1997 R-S

RELISYS (TECO) Dimera 2000 - 1997.  1/3-inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.   F/4 lens.  Shutter 1/30 to 1/10,000 second.  IMB intenral memory.
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitalkamera.de%2FKamera.aspx&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Click on camera quick access

RHYTHM WATCH Visimo – 1997.  737 x 480 pixel CCD.   50mm lens.
Akira Kasai.  Essentials of Digital Photography.  1997.  P11-13.
http://www.mstone.co.jp/menu/sale/visimodesc.html

RICOH RDC-2S – 1997.  768 x 576 pixel CCD.  ISO 90.  F/2.0 35mm and 55mm switchable autofocus lens. Shutter 1/8 to 1/1000 second.

http://www.ricoh.co.jp/r_dc/dc/products/rdc300z/specs.html

http://www.avupdate.com/news/today/digital_cam/Camera_detail/Ricoh/rdc-2s.htm
http://www1.harenet.ne.jp/~hiharada/plink/pl42.htm (If main menu is shown, right click on an item and click on Translate Page)

RICOH  RDC-3 – 1997.  640 x 480 pixel CCD.  ISO 80.  F/3.8 38mm lens.  Shutter 1/4 to 1/16,000 second.
http://www1.harenet.ne.jp/%7Ehiharada/plink/pl42/pl4202.htm

RICOH RDC-3Z – 1997.  640 x 480 pixel CCD.  ISO 80.  F/3.8 45mm to 135mm zoom lens.  Shutter 1/5 to 1/8000 second.
http://www1.harenet.ne.jp/%7Ehiharada/plink/pl42/pl4203.htm

RICOH RDC- 300 (Phillips ESP2) and 300Z - 1997.  640 x 480 pixel CCD.  ISO 100.  38mm autofocus lens (45mm - 135mm for 300Z).  Shutter 1/5 to 1/8000 second.
http://www.ricoh.co.jp/r_dc/dc/products/rdc300z/specs.html

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitalkamera.de%2FKamera.aspx&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Click on camera quick access

SAMPO CyberSnap DCE211 - 1997.  Shown at Computex Taipei '97.  1/3-inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.  http://demo.silkera.net/sampo/show/camera/camera-1.htm
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/article/970604/cmptex1.htm

SAMSUNG SDC-33 - 1997.   First shown during World PC Expo 97.  1/3-inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.  F/4 43mm fixed-focus  lens.  Shutter 1/4 to 1/8,000 second.  Click on second image to see enlarged view. http://www.smartmedia.nl/photos/samsung_sdc-33.html

SAMSUNG DigiMax 30 (Aztech MDC180, Intel PC Camera) - 1997, Aztech MDC180 shown at Comdex Fall '97, Samsung DigiMax 30 and Intel PC Camera shown at CeBIT '98.  768 x 576 pixel CMOS image sensor.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/article/980216/pma_3.htm

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/article/971125/digi03.htm
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/article/980327/cebit_4.htm

 

SANYO DSC-1 (DSC-V1 in Japan, VPC-G200EX in UK - 1997.   May have also been sold as Fisher FV-DV1 in the U.S.   1/3-inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.  ISO 80.  37mm autofocus f/2.8 lens.  Shutter 1/4 to 1/10,000 second.  MSRP $999.  Click in image to see large view.
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitalkamera.de%2FKamera.aspx&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Click on camera quick access

SANYO DSC-X1 (VPC-X300EX in UK) - 1997.  1/3-inch 1024 x 768 pixel CCD.  37mm autofocus f/2.8 lens.  Shutter 1/4 to 1/500 second.  MSRP $899.
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitalkamera.de%2FKamera.aspx&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Click on camera quick access

SANYO VCC-5974 - 1997.  Sample of early CCD color video camera. 1/3-inch CCD with .4MP (470 line resolution). MSRP with lens and optional equipment: $325.

http://www.avsupply.com/details/sanyo-5.html

SEGA Digio HDC-1000A, B & C - 1997.  Upgrades to 1996 SEGA Digio SJ-1.  320 x 240 Pixels. Apparently sold in Japan only.  http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/article/970328/ps_dcam.htm

