($69.95 plus $18.70). In response to my inquiry, Ikelite states: "DS50 strobes above serial number 70000 are TTL compatible with this housing. The DS50 strobe cannot be used manually with the housing since it only has the option of full power flash." My strobe's serial number is above 70000. The $88.65 was sort of expensive for a frugal, infrequent underwater photographer like myself. The newest DS51 II strobe, which has multiple manual power settings, sells new for $500, however. Overall, the camera, housing and flash new would have been about $1,500, well beyond my budget. I thought it would be fun to try out at about $200 total, however. The basic instructions are at B&H. The advanced manual is available at Panasonic.
	Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS20 (Large Image, Back) Features and specifications at DP Review and Amazon. Announced Jan 31, 2012. 16 megapixel, 1/2.33 inch CCD sensor, ISO 100-1600 plus 6400 boosted, 25-100mm (full frame equivalent) f3.9-5.7 lens, autofocus only, 8 seconds - 1/1300 second shutter speeds. Submersible in up to 16 feet of water. I have had two of these. The first I may have bought new on clearance. I took it snorkeling on a school trip to Catalina Island in the Spring 2019. I think I didn't lock the battery/SD card door completely and it got some water in it. I couldn't get it working again. Liking the little camera and feeling bad about it flooding, I purchased another one on eBay for $32.55 total including tax. Shipping was included. It is in good cosmetic and working condition.
	Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40 (Large Image, Back) Released January 2014, the ZS40 is a compact 30X superzoom camera with an angle of view equivalent to that in a 24-720mm full frame camera. The lens has an actual focal length of 4.3mm-129mm with maximum apertures of f3.3-6.4. It has an 18.0 megapixel, 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sized, CMOS sensor. The small sensor allows for the wide zoom range in a small package. It also means, however, you don't get the same image quality and low light/high ISO performance you get in a larger sensor camera. The sensor has an area of 28.0735 sq mm. That's only 24.2% of a 1 inch sensor (8.8mm x 13.2mm = 116.16 sq mm), 12.5% of a micro 4/3 sensor (13mm x 17.3mm = 224.9 sq mm), 7.3% of an APS-C sensor (16mm x 24mm = 384 sq mm), and 3.2% of a full frame sensor (24mm x 36mm = 864 sq mm). While the ZS40 does not have the same image quality of a larger sensor camera, it does have many features found in many larger sensor cameras including an eye-level viewfinder in addition to the 3 inch LCD screen, RAW format, GPS, WiFi, image stabilization, and program, aperture preferred, shutter preferred and manual exposure. ISO settings are from 100 to 3200 (expandable to 6400). The ZS40 is quite small especially given its long zoom and extensive features. According to Panasonic the dimensions closed are approx. 110.6 mm (W) x 64.3 mm (H) x 34.4 mm (D) with a mass of 240 g. Reviewed.com has an extensive review. B&H posts the 47 page basic owner's manual. Panasonic posts the 329 page advanced owner's manual. I bought mine used in December 2019 for a total of $141 (including shipping and tax) with a nice Crumpler nylon case and battery. I bought it primarily for hiking. I was looking for a small camera with an eye-level viewfinder. It works well and the image quality is decent. I eventually bought the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II micro four thirds camera discussed above, however, for most of my photography while hiking. It's a nice compromise between camera size and sensor size giving better quality images for a photo enthusiast like me.
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Pentax
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Ricoh
Large Image	Ricoh RDC-1 (1995). Introduced in late 1995 and selling by the Spring of 1996 for $1,800! (CBR; See also Steve's Digicams.) That's over $2,400 in 2007 dollars. The RDC-1 was the first camera to record both digital stills and video with sound. (See dycam.com.) In November 1995 it won a Best of COMDEX Award. (See highbeam.com.) Page 35 of the September 1996 Popular Photography Magazine has an ad for the Ricoh RDC-1. There was an optional LCD monitor which attached to the camera. The camera takes a PCMCIA memory card. Mine comes with an 8mb card. In this photo of the camera and memory card, I have included a modern, and much smaller, 2GB SD card, which holds 250 times more information. The camera did contain all the elements of a modern camera including 3X zoom lens, relatively small size (camera, without monitor, is roughly 13cm x 7.5cm x 2cm, and weighs 9 oz.), optical viewfinder, LCD viewfinder/monitor (optional), flash, and movies with sound. Resolution was only 380,000 pixels (.38 megapixels), however. Movies with sound were at a respectable 30 frames per second, but only lasted 5 seconds and you could only take 4 of them on a card. (See Henshell, Ricoh RDC-1 Digital Camera.) I have two complete camera sets each in a plastic case with the LCD monitor, remote control, charging unit and instruction manual. I have not tried them yet, but they are near new cosmetic condition. I paid $9 each at a San Carlos area of San Diego garage sale on 9-29-07. These are fine examples of early digital camera history that show how far we have come in a little over ten years.
