The ten weirdest digital cameras ever (with Gordon Laing!)

[@drunkcaterpillar]

Just as an FYI, the Analogue Pocket cannot currently dump pictures from the Game Boy Camera. It is allegedly on the roadmap for future firmware updates but there's no release schedule, so it could be a long time until that is implemented. Most DMG/GBC/GBA cartridge dumpers will let you export images from the GB Camera cart directly as PNG or BMP though; I used the Submodule GB01 for the images you see later in the show but I know there are others out there too. Also worth mentioning that there are several revisions of the GB Camera hardware, and they apparently do have their own unique aesthetic qualities! Have fun!

[@cameralabs]

Thanks! I was sure the Analogue Pocket could screengrab at least, which would allow you to record a 'photo' from the camera while it was being played back?

[@drunkcaterpillar]

@@cameralabs For now, no, there's no screen grab feature. Its current firmware, v1.0b, is functional but extremely threadbare. Once the v1.1 firmware/AnalogueOS release is finished we'll probably know a lot more, but 'till then all it does right now is play games.

[@cameralabs]

@@drunkcaterpillar thanks for the update! Good job I have my little wifi print server!

[@spyhardman]

Another option is to use the optional dock for the system, which gives you HDMI out. Then, you can use whatever capture method you prefer for stills or video. It could spice up your Zoom calls! The obvious sacrifice is portability.

[@sang3Eta]

Casio QV-2900UX would be my pick. Looked wierd but took great pictures.

[@cameralabs]

Thanks for having me on the show, it was great fun and always good to see you both!

[@drunkcaterpillar]

Absolutely terrific episode. :)

[@niccollsvideo]

It was a real pleasure just to even get to see your face Gordon. Hopefully next time in person.

[@patricksmith2553]

That was awesome, I laughed and I cried…well I didn’t actually cry, but it was brilliant! Loved it! Please keep these types of videos coming, maybe Jordan and Chris could do a video camera edition? Idk?

[@ReflexVE]

Nice call out on the Gameboy camera. I don't have one yet but I have an analogue pocket so soon enough I will...

[@cameralabs]

@@ReflexVE look out for my review of the GameBoy camera coming soon to Dino Bytes!

[@amirulizzad6122]

Can't wait for the video where you actually test all these weird camera. Call it... Testicle with Chris Nicholl...

[@xmlthegreat]

Slow down there buddy

[@cameralabs]

I know you wanted to make the pun, but if you want tests of them I'm ploughing through them on my Dino Bytes channel!

[@johnhphotography6084]

I met Gordon at Photokina and had a brief chat. He was such a lovely fella to meet and made my day! We need more Gordon specials on DPRTV! 😁

[@cameralabs]

I'm here for it, and nice to have met you John!

[@mahidoes]

I love Gordon Laing. My favourite camera reviewer. Starlight to the point with technical details instead of blabbering things.

[@cameralabs]

Thanks! That's my aim!

[@peteryates308]

Two of my favourite camera channels coming together, fantastic. I'd love to see a 'Ten weirdest lenses' one with Mathieu Stern...

[@youraveragejoephoto]

the ultimate crossover, two of the best camera reviewers out there. also love the DynoBites channel, absolutely brilliant look into these crazy cameras!

[@cameralabs]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for checking out my other channel!

[@haimo14228]

This brings me back. This reminds me so much about all those odd looking and terribly performing digital cameras from the early 2000s. Not only that but I had totally forgotten about Gordon. I watched a lot of his videos back in the days when I was going to buy my first digital camera.

[@cameralabs]

You forgot about me?! But i've been regularly posting new camera videos for 16 years! I insist you subscribe to both my main channel and Dino Bytes as punishment, or, er, reward.

[@Propaganda_Films]

What a great collaboration!!

[@cameralabs]

I enjoyed it!

[@mcrazza]

Thanks for the early 00s nostalgia trip, Chris & Gordon! I remember perusing through Sony's quarterly PULSE magazine throughout the 00s and absorbing each and every product on display. Sony's cameras in the early 00s were truly wild. Their Mavica lineup featured cameras that could record onto floppy disk (as Gordon hilariously demonstrated) and 700MB CDs. The Sony DSC-F series looked so cool, too. I remember trying a display unit of an F717 and failing at how to properly use the thing! Those were the days when cameras were wild and fun.

