1997
P-Q R
PANASONIC
CardShot NV-DCF-1 (Konica Q-Mini / Canon PowerShot 350) - 1997. 1/3-inch
640 x 480 pixel CCD. F/2.8 43mm fixed-focus lens. ISO 120.
Shutter 1/4 to 1/2000 second. The display can be tilted and the camera can operate off
regular batteries, a Ni-Cad or AC adapter. The NV-DCF-1 was
marketed in Europe thus is rare on U.S. eBay. This sample appears
new with no signs of use. MSRP $699.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/maoby/9701953426/
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/panasonic-nv-dcf1-2
PANASONIC (Matsushita)
CoolShot KXL-600A, 601A, 600A-N, 600A-N1 - 1997. 1/4-inch
640 x 480 CCD. ISO 80. 50mm f/2.4 lens. Shutter 1/15 to 1/4000
second. No flash. The 601A is the 600A plus the optional LCD. N
is metalic grey, N1 is champagne gold. Price $399 for 600A, $599 for 601A with
LCD.
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/category/panasonic-2
http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-368.html
PANASONIC
PalmCam PV-DC1000 (CoolShot II LK-RQ35ZZ in Japan, Cardshot NV-DC1000 in Europe) - 1997. 1/4-inch
640 x 480 pixel CCD. ISO 100. F/3.8 55mm fixed-focus lens
with
macro position. Shutter 1/8 to 1/20,000 second. Price
$399. The below URL reports a gold colored version of
the PV-DC1000 was shown at the 1998 MacWorld Expo.
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/prototypes-rarities/item/panasonic-pv-dc1000-gold
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/category/panasonic-2
PANASONIC
NV-DCF2 (in U.S. PalmCam PV-DC1080, in Japan CoolShot II LK-RQ1Z without flash, RQ1Y with flash)
-1997. 1/4-inch
640
x 480- pixel CCD. ISO 100. F/3.8 55mm fixed-focus lens with
macro position. Shutter 1/10 to 1/20,000 second. First digicam with docking station. MSRP
$550. (Rare on U.S. eBay)
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Panasonic
https://www.digitalkamera.de/Kamera/Panasonic/NV-DCF2.aspx
PENTAX DM-1100 / DM-2100 / FUJI DS-300 - 1997.
Pentax has marketed a wide variety of medical photography products over
the years, and still does. In 1997 they sold a modified version
of the Fuji DS-300 for that purpose. It had a permanent lens
barrel and the P/S/A/M/PC modes removed. Also, the lens does not
zoom in and out, but is stationary. Apparently, only a few were
made, but an individual did come across one in 2019. This is just
one of many hundreds, perhaps thousands of cameras that have been used
for industrial, medical or scientific purposes. Most of such
cameras were not sold for consumer use and thus are seldom seen for
sale on
eBay or elsewhere. Occasionally, such consumer cameras as the
Fuji DS-300 or the Fuji DS-220 were modified and sold for
medical or other purposes and somertimes do appear for sale.
Since
they were based on consumer model cameras they are often of interest to
collectors. Dennis van Hall reported that a slightly modified
version of the DM-1100 appeared in 1998 as DM-2100 (see second URL
below). One such camera was offerd for sale (17 Feb 2025) on the
Japanese aution site "funbid" for about $646. See third URL
below.
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/pentax-dm-1
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/pentax-dm-2100
https://funbid.com.hk/yahoojp/auctions/item.php?aID=1107599297
Photo from Digitalkamera Museum
PHILLIPS
ESP-1 / ESP-2 PROTOTYPE - 1997. Shown at Winter Consumer Electronics Show (WCES) '97. 24-bit digital camera. NOT MARKETED Color Business Report, January-December 1997.