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Sony
	Sony DSC-F1 (1996) (Large Image, Back, Back with Image, Side A, Side B, Bottom) Announced on August 22, 1996, the Sony Digital Still Camera DSC-F1 was Sony's first consumer level digital camera. (www.digitalkameramuseum.de.) The suggested retail price was $850 (id), equal to approximately $1,700 in 2024 dollars. "It features a 350,000 pixel 1/1.3" CCD sensor, producing color photos with a maximum resolution of 640 x 480." (Sony DSC-F1 - Wikipedia.) It has "4MB of built-in memory which can store 58 pictures in standard mode, 30 in fine and 108 in snapshot mode." (Id.) It takes still photos only - no movies. Petapixel has sample images. The camera does not have any removable memory. Sony Mavica cameras using 3.5" floppy discs, or Sony cameras using memory cards such Sony Memory Sticks would come later. The camera has a 4.8mm f2 "Sony Video Lens." The lens as well as the electronic flash rotate 180 degrees allowing for waist level viewing or selfies. The image is viewed on a 61,380 dot 1.8" color LCD screen. The instruction manual is online. The camera uses a Sony LIP-10 Lithium Ion 6 volt rechargeable battery charged in the camera with a Sony AC-DSC1 AC power adapter. I have the battery but not the charger. I used an universal adapter. The charging light would come on briefly. I couldn't get it to work with the adapter, however. I may have had the incorrect polarity. I then used the input connector from the universal charger and hooked it up to a battery pack with 4AA 1.5 volt batteries using alligator clips. It worked! The camera had 3 images already on it. I then took three selfies using the rotating lens assembly. It worked! It would be difficult to download the images to a computer today. The camera allows infrared transfer if you have a computer with an infrared communication system. That apparently was a thing back in 1996 before Bluetooth. You could also use infrared transmission to print to an available Sony printer. As explained at pages 44-45 of the manual, it also allows images to be transferred with a connecting cable to a serial port on a PC computer or a printer port on a Mac. Most computers today do not have a serial port although I think you can get adapters to use a USB port. The digital I/O port on the camera is special, however, and I don't have the appropriate cable. You apparently needed software also. It is important to be able to save images to a computer since the camera has no removable memory. There is a video out port so you can use that to view the photos on a television or monitor. I don't recall where I got my camera. I had it stored in a shoe box filled with compact digital cameras. I don't know if I got them all together or not. The camera is in good cosmetic condition. It had a sticker on the front which I removed with Goo Gone. The monitor screen appears to be somewhat scratched. While I have not tested the camera extensively, it seems to work fine with my "work-around" battery solution above.
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Sony Mavica MVC-FD7 introduced late 1997, early 1998. The FD7 with a 10X optical zoom lens and the FD5 with a single focal length lens were the first Sony Mavica cameras which used floppy disks as the storage device. The Mavica name had previously been used for Sony analog video still cameras in the 1980s. Also, the Mavica name was also later used for the Sony digital cameras that used CDs for storage. The manual is available from Sony online in PDF format. Page 44 gives the specifications. I used a similar Mavica at my first teaching job in 1999. It has a 4.2 to 42mm 10X zoom lens which equals 40mm to 400mm in 35mm format. The maximum aperture is f1.8 to f2.9. Both of these statistics are impressive. The lens also has wonderful closeup features. At the time the use of standard 3.5 inch floppy disks for storage was also wonderful. They were reasonably inexpensive and made transfer to the computer a breeze. On fine mode one floppy disc would store about 15-20 images. Maximum resolution was 640 x 480, about 0.3 megapixel. That made it okay for Web viewing of relatively small images. Just "okay," however, and really poor for printing. It is very easy to use. There is no optical viewing but the large 2.5 inch screen is good under most circumstances. Mavicas were great cameras to use in a school setting. The original price appears to have been around $700. Its successor the FD71 which was lighter and faster had a list price of $799 according to PC World (July 28, 1998). I believe I used the FD71. I remember Mavicas having a street price of about $500 when I first used one in late 1999 - early 2000. Several sites discuss the FD7: Wikipedia, wrotniak.net, jerrypournelle.com, purpleplanetmedia.com, aardvark.co.nz, reviewsonline.com, videomedia.com. My Mavica FD7 was purchased on eBay on 8-4-06 for $51.53 with $6.50 shipping. It included a nice case, battery and a Canon ShurShot 60 film camera. Sort of on the pricey side for a 0.3 megapixel camera but Mavicas still seem to have a following on eBay. It is in good cosmetic and working condition. I bought a new off brand charger and battery from a different source on eBay. I also have a similar Sony MVC-FD75 announced February 9, 2001. It seems to be the same basic design with minor improvements. Photos: Front, Back. I have not tested it.
