5 Reasons You NEED A Vintage CCD Digicam

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Nicomadic explains the link between digicams and indie sleaze

Sweet Lou with some more digicam advice

[TC-rvsz]

Something that's also a benefit of digicams over phones I think it's that people are less afraid of it when you aim one at them. Like, if you aim a phone at someone there's often the anxiety that "oh no, this person is going to post this on the internet to make fun of me" or "this person is stalking me" because phones are just so immediately adjacent to social media/how we communicate,
but I think using a digicam just looks so silly (in a good way) and "out there" that it puts people at ease I think? Like, "oh they're just experimenting with a thrifted item/something they found in their grandma's house". It makes you way less intimidating and sus on the streets, which is a huge benefit for candid street pics.

Idk, what are your thoughts on this? As someone with severe anxiety I'd definitely be way less spooked by a digicam shooter than a phone shooter haha.

[liamwoolmore]

I thrift with my wife and kids all the time and we always find an old digicam! All my kids are interested in photography and they’ve all found their own digicam now. It’s so cool to watch what they create with these 😊

[boozhoundlabs]

Also these old digicams give you the same excitement when you see the photos because the LCD preview is usually so terrible. Plus the sensors and low megapixel is a whole new look. All of a sudden it is fun to take photos as an experiment just to see how the camera will render them. It's the surprise of film, but you don't have to pay and wait for a roll to get processesed.

[michaelbell]

Been a professional photographer for 18 years and I’m loving getting back into these older CCD sensors. However, like you mentioned, it’s little effort using a point and shoot and they end up looking like snapshots instead of photographs.

If you want to scratch that filmic itch with a CCD sensor camera, I’d suggest the older Nikon and Fuji DSLRs. You will get that great filmic look but you are more engaged rather than using a point and shoot. If you don’t want to mess with larger cameras and lenses but still want that look, I’d look at the upper end of Canon Powershot and Nikon Coolpix cameras. Fixed lenses, smaller footprint and more point and shoot style but you still retain DSLR features and full control over your settings. I paid under $100 for my Nikon Coolpix P7100, same for my Canon Powershot G11. Fun little cameras.

[JeffWernerIthacaNY]

Yay digicams! My fav benefit is that when you point a goofy little champagne colored digicam at someone their reaction is better than any other type of camera. Nobody ever gets nervous or takes it seriously. Absolutely the best for candid shots. I love my old Coolpix camera for this reason primarily.

[OneMonthTwoCameras]

DIGI THE WHOLE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER?!! Oh do I have a birthday present for you! Can't wait to see what you shoot and I'm blushing from all the sweet shout outs <3 One of us is going to have to move across a giant ocean for more camera hang time at this rate :P

[CableWrestler]

CMOS overtook CCD in image quality a long time ago. But for a while before that, CCDs were the king of dynamic range.

[katherinemartinez]

i dont know if Heaven is talking to me but some weeks ago before watching this video i suddendly, out of nowhere, was watching videos of presets and Adobe premier, and remenbered i got a Sony Cybershot DSCW220 12 megapixels from 2009 and it works!!! i just bought an extra memory card, batteries adn charger and gonna play with it!

[hshrre]

Digicams sound cool but I don't buy anything 1st Gen. I think I'll wait 'til they start making the digicams with phones built in.

[hughmanateecrisis]

One thing that I've really enjoyed about old digicams, is that by carrying a basic usb c sd card reader, you can easily share your images while out taking them. In some ways it's almost easier than with a modern camera and having to rely on wifi or Bluetooth, and an app.

[davep]

My daughter just asked me, “do you think you could get me a cheap digital camera? like one that i could just throw in my bag, and take pictures of my friends and stuff? because the cheaper ones have a cool look to them”.

I immediately remembered your video and went back to rewatch it. I think I have her Christmas stocking stuffer picked out—thanks Lucy!

[alanwainwright]

I knew I had one of these around the Lo and behold I found a Canon Power Shot SD1100IS an 8.0 Mega Pixel digicam. I'm in the process of getting it up and running and intend to do some out and about shooting to see what transpires. The idea of creating a 'zine or a small book of images really appeals to me. Thanks for the inspiration to get some creative juices going and carrying this super cool digicam around at all times. Cheers.

[davidroberts]

I have family pics starting from 2000, all shot on digicams…maybe I should get them out! I took lots of really nice pics with them back in the day, and they are still on my hard drives! I often have my 4 year old granddaughter shoot with my waterproof, shock resistant camera …way less stressful! I still have a CCD Nikon DSLR….might combo that with my vintage Nikkor AIS glass to see the effect?

