1991


BAUER S10 - 1991.   Still video camera (OEM Canon RC-260).  Hi-band still video camera with a ½-inch 200K pixel CCD.  ISO 100.  11mm f/2.8 lens.  Shutter 1/30 to 1/500 second.  Popular Photography.  January 1991.  p55.

CANON RC-260 - 1991.   Hi-band still video camera. For export only (not for Japanese market). The RC-260 was a full-feature (record / playback / erasure) still video camera. It had a 1/2 inch 230,000 pixel CCD image sensor, recording and playback with horizontal resolution of 320 TV lines. In addition to the camera, the kit included the BA-24P charger, PP-A8 power pack, RF-302E RF unit, TA-C26 tripod adapter, TC-C2670 tele converter lens, WC-C2635 wide converter lens, VF-50 video floppy disks, various cables, manual, and a molded hard case. MSRP was about $1,700.

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/history/canon_story/f_index.html

CHINON VMC-1 – 1991.  Multi-zone autofocus, electronic zoom memory card camera.  Up to 30 images per card. Popular Photography.  January 1991.  p55.

CROSFIELD CELSIS-130 and 160 - 1991.  Examples of professional studio model digicams.  The Celsis-160 used a Fuji HC100 base, and had a fixed resolution of 1,280 x 960 pixels.  The Celsis-130 used a Krontron unit base and had a resolution of 3072 x 2320 pixels.   They  used three CCDs.  In this case, each CCD had a single dye to gather the requisite color information.  This kind of camera is best suited for studio photography.  Because the light must hit three CCDs, it must be split into three beams, which results in a lower intensity of light for each beam.  This, in turn, means that the camera will be less able to handle lower-than-optimal lighting conditions and will require longer exposure times. The three-CCD design also tends to significanlty increase the cost of the camera. 

http://www.caffnib.co.uk/xfld_gloss.html

FUJI DS-100 – 1991.  Digital memory card camera.  1/2-inch, 390K pixel CCD.  8-24mm f/2 power zoom lens.  ISO 100.  Shutter 1/4 to 1/749 second.  Built-in flash, auto white balance, autofocus, video output.  Price, about $5,000.  Fuji sold a $2500 dedicated card drive for the Fuji DS-100 (CR-500) that provided a front-panel slot for the camera's memory card (HG-15).  Owners of the Fuji DS-100 memory card camera were required to purchase the CR-500 card reader (above right) in order to read the HG-15 memory card. The $360 HG-15 memory card could store 5 of the DS-100's 390K pixel images at full resolution or 21 at lower resolution. The size of a large hardcover dictionary, the DS-100 Memory Card Processor connected to the Mac's SCSI port, a system that yielded faster image transfers than the serial connections used by most other cameras at the time.  The DS-100 included a transfer utility as well as an Adobe PhotoShop plug-in module that imported images using PhotoShop’s Acquire command.  The DS-100 also had output jacks for RGB, composite, and S-Video.  Popular Photography.  December 1991.  p111.

FUJI DS-H1 – 1991.  Digital memory card camera. F/2 3X zoom lens.  Shutter ¼ to 1/800 second.  Up to 20 image per card.  400 line resolution.  Popular Photography.  January 1991.  p55.

HASSELBLAD DB 4000 – 1991.  Example of professional model digital studio camera that used a digital back attached to a standard film camera.  The professional model Hasselblad DB 4000 was a Hasselblad motorized model 553ELX film camera combined with a Leaf digital back.  ISO 300, 1/125 to 1 second.  2048 x 2048 pixel CCD.  14-bit capture per color channel, 8-bit storage.  The Leaf back fit the body of the Hasselblad in place of a film magazine and used a SCSI 2 interface to Apple Macintosh/Quadra computers.  The DB 4000 is typical of numerous professional model digital cameras that combine high-quality film camera fronts with various brands of professional digital backs.  Digital Studio Cameras.  February 20, 1993.  p7.

KING JIM DA VINCI DV-55 - 1991.   Amateur digital camera with built-in thermal printer.  244 x 244 pixels. No image storage capability.  Printed on thermal paper.  Some refer to it as the 1990 King Jim Da Vinci DV-55 camera, but the patent was filed in 1991, so that date seems more appropriate. Sold in the U.S. by American Airlines in 1993. This is another camera which raises the question as to what is a digital camera? The analog image was converted to digital and printed in dots of 16 different densities on strips of thermal paper of the type which was popular at that time for use in office thermal copy machines. Its output was similar in appearance to the Bartlane Transmission System of 1920, except being brown in color rather than black. Popular Photography, June 1992, p18.
http://www.epi-centre.com/reports/9311ed.html

KONICA KC-DX1 - 1991.  Still video camera prototype.  400K pixel CCD.  Fixed-focus 10mm f/4 lens.  Popular Photography, January 1991, p55.