	Sony DSC-S50 (February 2000) (Large Image, Selfie Position, Back) Sony announced the DSC-S70 (3.3 megapixels), DSC-S50 (2.1 megapixels) and DSC-S30 (1.3 megapixels) on February 2, 2000. (DPReview.) All three were similar in body design but varied in resolution and features. The Mavica FD-95 below was also announced the same day. This was a time of rapid introduction of new models in the relatively new digital camera industry. The manual is available online from Sony. Imaging Resource has a very extensive review. The DSC-S50 has a 3X 6.1 to 18.3mm f2.8 zoom lens (39-117mm 35mm equivalent field of view). It has TTL autofocus with a macro option which can focus down to 3cm at the wide end. In normal mode close focus is 25cm. It takes a Sony NP-FM50 rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery that charges in the camera with the Sony AC-L10A power adaptor. Images are stored on Sony Memory Sticks. Apertures range from f2.8 to f11 and are set automatically or can be adjusted manually with the aperture priority mode. Shutter speeds are from 8 seconds to 1/725 second and are set automatically or can be set manually using the shutter priority mode. It also takes MPEG movies with sound at 320 x 240 resolution for up to 15 seconds or at 160 x 112 resolution for up to 60 seconds. The 560 x 240 pixel LCD monitor can turn upwards 180 degrees and then rotated 270 degrees which makes it very handy for selfies and waist level viewing. DPReview indicates that original price was about $840. That's over $1,500 in 2024 dollars adjusted for inflation. I obtained my camera on December 4, 2024 in Rancho Bernado, California from an ad on Craigslist. I purchased a Chinon Bellami 35mm compact film camera for $30 and the Sony DSC-S50 was thrown in for free. It came with the AC adapter, a battery and a 64mb Sony Memory Stick. It is in very good cosmetic and working condition.
	Sony Digital Mavica WVC FD-95 (February 2000) (Large Image) Announced February 2, 2000 (DPReview), the FD-95 is 2.1 megapixel camera with a 10X optical zoom, 6 to 60mm, f2.8 lens. (Same angle of view as a 35mm film camera with a 39 to 390mm zoom lens.) Sony Steady-shot image stabilization. Uses 3.5" floppy disks. Mine comes with the optional adapter that allows you to insert a Sony Memory Stick. 2.5 inch, color, TFT LCD monitor. Additionally, electronic eye-piece viewing. Cost new was $999. The Memory Stick adapter was extra. Spot metering and manual focus available. It is a large camera weighing about 35 oz. I purchased mine for about $30 at an estate/garage sale in the Del Cerro area of San Diego on April 25, 2010. (This and a Nikon 55mm f1.2 lens for $120. In my mind, I allocated more of the $120 towards the Nikon lens.) It is a very cool camera for its day with a pretty amazing wide aperture lens. The floppy disks were convenient at the time, but very slow. With 2.1 megapixels, this camera represented the limits for using floppy disks which would quickly be filled up. Another model recorded on small CDs instead. I remember seeing an FD-95 in action in the summer of 2000 by another participant at a Forestry Institute for Teachers at Humboldt State University. I still just used a film camera. I was very impressed the participant could have a slide show at the end of the camp. I was also very impressed with his shots of, for example, spotted owls using the lens which extends out to 390mm. It would still be a fun camera to play around with today. Mine is in good cosmetic condition. Unfortunately, it is not reading disks and disks are very hard to insert. I tried formatting a disk in the computer first. This did not help. It looks like a piece may also be missing on the disk eject button. Bummer! :(
