1. hvb

    hvb Member

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    digital cameras and how they worked in 1996

    Discussion in 'Research' started by hvb, Feb 10, 2015.

    It is 1996 and my character Helen has been given her dream present: a new Kodak digital camera.
    I can find all sorts of info on which cameras are available, which versions of Photoshop, which printers. Windows 95 has been released the year before.
    What I cannot find is how those work together. Especially, now Helen has been given or has access to all those items, can she now print her pictures at home and have them look halfway decent?
    This is meant to be the start of a passion for photography that becomes important later on.
    Hope someone had the experience they'd like to share.
    thanks
    hvb
     
  2. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Did you see this? http://www.dpreview.com/articles/5778663183/ten-unique-cameras-from-the-dawn-of-consumer-digital-photography

    Sure, she could print the pictures, once she loaded them on her PC. The usual means would have been via cable, plugged into a serial port (no USB yet). There's another method involving the PCMCIA slot, but I'd need a legacy techie type to explain how it worked.

    I still have the ca. 1993-vintage Toshiba laptop I bought refurbished in 1995. It runs Windows 3.11 (still works). I had no digital camera till 2003, but back in 1997 or so I got some of my manual SLR images digitized onto 1.44 MB floppies (bitmap format, not .jpg) and printed them via that lappie all the time. I think they looked pretty good. You want I should dig out the floppies and check?
     
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  3. Fitzroy Zeph

    Fitzroy Zeph Contributor Contributor

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    1996? Hmm. I don't quite remember exactly when I got my first HP picture printer. I think it was 1997 or 1998, pretty expensive but the quality was quite good. Slow but decent. I remember we used to get inter-negatives made and use those to make conventional chemical prints. That was more from the professional side though. It would have been Photoshop 1 or 2 back then. There were serial ports and for the better higher quality items there may have been SCSI at that time.
     
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  4. hvb

    hvb Member

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    Thank you both, you are the best! Catrin, that website is great.
    Hetty
     
  5. CGB

    CGB Active Member

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    Were there even digital cameras in 1996?
     
  6. Fitzroy Zeph

    Fitzroy Zeph Contributor Contributor

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    In 1995, the "EOS DCS" was released jointly with Eastman Kodak as a line of digital cameras for professional use, and later in July 1996, a model for the general user, the "PowerShot 600" was marketed. The "PowerShot 600," which used a CF or a PC card as the recording media, marked the full scale start of Canon’s digital camera era.

    The idea of professional use was a complete joke for those cameras. The game changing digital camera was the Canon EOS 1Ds in 2002. When first released, cost $15,000 and was worth every penny of it. When I purchased one, I had $4000 of film in the fridge I just bought. I figured I would easily use it up as I transitioned to a digital workflow, but a few years later I sold ALL the film for a couple hundred dollars. I hadn't shot a single roll since getting a DSLR. The funny thing is I love film and wish digital never got invented, but it became impossible to compete for me with a film workflow as soon as a true professional digital camera hit the market.
     
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  7. Aled James Taylor

    Aled James Taylor Contributor Contributor

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  8. Dunning Kruger

    Dunning Kruger Active Member

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    Man, I see a post like this and its a quick reminder of just how much technology has changed in 20 years.
     
  9. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Really. I took better photographs with my SLR, back when I had to make every shot count.
     
  10. hvb

    hvb Member

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    Thanks...I can work with all this info.
     

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