In chronological order:
Sears
Rebranded RCA CPR-250 [1987]
RCA CPR-150 [1987]
Sony CCD-F30 [~1989]
Sony CCD-TR6 [1991]
Panasonic AG-188 [~1995]
Sony DCR-TRV9 [1998]
Sony CCD-TRV66 [1999]
RCA CC6363 [2000]
Sony CCD-TRV58 [2001]
Sony CCD-TRV608 [2002]
Sony DCR-TRV140 [2002]
Panasonic AG-DVX100P [2002]
Panasonic PV-GS12 [2004]
Panasonic PV-GS31 [2006]
Quasar VM-L153 [200X]
Panasonic SDR-S50 [2010]
Not listed: A Panasonic VHS-C camcorder that I bought at some point in late 2017. I currently do not know its whereabouts, but I'm certain I either lost it in the process of moving or I threw it out sometime in 2020.
Digital
Kodak DC200 [1998]
HP PhotoSmart C200 [1999]
Olympus D-460 ZOOM [2000]
Kodak DC3400 [2000]
Sony Mavica CD1000 [2000]
Sony DSC-S70 [2000]
Sony DSC-P50 [2001] (2)
Sony Mavica CD250 [2002]
Sony CyberShot DSC-P51 [2002]
Olympus D-380 [2002]
HP PhotoSmart 935 [2003] (2)
Kodak EasyShare CX7530 [2004]
Sony DSC-P93 [2004]
HP PhotoSmart E317 [2005] (2)
Olympus FE-100 [2005]
Canon PowerShot SD950IS [2007]
Canon PowerShot A480 [2008]
Panasonic DMC-TZ5 [2008]
Sony DSC-H3 [2008]
Sony DSC-H10 [2008]
Nikon D3?00 [2012]
Nikon D5300 [2015]
Olympus OM-D Mark II [2017]
35mm
Olympus OM-1 [1972]
More photos
coming soon.
Format: Full Size
VHS
Released: 1987
Cosmetic condition: Mint
Mechanical condition: Camera working, tape mechanism
semi-broken
Acquisition date: September 2020
Extra notes:
My oldest camcorder in my collection, and my newest in
condition.
RCA's first CMOS sensor based camera, a huge leap from the
CPR-200, a saticon tube based camera.
Format: VHS-C
Released: 1987
Cosmetic condition: Visible wear
Mechanical condition: Camera working, tape mechanism
completely broken
Acquisition date: September 2020
Extra notes:
Bought it for $10 at a thrift store, wasn't really expecting it
to be working but still a decent little camera.
Format: Video8
Released: Late 1980's, very early 1990's. Probably ~1989
Cosmetic condition: Visible wear
Mechanical condition: Completely broken
Acquisition date: October 2020
Extra
notes:
Acquired this from a friend on Discord willing to give it to me,
was his grandparent's camcorder that had. Given it's an early
handycam, and the fact that it had been in a garage for the past
20 years, it was bound to not work, but still a neat camcorder.
Would love to get it working sometime.
Format: Video8
Released: 1991
Cosmetic condition: General wear, not too apparent at first
glance
Mechanical condition: Camera semi broken, tape mechanism
working
Acquisition
date: February 2019
Extra notes:
While I was filming in late May 2020, the picture became all
black. A week later, the camera was working again but the
datestamp became darkened. No clue what really happened... A
capacitor died?
Format: Full size
VHS
Released: Around the mid 1990s
Cosmetic condition: General wear
Mechanical condition: Camera working, microphone at one point
stopped working for some reason but is working now, tape
mechanism working
Acquisition date: February 2016
Extra notes:
I have no working battery for it, so I just use it hooked into a power supply.
Format: MiniDV
Released: 1998
Cosmetic condition: Minimal wear, wear only apparent on camera
strap, missing a screw on
the tape door
Mechanical
condition: Camera working, tape mechanism nearly broken. Head
is either dirty or broken
Acquisition date: October 2017?
Extra notes:
During playback, the audio is choppy and sometimes the video
gets choppy, usually the symptoms of a dirty head. I tried
cleaning the head myself one time, but it didn't go smoothly. It
was a pain to unscrew the door off, and when I did, I had pretty
much no access to the head for easy cleaning. I gave up, then
tried to screw the door back on, but barely could because of the
angle you would have to place the screw back in. As I was
attempting to screw one back in, the screw slipped from my
fingers and became lost in my carpet. So much for fixing a
camcorder...