	Sony Digital Mavica WVC FD-75 (Announced February 9, 2001) (Large Image, Back) Digital camera with 10X optical zoom lens, 4.2mm-42mm (40mm-400mm full frame equivalent), f1.8-2.9. (DPReview.) It has a 1/1.8 inch CCD sensor with maximum resolution of 640X480 or 307,200 pixels (0.3073 megapixels). (DPReview Sony Mavica FD-75 Overview, digicamdb, 1/1.8 inch sensor.) Shutter speeds from 1/60 to 1/4000 second. (digicamdb.) The manual is available from Sony. The manual specifically says it has a "4.5 mm (1/4 type) CCD" sensor. The camera stores images on a 3.5 inch 1.44 megabyte floppy disk. "At the highest image quality settings, a maximum of 20 images could be saved in JPEG format to a standard 3.5" computer floppy disk." (Camera-Wiki.) It was the successor to the Sony Mavic FD-73, adding shutter priority and aperture priority exposure modes. (Id.) The camera is powered by a Sony NP-F330 7.2 volt, rechargeable, InfoLithium battery. DPReview's Announcement Article predicted a street price of $400 to $500 dollars or about $700 to $900 in February 2023 dollars. I likely got this at a garage sale many years ago. It is in very good cosmetic condition. It comes with the box, a charger and a battery. The battery unfortunately can no longer hold a charge. With the very weak battery, the camera turned on for an instant and then shut off. I'm guessing it will work with a good battery. I remember using a similar Mavica in 1999-2000 at my first teaching job. It was amazing to see the images immediately. I was particularly impressed by the macro capabilities. Most of the photos from this PowerPoint entitled Journey Deep Inside a Flower saved as a pdf were taken with a Mavica with one or two taken with a Intel Play microscope.
	Sony DCS-S75 (2001) (Large Image) A 3.3 megapixel, 1/1.8 inch CCD, digital camera with a Carl Zeiss 7-21mm 3X zoom lens (f2-2.5) giving the same field of view as a 34-102 full frame camera. ISO range 100-400. MPEG movies up to 320 by 240 with size only limited by the memory card. Optical viewfinder and 1.8 inch LCD display. Uses a rechargeable Sony InfoLithium NP-FM50 battery which is the same as used by many of the Sony DSLRs below. DP Review has a full review and complete specifications. DP Review highly recommended the camera. Sony still posts the Operating Instructions. The street price was $700 at the time of the DP Preview, or almost 1,200 in December 2022 dollars. As I write this in February 2023, I think I purchased this at a garage sale many years ago. It came a 64MB Memory Stick. Sony Memory Sticks were slightly narrower than an SD card but longer. The camera is in fair cosmetic condition with some scratches and dirt.
	Sony DCS-S85 (2001) (Large Image, Back) An upgrade in resolution from the S75 above, the S85 features a 4.1 megapixel, 1/1.8 inch CCD sensor, with a Carl Zeiss 7-21mm 3X zoom lens (f2-2.5) giving the same field of view as a 34-102 full frame camera. ISO range 100-400. MPEG movies up to 320 by 240 with size only limited by the memory card. Optical viewfinder and 1.8 inch LCD display. Uses a rechargeable Sony InfoLithium NP-FM50 battery which is the same as used by many of the Sony DSLRs below. DP Review has a full review and complete specifications. The camera was one of the first consumer cameras with a 4 megapixel sensor. DP Review highly recommended the camera. Sony still posts the Operating Instructions. The street price was $800 at the time of the DP Preview, or over $1,300 in 2022 dollars. As I write this in December 2022, I think I purchased this at a garage sale many years ago. It is in good cosmetic condition with some of the icons on the selector dial worn off and rust on one of the screws on the cold accessory shoe. It came with the battery, 128MB Memory Stick and strap. Sony Memory Sticks were slightly narrower than an SD card but longer. The camera is in good working condition.
