Collecting digital cameras is something anyone can do.
It’s soon enough that the cameras are still around, thus cheap, yet supply hasn’t gone below demand. Original owner are still selling them off, rather than the pool bring owned by resellers.
My first digital camera, about 2003, was s hand me down from my sister. 2MP, it used Compactflash cards. It was fine for me, I wasn’t printing the photos. I assume other than low MP it was probably a better lense system, being expensive. I used it for done years.
Right at the same time I was given an Olympus D-600 DSLR, all of 1.4MP, and tiny Smartcard. I played with it, but a tad too old to be useful. I’ve never had an SLR, so I’m more interested in point and click.
Then I kept seeing digital cameras, at garage sales and in the garbage when the unit varsity students moved out. An Intel webcam, which could also be used as a limited standalone. An Apple digital camera, maybe the 150 since I can view photos after taking them. But low a amount of memory, and it’s built in. And you need a serial port to get the pictures off the camera. Plus low resolution, but I paid five dollars knowing it was an early digital camera.
Others fairly generic, though one 5MP that would be great but it uses a special battery. A Polaroid digital, though a bit smashed. I did see a Sony digital, that used a floppy drive but claimed high zoom, but no price do I assumed expensive.
I think an Olympus with a cover that slid over the lens, rather like one if their famous viewfinder film cameras.
But after a certain point, the specs are “good enough” even if the owners decided they are obsolete. For a lot of uses, they are still fine, not just to collect, but to be a camera for someone without a lot of money.
I did pay $20 for a Canon, quite hefty looking. It wasn’t DSLR, but did have 12X optical zoom, do I use it at times. One can even screw in a lense in front of the existing one, though I’m not likely to find one cheap.
I then bought another hefty Canon, for five dollars, fewer MP but like the previous one, a high end consumer camera. There is free software for Canon cameras that give more features, so both of these still have use as working cameras.
I’m not spending money on this collection, I didn’t even plan a collection. But the cameras are out there, and cheap.