Format: Hi8
Released: 1999
Cosmetic condition: Near mint
Mechanical condition: Fully working
Acquisition date: October 2020
Extra notes:
By far my best camcorder yet. I bought this for an incredible
price (for a TRV66) on eBay. Because of the price, I really
wasn't certain if it would work at all, but I just thought "fuck
it, there's no way you can find a TRV66 for this price at all".
The camcorder luckily came in perfect working condition. The
price was $85 if I remember correctly. To the uninitiated, the
TRV66 is the highest end Sony Handycam ever produced, known for
having the most advanced video system for any consumer tape
based camcorder. It's jam packed with a ton of gimmicky features
that aren't even typical for 8mm camcorders in the late 1990s,
really only seen on Digital8 and MiniDV camcorders in the 2000s.
Overall, an amazing camcorder.
Format: Hi8
Released: 2001
Cosmetic condition: General wear
Mechanical condition: Camera I guess would be broken? Refuses
to eject, CRT viewfinder sometimes doesn't work when the
viewfinder is at a certain angle - tape mechanism working
Acquisition date: December 2015
Extra notes:
My first Sony Handycam I ever acquired in my entire collection.
Had some fun with it for a while.
Format: Hi8/D8
Released: 2002
Cosmetic condition: General wear/Visible wear
Mechanical condition: Both fully working
Acquisition dates: December 2020/January 2016
Extra notes:
The TRV608 is the top-of-the-line model for the CCD-x08 series.
The TRV140 is not compatible with V8/Hi8 tapes, making it kinda
limiting to work with it. As of 7/16/21, I
no longer own the Sony DCR-TRV140.
Format: MiniDV
Released: 2002
Cosmetic condition: General wear
Mechanical condition: Fully working
Acquisition date: October 2017
Extra notes:
This camera is one that I've used frequently since I've gotten it.
I've probably used around 15 tapes on it? I can't recall, but it
must be around that amount. It's an all around great camera that's
surprisingly in good working condition given that it's got 1,163
hours of usage on it. (as of July 6 2021)
Format: MiniDV
Released: 2004
Cosmetic condition: Near mint, except the handstrap Panasonic
lettering is chipping off.
Mechanical condition: Camera working, condition of the tape
mechanism seems to be progressively getting worse and worse the
more I use it
Acquisition date: Unknown
Extra notes:
This was my grandfather's camera for a short while. We inherited
it when he passed away.
Format: MiniDV
Released: 2006?
Cosmetic condition: Near mint
Mechanical condition: A few dead pixels on the Camera, Tape
mechanism working
Acquisition date: Unknown
Format: SD card
Released: 2010
Cosmetic condition: General wear
Mechanical condition: Cannot really tell since I haven't used
the camera in probably 4 years or so since I lost the charger.
Acquisition date: Family bought it in 2010, My mother gave it to
me sometime around 2014
Extra notes:
The video this camera produces is rather odd to say the least...
It's got the quality of a camera a decade older than it to say the
least. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up a video
of this camera's test footage and you'll see what I am talking
about.
Format: CFlash card
Released: 1999
Cosmetic condition: Near mint
Mechanical condition: Fully working
Acquisition date: June 2020 (Family bought: early 2000s)
Extra notes:
My oldest digicam in my collection. Kinda lacking in a lot of
features, but this was a rather cheap alternative to most of the
high end digicams of the late 90's. Works pretty good and is
honestly quite practical, despite being over 20 years old. It was
my father's camera at some point in the very early 2000s.
Format: Smart Media card
Released: 2000
Cosmetic condition: Near mint
Mechanical condition: Completely broken
Acquisition date: June 2021
Extra notes:
Not much to say about this camera. Bought it for $25 at a thrift
store, hoped it was in working condition, came home, put some
batteries in, and...nothing. Doesn't turn on at all,
unfortunately. I'm probably going to end up selling it soon, as I
have no use for it.
Format: CFlash card
Released: 2000
Cosmetic condition: Mint, Battery door broken
Mechanical condition: Fully working
Acquisition date: April 2021
Extra notes:
I'm ridiculously proud I bought this camera in its absolutely
perfect condition for $20. The only major issue with it is the
fact that its battery door is broken, but that doesn't take away
from the whole camera in general. It also takes stunning photos
considering it came out at the crest of the new millennium, 21
years ago
Format: Mini CD-R
Released: 2000
Cosmetic condition: Near mint
Mechanical condition: Fully working
Acquisition date: July 2020 (Family bought: early-mid 2001)
Extra notes:
This camera carries a lot of history with it. The camera came
into our lives in mid 2001, before I was even alive. The story
goes is that my mother wanted a camcorder to film my older
sister's childhood, and she told my father to go to the nearest
electronics store to buy one for us. A few hours later, he comes
home with this thousand dollar brand new digital camera. I guess
my mom accepted it, and gave up her 35mm SLR in favor of this new
digital camera. This camera was also used to capture my early
childhood as well.