	Sony DCS-P93 (2004) (Large Image, Back) 5.1 megapixel digital camera with 1/1.8 inch CCD sensor and 3X 7.9mm to 23.7mm (38-114mm full frame equivalent) f2.6-5.2 lens. It has an optical viewfinder in additon to a 123,000 pixel 1.5 inch LCD screen. Video at 640 x 480 with sound. Uses Sony Memory Stick for storage. Takes two AA Nickel-Metal Hydride or Alkaline batteries. (Camera-Wiki.) The manual is available from Sony. The camera has various program modes, scene modes and a manual mode. There is a macro mode with focusing down to 10cm at the wide end and 60cm at the telephoto end. The built-in electronic flash can be shut off. According to the review at Imaging Resource, the suggested retail price at the time of introduction was $349. That's nearly $560 in March 2023 dollars. The review found it to be a good all around camera at an affordable price. DP Review indicates the shutter speeds are from 1/1000 to 30 seconds. Other reviews includes USA Today and Photo Review. It don't recall where I got my camera. It is in near new condition and seems to work fine. It came with a Memory Stick and a generic case.
	Sony DSC-R1 (Large Image) (2005-2006) The Sony DSC-R1 is unique camera that utilizes a 21.5 x 14.4 mm CMOS 10.3 megapixel sensor that is just 16% smaller in area than an APS-C size (23.5 x 15.6 mm) sensor found in many digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras (DSLR). (Area of R1 sensor 309.6 sq mm. Area of APS-C sensor is 366.6 sq.mm. 309.6/366.6 = 84.5%.) Unlike a DSLR this camera has no mirror or penta-prism to give an optical image. Further, while the current Sony Alpha cameras in 2013 have an electronic image with no optical image, the Alpha series still has a translucent reflex mirror. This camera has no reflex mirror. The picture quality is excellent and on a par with true DSLR cameras of the day, and even DSLRs today, because of the near APS-C sized CMOS sensor coupled with a very high quality, non-interchangeable, Carl Zeiss T* 5X zoom lens with a focal length range of 14.3 to 71.5mm, f2.8 to 4.8. That is equivalent the angle of view produced by a 24mm to 120mm lens in a 35mm film format, or a 16mm to 80mm lens in an APS-C format. The lens generally gets very good reviews. A similar interchangeable lens, the "Sony SAL-1680Z 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T DT Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera," today costs $998 on Amazon.com. That was the price of the entire Sony DSC-R1 camera when new. The camera generally performs reasonably well under high ISO levels with some noise at 800 and a lot at 1600. The ISO goes to 3200. This was pretty impressive performance in 2005 and still quite useable as I write this in 2013. Curriously, the camera does not have image stabilization which Sony has had on many cameras for a long time. It also does not have any movie mode. The electronic viewfinder is relatively bright and clear but not near what an optical viewfinder would be. While manual focus is possible, it is difficult with the electronic viewfinder. The electronic viewfinder has 235,200 pixels compared with 1,440,000 pixels, or 6.12 times more, on a current Sony A57 camera.
The LCD screen is only two inches compared to 3 inches on most DSLRs today. The LCD screen is in a unique position on top of the camera immediately behind the internal flash. It rotates 270 degrees and can be folded down which allows you to use it as a waist level finder as you might use on an old film medium format single lens reflex camera such as a Haselblad or a twin lens reflex camera like a Rolleiflex. That also makes it nice for ground level shots. Rotating the LCD screen 180 degrees also allows for self-portraits. That would also be handy for narrating movies if the camera did videos. It also doesn't interfere with mounting the camera on a tripod which is an issue with the bottom mounted LCD screen on the modern day Sony A57. While the LCD screen on the Sony DSC-R1 is in a handy position, it is difficult to conceive how you could make a camera like this with a much larger LCD screen. It can also be frustrating that the screen is so small. The camera is quite usable today and could be a harbinger of things to come for Sony. I have a Sony A350 which has an optical viewfinder as well as liveview LCD screen. Sony continued with optical viewfinders for the Sony A500, A550, A560 and A580. By the A37, A55, A57, A58, A65 and A77, however, Sony has moved to electronic viewfinders with a fixed translucent reflex mirror. Some rumors indicate that future Sony cameras may dispence with the mirror altogether going back to a design more like this camera but with much improved electronic viewfinders. I have mixed feelings. The electronic viewfinders give 100% coverage, are bright, can contain a lot of interesting information, and are much better than they use to be. They also show a lighter or darker screen as you change exposure. However, there is still something very nice about an optical viewfinder where it is just your eye, some glass and the actual light! It was especially nice with the former big, bright viewfinders in the old 35mm film days, instead of the smaller optical viewfinders with DSLRs with APS-C sized sensors. I purchased my camera on July 13, 2013 for $75 near the Little Italy section of downtown San Diego from an ad on Craigslist. The camera is in good cosmetic and working condition except for a small ding on the inside lip of the lens that does not affect the glass and a very tight zoom once you go beyond the 70mm range. My guess is the two things may be related. The camera works fine, however. The $75 price is substantially below the $200 to $300 prices on eBay and may in part reflect the two problems.
