Agfa ActionCam (1995)
A joint venture digital SLR with a three-CCD sensor system, sold as a professional tool in 1995.
Overview
The Agfa ActionCam is a digital SLR built through a collaboration between Agfa and Minolta. It was marketed in 1995 as the Agfa-branded version of the Minolta RD-175. The body is a modified Minolta Maxxum 500si Super with a digital back, and it takes interchangeable Minolta A-mount lenses. Agfa aimed it at professional work like medical, insurance, and scientific imaging, where high ISO performance and digital capture were starting to be needed. Minolta engineered the hardware. Agfa developed the firmware and software.
Specifications
| Imager Type | 3x 0.38MP 1/2" CCD |
| Resolution | 1528x1146 pixels (1.75 megapixels interpolated) |
| Lens Mount | Minolta A-mount |
| Shutter Speeds | 1/2 – 1/2000 s |
| Aperture Range | Maximum effective aperture f/6.7 |
| ISO | 800 |
| Storage | PCMCIA Flash ATA cards (Type I, II, or III), including internal 128 MB PCMCIA hard drive |
| Interface | SCSI |
| Weight | 1,210 g |
| Dimensions | 161 mm × 128 mm × 145 mm |
| Battery | 1 × 6 V (2CR5), 1 × 7.2 V (NP-500H), 1 × 3 V (CR2025) |
| Image Format | MDC (RAW) |
Design
The camera uses three 1/2" CCD sensors - two for green and one for red/blue - fed by a dichroic prism block that splits the incoming light. Relay optics compress the image by 0.56× onto a 12 mm × 16 mm sensor area. The dual-green design raised sensitivity enough to match ISO 800 performance. Final images are interpolated from the combined sensor data. The bundled software, "Agfa ActionCam Digital Film," was Macintosh-only at first and required a computer to process images. Transfer times ran from 50 to 108 seconds.
Context
In 1995 the Agfa ActionCam was one of the few professional digital SLRs available, and it competed with the Kodak DCS models. It had lower noise than many of its contemporaries. It was also among the first consumer digital SLRs used in professional animation, notably on the video game "The Neverhood." At $9,995 it was priced about 20% below comparable Kodak models, though still out of reach for amateur photographers. The three-sensor system was complex, and that led to reliability issues over time.
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