Format: Sony Memory Stick
Released: 2001
Cosmetic condition: Both are near mint
Mechanical: Both are fully working
Acquisition date(s): August/September 2021
Extra notes:
I absolutely love this camera. In fact, I love this camera so much
that I bought two of them. Call me crazy or whatever, but it's a
camera that I want a backup of if one breaks at some point. Being
the earliest of the AA battery-powered CyberShots, owning this
camera is like having a mixture of the old Sony digicam sensor
while also not having to use it with a dying InfoLithium battery,
which many early Sony digicams used. Running on Memory Sticks
makes using these cameras to be a pleasant experience. No dealing
with CD-Rs and Floppies! It's also pretty handy even as a
practical digicam. It only takes 2 AA's!
Format: Mini CD-RW
Released: 2002
Cosmetic condition: Near mint
Mechanical: Uncertain since I haven't used it in over a year,
but I'm certain it's still working
Acquisition date: Summer 2019 (Family bought: Sometime after
either 2004 or 2005)
Extra notes:
Not much to say either than it was pretty fun to shoot on, I
guess. Kinda eats up InfoLithiums quite quickly.
Format: Sony Memory Stick
Released: 2002
Cosmetic condition: Near mint
Mechanical condition: Was working, until I dropped it, and is
now completely broken
Acquisition date: May 2020
Extra notes:
Mixed feelings. This camera was a nice little digicam that I found
quite handy to use. It was very similar to the P50, except it had
slightly better ergonomics and a slightly updated firmware, which
was the same as the CD250. Before I tell this story... Keep in
mind that I've dropped one of my P50s from a height of 3 feet onto
a hardwood floor, and it's still working like charm, absolutely no
issues.
Back in July 2021, I was on a vacation trip, when my P51 fell out
of my camera bag as I was picking it up off of a carpet floor. The
drop distance was BARELY a foot tall, on top of that, this thing
was dropped on a goddamn carpet. As I went to grab it, I noticed
the "shell" of the camera was offset. No worries, I guess, that is
until I tried to turn on the camera. NO. DICE. Not even a blink!
This camera was completely dead.
Format: Smart Media card
Released: 2002
Cosmetic condition: General wear
Mechanical condition: Takes photos, LCD doesn't work (shines bright white)
Acquisition date: February 2022
Extra notes:
Bought this at a Goodwill for $13 dollars. At least it works!
Format: SD card
Released: 2003
Cosmetic condition: Visible wear
Mechanical condition: Kind of working. It seems to have voltage
problems because the screen flickers whenever I use AF.
Acquisition date: July 2019
Extra notes:
Not much to say about this one as well. It's okay, just a little
problematic to use.
Format: SD card
Released: 2004
Cosmetic condition: General wear
Mechanical condition: Works
Acquisition date: September 2020
Extra notes:
Has the iconic bright yellow Kodak datestamp. Makes photos look peak mid-2000s.
Format: Sony Memory Stick (Duo)
Released: 2004
Cosmetic condition: General wear
Mechanical condition: Used to have some problems with turning on and off, but for the past few months it seems that this issue has gone away (somehow)
Acquisition date: July 2021
Extra notes:
VERY functional and great digicam. I find myself genuinely using this camera time to time, whether it'd be to take photos of the dogs or just photos in and around my house. The support of Memory Stick Duo cards makes this camera function much faster than any non Duo cameras.
Format: SD card
Released: 2005
Cosmetic condition: Both have lots of visible usage on them
Mechanical condition: Completely broken | Turns on, takes photos, but the CCD is broken ("scanlines" show up in the photos) which results in underexposed and overexposed photos
Acquisition date: October 2021
Extra notes:
First one I bought was from ShopGoodwill for about $15. Was untested but I thought to myself "It's fine to take risks here and there" but it came in completely broken. Second one was from eBay where the seller did show photos of the camera on and working, but the seller must've not seen the broken CCD. I don't even use it to take photos, just for taking videos.
Format: SD card
Released: 2007
Cosmetic condition: Visible wear, tape keeps the camera intact
Mechanical condition: Works, somehow
Acquisition date: March 2018
Extra notes:
My first digicam, and what essentially got me into collecting cameras. Took this camera with me to so many places. Has a few dead pixels but it doesnt really get in the way of quality. Truly a workhorse!
[More to be added soon]