1987

CANON RC-760 - 1987.  Still video camera.   600,000 pixel CCD.  USA Today began covering special events with the Canon RC-760 camera in 1987.  USA Today published the first color still-video photos to appear on the front page of a U.S. newspaper.  Shot with a Canon RC-701 by staff photographer Tom Dillon, the images were taken at a World Series game in Minneapolis.  Photo editor Frank Folwell was impressed with the transmission speed - he was viewing the images on his computer in Virginia 12 minutes after they were taken.  But the technology still had a long way to go to meet image-quality standards even for newspapers. The Associated Press announced plans to convert from analog to digital image transmission, cutting transmission times by 90 percent. The conversion took about five years to complete, but it helped to push newspaper photography into the digital age. The fruit photo on the right is an example of a RC-760 image. MSRP $5,500.

http://siecleinventionphoto.elcet.net/siecle_digital_gallery.html
http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/history/canon_story/f_index.html

CASIO VS-101 - 1987.   First marketed MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) still video camera.   280K pixel CCD.  50 erasable frames per two-inch floppy disk (exposed at up to 5 frames per second).  Approx. $1500.
http://world.casio.com/corporate/history/chronology.html

ELECTRONIC IMAGING PHOTO BOOTHS - 1987 .   ImageWare Systems, Inc. maufactured and operated photo booths from 1987-1994 which allowed customers to have their photos placed onto postcards. The company sold one of its patents to Atlus, a Japanese company that was involved with the production of Print Club photo booths (see 1995).

www.secinfo.com/dRqWm.5Fcz.htm

FUJI ES-2P - 1987.  Follow-up of the 1981 still viedo ES-1. Popular Photography, November 1986, page 70. Photo provided by Mike Mozart of JepersMedia. http://www.youtube.com/user/JeepersMedia

KODAK STILL VIDEO SYSTEM - 1987.  Kodak entered the still video market with products for recording, storing, manipulating, transmitting and printing electronic still video images.  Understanding Electronic Photography, John J. Larish, 1990, p 31.

Proposed Kodak electronic camera using digital audiotape image recording or portable CD image recording.  Camera designed in 1987 by Pete J. Sucy, a Kodak photo illustrator and filmmaker , but not approved (unfortunately) for production by Kodak management.  The camera would have stored raw image data and the host computer software would do the conversion to the appropriate file format for the host computer.  The intent was to have an ADC (analog to digital converter) within the camera and the camera would store only digital data.  Design included interchangeable lenses and a portable CD burner - an idea that Sony utilized thirteen years later with the 2000 Mavica MVC-CD1000 which stored images on mini CDs.  Click on image for enlarged view. Information and drawings provided by Pete Sucy.

http://www.peterjsucy.com

KODAK PROTOTYPE - 1987.  It recorded 25 full frame images or 50 field images on a still video floppy. Image provided by Pete Sucy.

KODAK / VIDEK MEGAPLUS - 1987.  1986 Kodak announced the development of the world's first megapixel digital sensor small enough to function in a handheld camera, a sensor that had 1.4 million pixels. In 1987 Videk, a Kodak venture company, began selling the Megaplus machine vision camera incorporating Kodak's 1.4-megapixel sensor. The MEGAPLUS was a high-resolution, charge coupled device (CCD) camera designed for scientific and industrial imaging applications. The camera featured a solid-state full-frame imager containing 1320 H x 1335 V light-sensitive pixels. MSRP varied from $10,000 to 40,000, depending on sensor quality. Some web sites state that the Megaplus was the world's first digital camera, however, it required an external signal processing unit (28 pounds) and a computer to produce and store digital images. Videk is now a privately held company. Photo kindly provided by Jim Reda, Videk VP.

http://www.avayon.com/pdf/NASPA.pdf

Konica KC-400 1987.  Still video camera.  Recorded to floppy disk.  1/2-inch 300K CCD. MSRP $3,879.   Understanding Electronic Photography.  John J. Larish, 1990, p36.

KYOCERA SAMURAI X3.0 - 1987 (YASHICA - 1988). Despite appearances, these cameras were neither video cameras nor movies cameras, but Instead were the first models of a series of ergonomic (built-to-fit-the-hand for one-hand operation), half-frame, film SLRs that Yashica/Kyocera manufactured beginning in 1987. This video camera format was used again in 1990 with the Yashica Samurai V-70 still video camera and in 1998 with the Yashica Samurai DG1300 digital still camera. Kyocera zoom lens: 25mm-75mm,1:3.5-4.3 in half-frame, effective f-stops from f3.5 at wide angle to f4.3 at telephoto. Shutter: 2 sec. to 1/500 sec. The standard model is black, but the control buttons came in different colors, such as red and green.

http://corsopolaris.net/supercameras/half/halformat5s.html

MINOLTA SB-70S and SB-90S - 1987.   A still video camera system was devised by developing Interchangeable still video backs for the Minolta Maxxum 7000 and 9000 35mm film cameras.  The cameras used the A-bayonet of the Minolta AF objectives as well as the system accessories usual for the cameras of the AF series.   They used a 20mm lens and had a  2/3-inch 640 x 480  pixel CCD.  Understanding Electronic Photography, John J. Larish, 1990, p37.

http://ca.konicaminolta.jp/oldnew/minolta/1980/1987.html

Minolta Maxxum 7000 and 9000 35mm SLR film cameras.  In January 1985 Minolta marketed the first mirror reflex camera with an autofocus completely integrated in the housing, the Maxxum 7000. Click on image for enlarged view.

OLYMPUS V-100 - 1987.  The V-100 still video camera (prototype on right) was part of a modular system which included a V-200 or V-300 playback processor.  The V-100 used a ½-inch, 360K-pixel CCD with a 9-27mm f/2.8 zoom lens.  ISO 100.  Shutter 1/8 to 1/2000 second.   Built-in flash.  Hi-band still video mode.  Burst mode of 5, 10, 15 photos per second. Understanding Electronic Photography, John J. Larish, 1990,  p39.

www.olympus-global.com/.../ camera/electronic.cfm

PANASONIC PHOTOVISION 3100 - 1987.  Still video camera. Predecessor of the 1988 AG-ES10. Technical Photography, January 1987, page 42. Photo provided by Mike Mozart of JeepersMedia. http://www.youtube.com/user/JeepersMedia

1987