	Sony DSC-H2 (Large Image) Introduced February 2006, the DSC-H2 was a minor upgrade to the prior DSC-H1. The H2 is a 6.2 megapixel camera with a 12X zoom Carl Zeiss lens 6-72mm (36-432mm equivalent on 35mm film camera), f2.8 to 3.7. ISO range is 80-1000. Steady shot image stabilization. The sensor size is 1/2.5 inch (5.8mm x 4.3mm = 24.94 sq.mm.). (Compare that with a Sony APS-C sensor at 25.1 16.7 mm = 419.14 sq. mm.) The 2 inch LCD has 85,000 pixels and the 0.2 inch electronic viewfinder has 200,000 pixels. (Compare that with the 2013 Sony A58 which has 1,440,000 pixels in the electronic viewfinder.) DP Review has an extensive review. They state the street price was $370. While I forget how I acquired my Sony DSC-H2, it was probably at a garage sale. It is in working condition, although the shutter release button is missing. You can put in an opened-up paper clip in the small hole where the release button was to fire the shutter. Another problem was that I left batteries in the camera! In 2021 when I looked at it, the battery door would not open. I had to remove the back panel of the camera and pry the battery cover off. The batteries were extremely corroded. Some of the metal parts in the battery compartment broke off. After much cleaning and careful placement of aluminum foil to compensate for the missing metal parts, I got it working! Overall, it is a nice camera but does not compare with the higher resolution sensors and viewfinders of more recent cameras.
	Sony a700 (aka Sony Alpha 700) (Large) Introduced in September 2007, the Sony a700 is an digital single lens reflex (DSLR) with a 12.24 megapixel ASP-C Exmor CMOS sensor and Sony SteadyShot sensor-shift image stabilization. The camera was tailored to the advanced amateur photographer. It can use Compact Flash (CF) and Memory Stick Duo memory cards. It does not have live view and does not have a video mode. There are extensive reviews at Imaging Resource and DP Review. The December 2007 Popular Photography Magazine reviews it at page 96. I purchased mine used in Oceanside around August 25, 2013 from an ad on Craigslist listed for $175. I can't recall if I paid the full price.
	Sony a200 (aka Sony Alpha 200) Large, Back) Introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2008 along with the Sony a300 and Sony a350. The Sony a200 is a optical single lens reflex camera with a 10.2 megapixel APS-C sensor. It is a minor upgrade to the Sony a100, the first Sony Alpha camera after Sony bought the photography and camera business of Konica Minolta in 2006. The changes from the Sony a100 are listed at Sony a200 - Wikipedia. It has Sony's Super SteadyShot in-camera image stabilization. The Sony a200 does not have live view. The Sony a300 added live view and an articulated screen. The a350, which I bought new, has live view, an articulated screen and a 14.2 megapixel sensor. All three cameras used Compact Flash (CF) memory cards. I purchased my Sony a200 at a garage sale. I forget the price but it was inexpensive. It is in good working condition.
	Sony a65 (aka Sony Alpha 65) (Large, Back) Announced August 24, 2011 along with the Sony a77. It is a translucent mirror camera with an electronic viewfinder like the Sony a58 described below. The APS-C sensor has 24.3 megapixels which was quite high at that time, although the Sonay a65 received relatively mediocre ratings for low light- high ISO images at DPReview. It has a unique pivoting 3" LCD monitor attached at the camera bottom. I purchased my Sony a65 with kit lens, a Sony 16-50mm f2.8 lens, a Sony 18-250mm lens, a Minolta 70-210 autofocus lens, a Tamron 75-300mm lens, and a Konica Minolta Dimage A2 from an ad on Craigslist in Coronado, California on August 10, 2017 for $400. On hindsight, I wouldn't have purchased the items. I found out the Sony a65 steady-shot was not working after I purchased it. The Sony 16-50mm f2.8 lens is excellent, but I rarely used it because it is heavy and has a limited range. I used the Sony 18-250mm lens much more.
