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This is part 3 of my photographic journey.  It is now November of 2000 and we finally have cameras that can rival film.

The C-3000 Zoom camera was finally a camera. Made by a camera company, with Olympus glass lenses, optical zoom, LCD viewfinder, and a flash that could light up a large room.   The optical viewfinder even had a diopter adjustment for people with glasses.  The image quality was surprisingly good, considering it was over 12 years ago!  I think the only major limitations were the SmartMedia card and the use of AA batteries.  SmartMedia cards maxed out at 128megs, which is not all that much for a 3.3 megapixel camera.   The AA batteries are surprisingly heavy, but available everywhere.

On the plus side, even now, the styling would not look out of place.  Great ergonomics and solid as heck.  Another really cool feature was the included IR remote, that could control the zoom and shutter.  A well used camera that taught me a lot.

Full specs are here.

Sample Images:

As you can see, the image quality is acceptable for all but the largest prints.  We had this camera from late 2000 to March 2004.  Cameras were improving a lot year to year in the mid 00’s, so it was time after almost 4 years to upgrade.

Ah, the C-5060WZ (Wide Zoom).  A heck of a camera that served us well for almost 8 years!  This was the camera that took Glenn’s (our son) first picture and hundreds of other important moments in our lives.  Rock solid magnesium body and an amazing twist-able, reversible LCD screen, great for versatile shooting.   Just shy of a SLR, it even had a hot shoe for an external flash.  Color reproduction was great, and it had a proper lithium-ion battery pack for extended shooting.  For a 5.1 megapixel, it took amazing photos, mostly due to the superior lenses.  Lasted over 30,000 shots before it developed a serious issue, the auto focus system failed.  It also had a IR remote and gobs of features even modern cameras lack.

Images taken two and a half years ago, during a beautiful fall day:

I remember taking the above photos, experimenting with exposure bracketing on the camera.  I was truly sad to see this camera go, but technology and good old fashioned wear and tear did it in.  For a while I used only my cell phone for photos.  More on that in the next post.

A small gallery of some photos taken in La Grange, IL.  I wanted to experiment with black and white photography.  These photos were taken on an overcast day, so look oddly flat with no shadows.  Taken with a Canon PowerShot SX260 HS.  My first CMOS camera in a long time.

In part one, see below, I wrote about the film cameras I used growing up.  As an adult, I was introduced to digital cameras.  In the beginning, they really could not compare to film.  With comically low resolutions, as low as 320×240, they were useless for prints.  However, once the ball started rolling, it never stopped.

The JamCam 2.0.  Our first digital camera.  More or less a toy, it could take 320×240 or 648×480 photos and store them in internal memory.  It could store up to 8 photos at ‘full’ resolution.  I, however, don’t regret getting this camera and have some fond memories of taking photos with it.  Very rugged and I don’t think we ever changed the batteries.  Optical viewfinder with just an 7 segment lcd on the back showing you how many shots you had left.  Serial RS-232 interface with no memory expansion.  The 3.0 version could have MultiMedia card, but our version did not.  Owned from early November 1999 to late April 2000.  Even then we knew at the time the photos were just unacceptable and the camera was soon replaced with an I/O magic MagicImage 500.

Specs:

 	Real resolution: 640 x 480 
 	Maximum picture capacity: 24 
 	Power: 9V alkaline battery- Not included

Resolution and Display Capacity Display Resolution Picture Capacity r1 640 x 480 8 r2 320 x 240 26 r3 240 x 179 48

 

Sample Shots:

Luckily, it looks like we took photos at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago with most of the cameras we have owned over the years, so you can really see how far the technology has come.  Only outdoor shots looked halfway decent, and color reproduction was very poor in low light.

 

 

Our next camera (in case you are wondering, us means the wife and I) was an I/O Magic Magicimage 500.  A big step up from the JamCam.  0.8 mega-pixels native, 1.3 interpolated.  The flash worked well and the image quality was somewhat acceptable for web images, with the possibility of printing actual photos with it.  We took many photos with the camera, and, luckily it was expandable with 3.3V Smart Media cards.  It could also take macro photos, for the first time.   It used AA batteries, and had decent battery life without the flash.  Used as primary camera from April 2000 to November 2000.

Specifications:

• Resolution 0.8 megapixels / 1.2 megapixels (interpolated)
• Total Pixels 800000.0 pixels
• Optical Sensor Size 1/3″
• Image Recording Format JPEG

• Lens System

  • Type – F/2.8
  • Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 47.0 mm
  • Min Focus Range 4.3 ft

Sample Photos:

The photos are better, but still not what I would call printable.  In November of 2000, we bought our first non toy digital camera, the Olympus C-3000.  More on that in the next post.