Kodak DC50 Zoom (1996)

The Kodak DC50 Zoom was one of Kodak's pioneering consumer-grade digital cameras, introduced in 1996 at a time when a zoom lens on a digital compact was still a genuine technical novelty. The original price was the equivalent of 950.00 Euros, and the camera was actually manufactured for Kodak by Chinon Industries of Japan. It was sold in near-identical form under several other names, including the Chinon ES-3000 and the Dycam Model 10-C — a rebadging practice common in the early digital market.

The camera is built around a CCD sensor with a resolution of 756 x 504 pixels (24-bit color), which the kameramuseum.de database rounds to 0.4 megapixels while its own text cites 0.38. Its defining feature was a 3x motor zoom lens — 7 to 21mm actual focal length, equivalent to 37 to 111mm in 35mm format — with a maximum aperture of f/2.8. Autofocus with a close-up setting was standard, as was program auto exposure from 1/15 to 1/500 second, a built-in electronic flash, and a self-timer. Images were stored on 1MB of built-in memory or on PCMCIA-ATA Type I and II cards. The camera is powered by four AA batteries and weighs 620 grams ready to operate. It has no video function and no image stabilization, which is unsurprising for the era.

kameramuseum.de notes that in 1996 the DC 50 was a technical speciality particularly because of its zoom. The camera has found a small second life among vintage-tech enthusiasts — one blogger (Adafruit, 2021) documented connecting a DC50 to an Apple II via its serial port, noting the custom cable is "rather easy to make." A Russian collector listing calls it "one of the pioneers of digital photography," and a Japanese writer praised its "quite weighty" image character while personally preferring the fixed-lens DC40. A 1996 Italian review in digiTANTO.it noted that the DC40 and DC50 Zoom shared the same 756x504 CCD sensor.

Known specifications:

Sensor: CCD, 756 x 504 pixels (approx. 0.38–0.4 MP), 1/2 inch format (7.4 x 4.9mm)
Lens: 3x motor zoom, 7–21mm (37–111mm equivalent), f/2.8
Focus: Autofocus with close-up setting
Exposure: Program auto, 1/15 – 1/500 sec
ISO: 80
Storage: 1MB internal; PCMCIA-ATA Type I/II cards
Flash: Built-in electronic
Battery: 4 x AA (1.5V)
Weight: 620g ready to operate
Dimensions: approx. 15.2 x 11.9 x 6.4 cm

The record is thin on production numbers (one source claims only about 1,000 were marketed, which is unverified), and no reliable current market values or common-failure information is documented. No production end date is recorded either — only "from 1996."