	Sony a37 (aka Sony Alpha 37) (Large, Back) Released June 2012. It replaced the Sony a35. The original price with the kit 18-55mm lens was about $600. It is a translucent mirror camera with an electronic viewfinder like the Sony a58 described below. The APS-C sensor has 16 megapixels. It has an ISO 100-16000 range and Sony Steady-Shot image stabilization. It has a 2.7 inch tilting screen, 1440k dot Electronic viewfinder, 7 frames per second shooting speed, and full HD 1920 x 1080 video resolution. The Sony a57 was also released in 2012 with the same sensor but a larger 3 inch fully articulating screen and up to 12 frames per second shooting speed. The a37 weighs 506 grams vs. 618 grams for the Sony a57. (Camera Decision - Compare a37 vs. a57.) The Sony a57 was replaced by the Sony a58 discussed below. In a May 16, 2012 press release from San Diego, Sony listed the following approximate camera prices with the 18-135mm lens: a37 - $800, a57 - $1,000, a65 - $1,000, and a77 - $1,200. (DP Review - Sony Launches a37.) I purchased my Sony a37 with 18-135mm lens f3.5-5.6 lens from an ad on Craigslist sometime after I bought the Sony a58 as I recall. I picked it up in Mission Valley. I purchased it primarily for the lens. I forget what I paid. The camera is in very good cosmetic and operating condition, and is still a very useable camera as I write this in December 2022.
	Sony a58 (aka Sony Alpha 58) (Large, Back, Top) The Sony a58 was introduced in 2013. I purchased my Sony a58 with 18-55mm lens new on November 14, 2014 from "Buydig" on eBay for $398. As I recall it was on sale for that price from many sellers earlier that month, but the sale price was ending. I managed to find it still on sale from this seller. I have used it extensively from 2014 through 2020. Sony A58 - Wikipedia states: "The Alpha 58 camera features 20.1 megapixels [APS-C sensor], 5fps burst shooting (8fps in 5MP 'Tele-Zoom' mode), 1080/60i and 1080/24p video in both AVCHD and Mpeg4 formats, 15-point phase-detection autofocus system, ISO range of 100–16000, APS-C sized CMOS sensor, a tiltable 2.7" LCD screen, a high-resolution OLED Tru-Finder with 100% coverage, a built in flash, an ISO 518-compatible Sony hotshoe, a stereo microphone for video shooting and other features." It first shipped in April 2013. The Sony a58 (as well as the earlier Sony a37 and a57 released a year earlier) has a semi-translucent mirror and an SVGA (800x600 pixel) OLED electronic viewfinder in place of an slr optical viewfinder. In many ways it serves as a bridge between digital single lens reflex cameras and mirrorless cameras. The mirror sends a portion of the light to the phase detection focusing sensor and the remainder of the light to the image sensor. The image sensor sends information to the electronic viewfinder as well as records the image. Today's mirrorless cameras have digital image sensors with integrated phase-detection, hence eliminating the need for a translucent mirror. (Sony SLT camera - Wikipedia.) The electronic viewfinder is very bright and clear. I have no problem manually focusing if needed. These translucent mirror cameras still used the Sony/Minolta A series lens mount allowing the use of Minolta autofocus lenses dating back to the February 1985 Minolta Maxxum 7000. For example, I can copy slides using a Minolta AF 50mm macro lens. For the light source I use the base of a Kodak Mobile Film Scanner. (Retail price $35, I bought it used for about $12.) I also use a "2 Way Macro Shot Focusing Focus Rail Slider" which I purchased for about $12. All of this is mounted on a board. (Slide copying setup.) Sony mirrorless cameras use a new E-mount and apparently as of 2022 Sony has "discontinued" all A-mount lenses. (See Sony Discontinues All A-Mount Lenses - PetaPixel.) There are adapters to use A-mount lenses in E-mount cameras, however. Sony is not the first to a semi-transparent or "pellicle" mirror" in cameras. The 1965 Canon Pellix and the 1966 Canon Pellix QL had a pellicle mirrors. (See, e.g., Pellicle mirror - Wikipedia.)
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