[DiestroCorleone]

Totally agree. I recently got a Sony DSC-S40 (I wanted to buy one back in the day but I was a broke teenager), and so far it's been great. Yes, the stabilization is not the best, the settings might be limiting, but it's a great option for when I go for a walk and I find an interesting place/scene, it makes you play with the lighting, composition, and it's a good middle ground between a pro camera and a smartphone.
I'm definitely getting an older digicam, or a Sony Ericsson CyberShot smartphone from back in the day (I got a k850 a few years ago, but I broke it when I took it for a run to use as an MP3 player and fell on it. I'll live with regret for my whole life).
EDIT: And YES, Salvation Army thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace are a go-to place when looking for almost anything vintage/retro. At least here in Argentina, it's the only place where you can find cool things at good prices that hasn't already been 'gentrified', if you know what I mean.

[troysvisualarts]

Excellent video, watched it because I've been given a bunch of old digicams lately, probably have a dozen now lol. One particular digicam I've been using lately is a Sony Cybershot DSC-P72 (made in 2003) which is 3.2MP, had to order a 2nd hand Sony memory stick to use it. Anyhow been testing it to see how well it holds up for 2023 standards in image quality, have to say some shots it shows its age but other shots it still holds up well enough, depending on the subject and lighting conditions, I want to feature at least one shot at my local camera club meeting and surprise them that I used a 20 year old digicam instead of a 12-24MP DSLR, I found a number of shots I think I can fudge it with Topaz Gigapixel to look displayable on a 4K monitor. Anyhow I'm into old analog and early digital tech and got a kick out of using the Cybershot. Speaking of early digicams my first digicam was an eBino binocular camera I got in 2004/05 which gave rather gritty low res looking images, then in 2005 I had the Nokia 6230 phone (my 1st mobile phone) which gave compressed 0.3MP 640x480 images that look like oil paintings and it had this wickedly cool looking ring like lens effect when pointed to the sun, the video quality of it is so woefully crap 128x96 resolution everything is barely to not even recognizable to watch lol, if you're also into old phone cameras and get your hands on one of those 6230s or similar please do a video on it.

[blueissmyfavcolour]

The first reason is one is my reason to buy a Fujifilm FinePix JX550
The CCD sensor really gave crazy colors

[ianbeepower]

It feels like the main reason we need Digicams is for Youtube creators to make their clickbait videos based on trends (the hidden gems that are not so hidden anymore...).

Compact point and shoot cameras with an agressive jpg rendering? It is exactly what a smartphone can do. And that is exactly why the Digicams fell out of favour, because we all have one in our pockets.

You want a proper camera but the old school look? Any CMOS sensor camera with built in "creative filters" or shooting RAW then applying specific profiles will do the trick.

The trend of "get a cheap camera" is getting so omnipresent than the cheap factor disappears and the lack of quality stays. In the end it leads to people selling you for big money, the distorted perception of an era most haven't even lived.

Like all vintage trends.

[siofna]

I linke vintage digicams too. Have a tiny collection. My favorite is the Panasonic Lumix LS3 :-).
With greetings from lower Bavaria.

[nout]

I recently bought a couple of Canon IXUS cameras, the IXUS 90 (SD790), IXUS 85 (SD770) and IXUS 40 (SD300), because to my eyes these are design classics. Turns out they take great pictures as well. All have the CCD sensor type.
But honestly I don't think the colors are more natural nor do I think these JPG images have a more filmic look than JPG's I have taken with my Fujifilm X100s and images I have seen taken with current cameras.
("Natural" is very subjective. The somewhat colder JPGs of my Sony RX100 IV taken in bright daylight appear to be more natural and honest to me, in many cases. At other moments I perceive them as clinical and digital. Reality or perception of reality? Taking shots at evening in low light, with light bulbs on, images taken with a poor auto white balance are warmer, have more reddish or yellow cast. In many cases (probably most cases) this looks more natural to me than with the perfect auto white balance of my iPhone, that renders the image like it it is taken in bright daylight)

[as]

My favorite digicam is a 4MP Nikon that we got as a backup camera for a trip to China in 2006. It was so easy to always have with me that I took some of my favorite photos of the trip with it. Now I use it occasionally for street photography. So unnoticable compared to when I have my M5. And the colors are wonderfully vibrant.