KONICA KC-32A - 1991.   Prototype improved version of the KC-300 still video camera.  Instant playback and autobracketing.  Up to five frames at various exposure levels at speeds up to 20 frames per second.  Popular Photography, January 1991, p54.

KONICA KC-300B – 1991.  ½-inch 300K pixel CCD.  ISO 100.  12mm f/2.8 lens.  Shutter 1/15 to 1/2000 second.  Price, $675 in Japan.  Popular Photography,  December 1991, p108.

NIKON NASA F4 - 1991.  A modified Nikon F4 was first flown into space on board the Space Shuttle Discovery in September 1991. The standard Nikon F4 film body was converted to digital by placing a one megapixel monochrome CCD at the film plane. The battery-operated Electronic Still Camera (ESC) retained all the features of the F4 camera body and accepted any lens or optics with a Nikon mount. Nikkor lenses used included a 20mm f/2.8 AF, 35-70mm f/2.8 AF, 50mm f/1.2 and 180mm f/2.8 AF.

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/models/digitalSLRs/index.htm

OLYMPUS ESTILO - 1991.  Memory card still video camera.  Field or Frame mode.  38 Fields or 18 Frames per card.  Up to 10 fps.  Popular Photography, January 1991, p55.

OLYMPUS VC-100 – 1991. Still video camera. ½-inch 360K CCD.  ISO 160.  10-27mm f/2.8 zoom lens.  Shutter 1/30 to 1/2000 second. Built-in flash.  Hi-band still video Field and Frame modes.  Price, $1400 in Japan.  Popular Photography, December 1991, p109.

POLAROID “G” CAMERA – 1991.  Color version of 8801 HiRes 1988 camera. Popular Photography, January 1991, p55.

RICOH Digital Back – 1991.  Shown on Ricoh Mirai camera front. Demonstration model only, not produced. Another example of a professional studio camera consisting of a film camera front and a digital back.  Popular Photography, January 1991, p55.

ROLLEI Digital ScanPack – 1991.  Rollei entered digital photography with the Rollei Digital ScanPack (right) for the Rolleiflex 6008. Attached in the place of an interchangeable film back, the images were 5850 x 5000 pixels (29.25MP), a very high resolution for that time. MSRP for the ScanPack: $19,000.

http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Rollei

SONY MVR-5300 – 1991.  The MVR-5300 was a typical still video image recorder/player of the still video (analog) era (MSRP $4,950 - $8,250 in 2011 dollars). It recorded and played back up to 25 full frame (or 50 field) images on a 2-inch still video mini diskette. Horizontal resolution of 500 TV lines due to the Hi-band recording format. RS-232C computer interface. Shown below is a Sony MVR-5400, also of 1991, and two Konica KR-400 still video recorders of the same era.

SONY SEPS-1000 DIGITAL STUDIO CAMERA – 1991.  SEPS-1000 (Sony Electronic Photography System) Shown in mounting bracket for studio portrait work.  Three CCDs, 2476 x 1108 pixels.  Used Sony's on-chip micro lens system to concentrate light doubling light sensitivity to ISO 400.  Northrop Corporation adopted the Sony Electronic Photography System eliminating the use of 1.2 million gallons of water for processing photos as well as the electrical energy required to heat the water to 90 degrees. Additionally, more than 5000 gallons of hazardous waste per year was eliminated with a dollar savings of about $1 million annually. Digital Photography: Pictures of Tomorrow, John J. Larish, 1992, p13.Price, $29,995.

http://www.epi-centre.com/reports/9311ed.html
 

MINIDISC - 1991.  MiniDiscs were announced in 1991 by Sony as a disk-based digital medium for recording and distributing consumer audio that is “near CD'” in quality.  The Minidisc was developed as a recording and playback device that would use a disk smaller than the CD to replace the audio compact cassette. 

http://www.minidisc.org/sony_announcement.html
 
 

SONY MVR-100 - 1991.   Consumer still video player/recorder.  RGB Sync output for direct connection to computers with image capture boards.  MSRP $1150.  Popular Photography, June 1991,  p73.

TAMRON FotoVix - 1991  An unusual type of video camera.  The FotoVix converted negatives or slides into NTSC video output for viewing on a TV monitor or recording to tape, but could also scan small objects.  Stills could be viewed on a PC through use of a video capture device.  CCD of approximately 410K pixels.  Quality of stills was reported to be relatively poor.  Discontinued in 2000. MSRP $1149. 

http://www.garyfong.com/files/fotovix.html

1991