My vintage DSLR

[tyoberg]

I paid $90 for this a couple weeks back. It's from 1994. I like it because it's really still very much a film camera.

Kodak DCS420c (a Nikon N90s with a Kodak digital back)
-Stores 1.5MP .tif onto PCMIA cards (luckily, it works with a CF adapter and my 2GB card)
-25pin SCSI plug on the back side for interface with DOS/Mac
-Fixed battery holds a charge for about 3 days
-No LCD to view pictures on
-No menus
-Three buttons on the Kodak side: Delete, SCSI ID and a microphone button so you can record remarks or something
-Almost 4lbs before you mount a lens on it

Now the interesting stuff.
-Original retail: ~$12,000
-2.6x crop!!! (that box on the mirror in the photo above is what you get)
-No anti-aliasing (perhaps the sharpest DSLR ever made)
-No built-in hot mirror, so you get bizarre IR effects sometimes if you don't put a hot mirror on the lens
-Photos, esp with a flash or in sunlight have a very unique look, like faded film prints.


I was a little unsure when I bought it. All the DCS420 photos I could find on the web are small and crappy (after I got it, I remembered that nobody posted full res photos back in 1994). But, I'm pretty darned pleased with it. It definitely captures a unique exposure.


Here's some of that IR flare I was talking about. This was a 50mm f/1.2 pretty wide open; thus the softness.

Taking advantage of that 2.6x crop with my 55mm Nikkor Micro

View big:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3474/3361130922_0e7dc09970_o.jpg

That weird faded look (some PS here for exposure and saturation, but no sharpening)

Bizarro camera, but I'm glad I stumbled onto it. My next purchase will be an IR pass filter.

 

[truthdesigns]

I like that IR flare Looks vintage!
Nice buy

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

So these shots were digital Tiff files from in camera? The digital version has a 2.6x crop factor and it take film as well....35mm? I'm a little confused on the finer points but that sounds like a steal of a deal. I know I would be excited to own one!

 

[chazde3]

I'm loving the vintage look of the first and third photos. I love looking through old photo albums and this would be cool to take some vintage shots of my own.

 

[tyoberg]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14743389#post14743389 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TitusvileSurfer
So these shots were digital Tiff files from in camera? The digital version has a 2.6x crop factor and it take film as well....35mm? I'm a little confused on the finer points but that sounds like a steal of a deal. I know I would be excited to own one!

To shoot film, you'd have to find a standard film back, and I think it's battery well may have been modified. I haven't peeked too far inside. The whole back comes off with a single big thumbscrew and the normal latch, which makes cleaning the sensor so much easier than it is nowadays.

The tiffs are an old Kodak proprietary format, so I have convert them to .dng first and then go from there.

 

[tyoberg]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14743443#post14743443 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chazde3
I'm loving the vintage look of the first and third photos. I love looking through old photo albums and this would be cool to take some vintage shots of my own.

That's what I really like about it most. I just wish it were less than enormous. A craigslist find.

UH_OH_5_OH had one. I'd remembered that thread when I saw the ad on craigslist.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1288126
It was actually $80, but I got the guy to sell me the CF adapter and card for $10 extra. I'd read that finding a combination that works can be challenging. The few that turn up seem to have dead/questionable batteries and no charger.

The 620 would be the cat's meow (2MP digital back on an F5), but by then they'd fixed most of the quirkiness that appeals to me.

Mine, the 420, is the 2nd generation DLSR. The DCS100 was an F3 with a tethered suitcase storage unit.

 

[Rhizo]

Nice! I still shoot film when I can.

 

[supercharger]

thats very cool! vintage cameras are the way to go.

 

[jrw]

I can't believe we are talking about a 1994 manufactured camera as "vintage".

Am I the only one that this makes feel old?