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/prototypes-rarities/item/philips-esp-2-prototype
PHILLIPS
ESP2(2/17) (Ricoh RDC-300) - 1997. Shown at
Computex Taipei '97. Marketed. 640
x 480 pixel CCD. ISO 100. 38mm autofocus lens. Shutter
to 1/5 to 1/8000 second. About $400. The
camera has ESP2 label on the front, but ESP2/17 on the bottom which can
lead to confusion when buying the camera on eBay as it may be
advertised as ESP2 or ESP2/17. A disk that came with the camera
contains a large number of articles for those new to digital
photography including: A DIGITAL CAMERA FAQ , THE BASICS OF
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND DIGITAL CAMERAS, TOP TIPS FOR TAKING GOOD
PICTURES, A GUIDE TO SHOOTING WITH DIGITAL CAMERAS, DIGITAL CAMERA FILE
FORMATS, WORKING WITH RAW IMAGES, STORING AND SENDING CAMERA IMAGES,
DIGITAL CAMERA PROJECTS, PRINTING YOUR PHOTOS, DIGITAL CAMERAS AND THE
WEB and MAKING MONEY WITH YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA. (Rare on U.S. eBay)
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/philips-esp-2
PLUS
DK-010 - 1997. (OEM
Panasonic - see
Panasonic Palmcam PV-DC1000 above) 1/4-inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.
F/3.8 55mm lens. Shutter 1/8 to 1/20,000 second. MSRP $500.
http://www.interq.or.jp/sun/tkp/digitalcamera/PLUS_DK-010.html
http://www.computer-specifications.com/specifications/Plus-DK010-Specs.html
POLAROID PDC 300
(Pretec/Premier DC-300) - 1997. 1/4
inch 320 x 240 for CCD. ISO 200.
F/5.6 fixed-focus 5mm lens. Shutter 1/30 to 1/2000 second.
2 MB flash memory. As be can seen, the Polaroid and the
Pretec are basically identicle except for specs which include 480 x 360
pixels and 16 MB memory for the Pretec. MSRP $299.
http://www.photographyreview.com/product/cameras/digital-cameras/3-megapixel/polaroid/pdc-300.html
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/category/polaroid-2
POLAROID PDC-800 - 1997. The PDC 800 was a re-badged Ricoh RDC-2 from 1996. Polaroid advertised it as being for the real estate market - "it
can instantly help agents and brokers provide higher quality materials
and service to their customers." 410K pixels. Shutter 1/8 - 1/1000 sec.
ISO 100. MSRP $650-$799.
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Polaroid
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Ricoh_RDC-2
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/category/polaroid-2
POLAROID PDC-3000 - 1997. Upgrade
to the 1996 PDC-2000. Upgrades included Compact Flash slot rather than
internal memory, better viewfinder and better software. 800 x 600
pixel CCD (could be interpolated to 1600 x 1200); optical viewfinder;
sonar auto-focus; lens 38mm equivalent (60 mm with optional lens),
f/2.8-f11 ; ISO 25, 50, 100; shutter 1/25-1/500;
CompactFlash Type I; MSRP: $2496. Information provided by Alan
Diaz.
pc.watch.impress.co.jp/.../ 980109/macw11.htm
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/polaroid-pdc-3000
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/P3K/P3KA.HTM
PRAKTICA PD-100 - 1997. Same as the Premier DC-300 (see below ) but with a Praktica label on the front. MSRP $299.
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/praktica-pd-100
PRETEC/PREMIER
DC-300, (Polaroid PDC-300, Minolta Dimage-Pic, Praktica PD-100, Vivicam 2500, etc.) - 1997
. 1/4
inch 480 x 360 pixel CCD. 16 MB flash memory. Strangely,
most references state 2 MB of flash memorey, same as for the
Polaroid PDC 300, but the manual that came with the camera states
16 MB of flash memory. Perhaps there was a running change and
later units were upgraded to 16 MB. ISO 200. F/5.6
fixed-focus 5mm lens. Shutter
1/30 to 1/2000 second. MSRP $299.
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/pretec-dc-300
https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/971125/digi03.htm
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Premier
http://www.computer-specifications.com/specifications/Pretec-DC300-Specs.html
PRETEC / PREMIER DC-600
and DC-620 (Mirage Image, Claxan DC-601, AOL Photocam and Photocam Plus) -
1997. 1/4-inch
640 x 480 pixel CCD. ISO 200. F/4 45mm fixed-focus
lens. Shutter 1/15 to 1/10,000 second. DC-600 2MB internal
storage and DC-620 8MB internal storage. Both cameras would also accept
a Compact Flash memory card. We purchased two incomplete DC-600s
off eBay before obtaining one brand new in a factory sealed box for only
$10.
There was a second version (right photo above) of the Pretec DC-600 that is similar to the Claxan DC-600 shown left above, both by Pretec. Also sold as the Mirage DSC-6010. (All are Extremely Rare on U.S. eBay).
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/pretec-dc-600-version-2
https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/category/pretec
1997
P-Q