SHARP VE-LC1(S/H/E/U) – 1997.  (S = Continental Europe, H = U.K., E = Asia, U = N. America).  1/3-inch 640 x 480 CCD.  ISO 100.  Fixed-focus 43mm f/2.8 lens.  Shutter 1/7.5 to 1/2000 second.  MSRP $749. http://www1.harenet.ne.jp/~hiharada/plink/pl42/pl4202.htm

SHARP MI-506 DC - 1997. Digital camera for Sharp Zaurus PDA .   320 x 240 pixels. chiba.cool.ne.jp

SHARP VE-LC2 - 1997.  Shown at Fall Comdex '97, available in February 1998.  Similar to VE-LC1, but supplied with clip-on optical viewfinder.  1/3-inch 640 x 480 CCD.  ISO 100.  Fixed-focus 43mm f/2.8 lens.  Shutter 1/7.5 to 1/2000 second.  MSRP $499.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/eihon/pcpj1/image/6-ph04.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/eihon/pcpj1/text/sys.html&h=83&w=110&sz=7&hl=en&start=40&um=1&tbnid=-eNbVpN5dPxEMM:&tbnh=64&tbnw=85&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSHARP%2BVE-LC2%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

 
SONY CD-RW Disks - 1997.  Sony introduces CD-RW discs.

http://www.licensing.philips.com/licensees/patent/ob/documents972.html

SONY Cybershot DSC-MD1 - 1997.   Although the CD1000 (a year 2000 model camera) was Sony's first digicam to use a three-inch CD-R as the recording media, it wasn't Sony's first still image digicam to be marketed using a laser and a small plastic disc to record JPEGs.  In December of 1997, Sony marketed a camera in Japan called the DSC-MD1.  It used a version of the Sony-developed MiniDisc (MD) which was first announced in 1991 for consumer audio.  In 1993, Sony introduced the MD Data, a MiniDisc for storing computer data.  MiniDiscs now come in both prerecorded and recordable versions.  The MD system uses magneto-optical technology to record audio or images and the discs are enclosed in a 7cm x 7cm cartridge.  The DSC-MD1 recorded up to 1000 640 x 480 images on a single 140MB MD Data Disc.   1/3 inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.   3X zoom 37 to 111mm  f/2 lens with macro.   Shutter speed: auto (1/30 to 1/1000 second), manual (1/4 to 1/4000 second). http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_DSC-MD1.html
http://www.minidisc.org/boyde/dscmd1.html

 
SONY Mavica MVC-FD5 and MVC-FD7 - 1997.  First digicams to use standard floppy disks as image recording media (FD5 and FD7) and first to combine floppy disk capability with 10X zoom (FD7).  1/4-inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.  ISO 100.  Shutter 1/60 to 1/4000  second.  47mm lens f/2 (FD5), 10X zoom 40mm to 400mm f/1.8 lens (FD7).  Lithium Ion battery.  MSRP $599 (FD5), $799 (FD7).  At various times Sony Mavica cameras accounted for up to 40% of the U.S. digicam market.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitalkamera.de%2FKamera.aspx&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Click on camera quick access

 
 

