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Camera History
Apr. 17th, 2008 01:51 amProdding dpreview (we did it first, bastards - though I doubt anyone remembers the "photon" website) and looking at the camera timeline, and seeing a few blasts from the past there.
It's now been over a decade of digital photography for me, so here are the ones that I can remember using/owning (if I produced work with them, I count)...
1994/5 - vague, this one - I used for a short period a Canon Ion, and then Apple Quicktake 150. These are SV cameras and not really part of the right timeline. In 1992/3 I had a Fotovix, and a while after that a Fuji FV-10, which were analogue video acquisition things for the Mac - I used the Fotovix as a digital camera tethered, though.
1995 - Leaf Lumina
1996 - Polaroid PDC-2000, EPix Pro (heh. Took me a while to find that one, though I remember it well aside from the name)
1997 - Epson PhotoPC 600, Agfa ePhoto 1280 - both surprisingly nice cameras. The 1280 was very interesting and well made.
1998 - Fuji FInepix 700, Olympus Camedia 1400XL (owned), Kodak DCS-315
1999 - Minolta Dimage EX 1500 (interchangeable lens/sensor modules)
2000 - Nikon E990 (owned), Canon Digital Ixus (early one, but can't confirm it)
2001 - ???
2002 - ???
2003 - Contax Tvs Digital (apparently - can't remember it at all, but I had a T2)
2004 - Contax SL300R T*, Sigma SD10 (both owned)
2005 - Minolta Dimage 7Hi, Nokia 7610
2006 - Contax i4R/U4R, Pentax *ist DL, Mamiya ZD, Sony R1, Nokia N70
2007 - Sigma SD14, Nokia N73
2008 - Sigma DP1, Olympus E510, Nikon D3
If I remember others I will add them; I know the Nikon Coolpix 990 lasted me four years before the Contax SL300R provided a viable and useful replacement. I didn't do much by way of reviews during that period so I may not have been paying attention and I know that I continued to shoot MF film until 2005 so digital wasn't replacing my "pro" stuff. Also notable is that I remember reviewing film cameras during this period and being very irritated that I never got my hands on a Hasselblad Xpan, though I did have a curious late Rollei 35 in 1998/9. And I dug my heels in and refused to consider the AF version of the Fujica GS645 because it wasn't sharp enough.
Looking back over this period, I can see a steady increase in MP in what I've used, but the MOST used cameras are not MP-heavy - the SL300R was 3Mp when 5 or 6Mp compacts were not uncommon, likewise the little (and excellent, and much missed) Contax i4R. In 1995 the Kodak DCS offered 6MP for £25,000; I was playing with 0.3MP cameras and it took until mid 2000s before I had anything of that resolution.
I think I used a Dimage Xt for a while but I remember that as Siani's camera, so I'm not sure if it was mine then hers, or hers and I was using it. I also remember having other Fujis, but not the model numbers, and I have messed about with other DSLRs such as the Minolta/Sony ones, but I've never taken them home and used them for an extended period.
It's now been over a decade of digital photography for me, so here are the ones that I can remember using/owning (if I produced work with them, I count)...
1994/5 - vague, this one - I used for a short period a Canon Ion, and then Apple Quicktake 150. These are SV cameras and not really part of the right timeline. In 1992/3 I had a Fotovix, and a while after that a Fuji FV-10, which were analogue video acquisition things for the Mac - I used the Fotovix as a digital camera tethered, though.
1995 - Leaf Lumina
1996 - Polaroid PDC-2000, EPix Pro (heh. Took me a while to find that one, though I remember it well aside from the name)
1997 - Epson PhotoPC 600, Agfa ePhoto 1280 - both surprisingly nice cameras. The 1280 was very interesting and well made.
1998 - Fuji FInepix 700, Olympus Camedia 1400XL (owned), Kodak DCS-315
1999 - Minolta Dimage EX 1500 (interchangeable lens/sensor modules)
2000 - Nikon E990 (owned), Canon Digital Ixus (early one, but can't confirm it)
2001 - ???
2002 - ???
2003 - Contax Tvs Digital (apparently - can't remember it at all, but I had a T2)
2004 - Contax SL300R T*, Sigma SD10 (both owned)
2005 - Minolta Dimage 7Hi, Nokia 7610
2006 - Contax i4R/U4R, Pentax *ist DL, Mamiya ZD, Sony R1, Nokia N70
2007 - Sigma SD14, Nokia N73
2008 - Sigma DP1, Olympus E510, Nikon D3
If I remember others I will add them; I know the Nikon Coolpix 990 lasted me four years before the Contax SL300R provided a viable and useful replacement. I didn't do much by way of reviews during that period so I may not have been paying attention and I know that I continued to shoot MF film until 2005 so digital wasn't replacing my "pro" stuff. Also notable is that I remember reviewing film cameras during this period and being very irritated that I never got my hands on a Hasselblad Xpan, though I did have a curious late Rollei 35 in 1998/9. And I dug my heels in and refused to consider the AF version of the Fujica GS645 because it wasn't sharp enough.
Looking back over this period, I can see a steady increase in MP in what I've used, but the MOST used cameras are not MP-heavy - the SL300R was 3Mp when 5 or 6Mp compacts were not uncommon, likewise the little (and excellent, and much missed) Contax i4R. In 1995 the Kodak DCS offered 6MP for £25,000; I was playing with 0.3MP cameras and it took until mid 2000s before I had anything of that resolution.
I think I used a Dimage Xt for a while but I remember that as Siani's camera, so I'm not sure if it was mine then hers, or hers and I was using it. I also remember having other Fujis, but not the model numbers, and I have messed about with other DSLRs such as the Minolta/Sony ones, but I've never taken them home and used them for an extended period.
