MAVICA FD7

[Jesito]

What would you think nowadays about a camera of only 0.3 Mpixels?

At the endings of 1997 it was state-of-the-art.

You may recall the Mavicas (Magnetic Video Cameras). THe first one was launched in August 1981, sporting a 570x490 pixels CCD. It stored the still images in video analog format on some called "Mavipacks", had no screen at all and the pictures had to be viewed on a TV set.

Later on, Sony launched the first digital cameras that were marketed to the public. Based on storage on 3,5" Floppy disks, the FD5 (fixed lens) and the FD7 (zoom lens) were the first digital cameras recording the pictures in digital mode. A 640x480 sensor, LiIon batteries that were giving up to three hours of continuous work, with a weight of only 650 grams, the Mavicas hit quickly the market and started the digital revolution.

Looking back, this happened not so far...

I keep a Mavica FD7 in almost perfect shape. With its 40-400mm lens equivalent and the modern high capacity batteries makes a really nice "compact" camera for all uses. Macros from 1cm on, it even has a small flash to cope with the difficult lighting situations. The lens goes from f/1.8 to f/2.9.

The only problem may be the floppy disks, that are quickly getting out of use because the modern flashdrives, DVDs, etc. so I also keep an USB floppy disk reader, and a few boxes of brand new floppies as well.

Here you have it:














The first sample with the FD7 is from the camera I've used to shot the Mavica, the Olympus E-400 with the Pancolar 50mm f/1.8 Exakta mount:



Some more samples:











I see only advantages on using it: at 640x480 is perfect for web images, no need of processing them

Regards,
Jes.

[Attila]

I remember for 1999 in India friend of mine have it and I was envy I have some pictures taken with this camera if I have time I will take out them for you.

[Scheimpflug]

[Jesito]

[Jesito]

[pat donnelly]

Good photos, from such a limited camera. I stopped buying them a while ago but I still bid if they are under $10 and post is cheap. The batteries are amazing. I prefer the 73 and maybe the 75 as they have much the same stats but the lcd screen is much brighter.

I have it vaguely in mind to give some of them to my daughter who is a primary teacher. We might be able to set them up and use the magnification with a suitable light source for examining insects worms etc in class? The storage is a bit of a problem, floppies, but for teaching, there would be no need to do so. They do seem to hold their value well.

The later models also used cdrws for storage. Special size, not the same as the later video cameras from Sony, but I am only 90% sure on that!

[Scheimpflug]

Oh I remember those mini-CD cameras! The cameras felt slow, the CDs were expensive (A "standard" size, but not the common size!), it made funny whirring sounds... oh, and depending on the computer, you had to wait for the CD to finalize before you could use it.

I think the only thing I liked about them was that in the end, you had a CD with your pictures, and didn't have to worry about filling up your tiny hard drive or carrying around a stack of floppies.

They had one of the mini-CD models at my school, and I think they shelved it in favor of the older floppy-based Mavicas. The floppy models were easier, faster, more compatible (most of our machines didn't have CD drives), and more economical.

[Jesito]

[Scheimpflug]

Be sure to let us know how it works!

[Spotmatic]

Nice topic to read! I still have my old Sony Mavica FD-83 (also a floppy model) in the attic, with its box and papers. It cost me quite some money but those were the days. It did a good job! I wonder if it still works?

Some (processed) samples, still on a website I once maintained:

[pat donnelly]

Their bang for buck ratio is now very positive!

Some will give 1MB images which are fine for internet work. As they are limited, they would make reasonable "first camera"s for children, but the main problem is the floppy drive, rapidly disappearing from computers everywhere!

An under appreciated resource?