640 x 480 PIXELS.  For a number of years, 640 x 480 pixel CCDs were the standard of high resolution for still video and digital cameras.  Today, 640 x 480 pixels is considered to be the absolute minimum for serious entry-level digicams.  Many consumer models are now available at 5MP or greater.  However, there are some misconceptions concerning the need for and value of high resolution CCDs.  When viewing images on a computer, one camera pixel equates to one computer monitor pixel.  This means that additional pixels will make the image larger, but not sharper.  The sharpness of the image depends on the quality of the monitor, not the resolution of the camera.  For example, when clicking on the first image at the left it will open to 640 vertical pixels and 480 horizontal pixels.  Depending on your monitor size and resolution setting, the image will fill your screen, or may even require you to scroll up and down to see the entire image.  Similarly, home television monitors are generally 640 x 480 pixels in size such that a landscape (horizontal) image will fill the entire screen.  Even the HD TV monitors that are just now coming onto the market will not benefit by digicam images much greater than 2MP in resolution.  E-mail capacity and time limitations also dictate that low-resolution images be used for messages.  Equally so for posting images on a web site such as this.  It is only when images are printed on paper that additional pixels become an advantage.  The old standard for printing a film-like photo (resolution similar to a typical 35mm print) required 300 pixels per inch vertically and horizontally.  That is, a 640 x 480 pixel image would be expected to produce a quality photo limited to about 1.5 x 2 inches in size.  However, today's inkjet printers have improved dramatically over their predecessors and excellent prints can be obtained in the 200 pixels-per-inch range.  This would equate to a print of about 2 inches by 3 inches or so for a 640 x 480 pixel camera.  Still small, but of wallet size and equal in quality to a typical drug store print.  A modern 2MP (1600 x 1200 pixel) digicam can produce excellent prints at 6 x 8 inches or larger.  The second image above is a John Walkenbach macro photo (close-up) of a quarter taken with a 640 x 480 pixel camera (Sony FD-71).  The image was cropped to 435 x 373 pixels before being posted on John's web site.  As you can see, his relatively low resolution digicam was able to capture a very detailed closeup photo, and without use of additional lenses.  John stated that the camera was hand-held and the photo taken without any special lighting. For more excellent examples of macro photography visit John's web site at http://www.j-walk.com/digitalimages/   .  Another not-to-miss macro site is that of Danny Young at http://www.nzmacro.50megs.com/

SONY Cybershot DSC F2 and F3 -1997.  DSC F2: 1/3-inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.  35mm f/2 lens.  Shutter 1/7.5 to 1/1000 second. 4MB internal memory.  DSC F3: 1/4-inch 640 x 480 pixel CCD.  46mm f/2 lens.  Shutter 1/8 to 1/1000 second.  8MB internal memory. 

http://www1.harenet.ne.jp/~hiharada/plink/pl42.htm (If main menu is shown, right click on an item and click on Translate Page)

 
SOUND VISION SVmini (Vivitar Vivicam 3000, UMAX MDX-8000) - 1997.  First digital still camera on the market to use a CMOS sensor instead of a charge-coupled device (CCD).    In January of 1997, Sound Vision introduced it's first in a series of CMOS digital cameras, the SVmini.  It was also marketed as the Vivitar ViviCam-3000 and the UMAX Sharpset-8000.  The SVmini was based on a custom 1000 x 800 pixel CMOS sensor manufactured by VLSI Vision Ltd., an Edinburgh based company that was spun off from the University of Edinburgh.  The photo in the center is a Sound Vision test image taken with the 1000 x 800 CMOS sensor an interpolated up to 2000 x 1600 pixels in a PC.  1000 x 800 pixel CMOS image sensor.  47mm f/4 lens.  Shutter 1 second to 1/2000 second.  MSRP $399.

http://www.byte.com/art/9711/sec11/art3.htm

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.quesabesde.com/camdig/articulos/124-02.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.quesabesde.com/camdig/articulos.asp%3Farticulo%3D124&h=202&w=230&sz=10&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=kucFeg1yEXiKlM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSOUND%2BVISION%2BSVmini%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

SOUND VISION SVmini-2 and SVmini-209 (Vivitar Vivicam 3000, 3100) - 1997.  Vivitar version shown at Fall Comdex '97.  Marketed in 1998.  960 x 800 pixel CMOS sensor.  Fixed-focus 47mm f/4 lens.  Shutter 1/30 second to 1/2000 second.  The mini-2 used wavelet compression and the mini-209 used JPEG compression.  MSRP $479.

http://www.byte.com/art/9711/sec11/art3.htm


SPOT Innoscan MAG DC-6040 (Pretec DC-300 OEM) - 1997.  Comdex Fall '97.  Photo courtesy of Nick Leone.  Pretec DC-300 version shown on right.  1/4-inch 480x360 CCD.  ISO 200.  F/5.6 fixed-focus lens.  Shutter 1/8 to 1/2000 second.  Self-timer, output to TV, 2MB flash memory and a 1.8-inch LCD monitor.   MSRP $249.
http://driverscollection.com/?V=MAG

1997 R-S