[@deangawler9727]

Gordon's imitation of the floppy disk sound in the Sony Mavica was hilarious - sounded like a Dalek!

[@cameralabs]

Maybe they were booting from 3.5in floppies!

[@juhavuorinen6305]

I used Sony Mavica it had 3.5" 💾 professionally, I was transit warehouse supervisor, I had to send a picture of the back of the loaded containers for client to approve loading, only after client approval containers were loaded to train or truck and sent to Russia from Finland. This was about year 2000 if I remember correctly 😀

[@Sabundy]

What an absolutely fantastic collaboration between two of my favourite camera KZbinrs as well as a fantastic topic. Thanks for the very entertaining video gents

[@extremelydave]

This is on my top 3 weirdest KZbin videos. It doesn't get much stranger than this!!! Stand tall and proud Chris!!!

[@ntp7053]

Just discovered Gordon's channel a while ago and loved loved loved this collab. There should be a part two for this! So many quirky digital shooters that could still be covered here, including mobile ones!

[@deanisplemoni]

This was such an awesome conversation! More of these!

[@cocteaufan]

I second this

[@SCEmissary]

So great to see Gordon here! And such an amazing #1 from Gordon. Really chuckled to see it again. I remember when I had the chance to try it and it was so bad and still so fancy.

[@cameralabs]

Thanks! I think the Gameboy Camera may be the one for me going forward!

[@SCEmissary]

@@cameralabs Well, with its resolution it might be a fitting choice for profile pics and emoji creation. :D

[@cameralabs]

@@SCEmissary I've just posted that selfie on my instagram...

[@davewarren7693]

Homage to Gordon Laing. The most underrated camera reviewer on KZbin.

[@yawningmarmot]

And off KZbin too. No one tests as many video modes as him and posts samples for every one of them. Thank you for that, Gordon.

[@cameralabs]

Thanks Dave, 16 years and still only 210k follows! Officially the slowest growing channel on KZbin!

[@cameralabs]

@@yawningmarmot happy to help!

[@sduck409]

I’m a collector of weird digital cameras, and this video is fabulous! I have most of these. My pick - the sigma DP Quattro line. I have the DP2 - the weirdest, clunkiest camera to use, but you can get great photos from it.

[@TusharMisra]

Dino Bytes is such a good channel. Also Chris' early 2000s pop/edm video look @1:19 😜

[@cameralabs]

Cheers!

[@familygonzcartwright]

Gordon's 4 choice, that Minolta has a concept that eventually came to be properly realized in the Sony Cinema Venice. So the idea was good

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

I vaguely remember a couple of these wonky cameras, especially the Sony. The Canon looks like a Bushnell golf rangefinder that also takes photos. But none of these bodies is as startling to see today as a young, skinny, beardless Chris Nicholls.

[@snappiness]

I was literally shooting a Nikon Coolpix 990 this morning, lol. Btw love the OG Chris footage

[@AndresGonzalez-rm6fp]

I still have two 990!!😂😂

[@snappiness]

@@AndresGonzalez-rm6fp such a cool camera :D

[@cameralabs]

The 950 and 990 are two of my favourites

[@snappiness]

@@cameralabs I also have the F-717 and F-828, so I share your affinity for those cameras. I do find the swivel design surprisingly practical in use, and the images especially on the F-828 and really quite lovely. Great show. I learned about several cameras I had never heard of!

[@cameralabs]

@@snappiness I'm really looking forward to completing my reviews of all the old F models on my Dino Bytes channel. Hope you get a chance to pop over there!

[@joelypolly]

The Ricoh GXR is still my favorite camera. If they would do a 24 megapixel sensor from the last few years I’d just jump on it right away

[@SLLYT]

My Ricoh GXR with its VF2, 28 and 50 modules is still my favorite camera.

[@whynospoon]

it was a great concept... just wished ricoh continued improving it! i had the leica module, and kicked myself for selling it...

[@benicetoyou]

The GXR was my poor man's Leica. And better than a Leica. The 50mm module was a great portrait and macro lens (try to do macro with a Leica). The Leica M-module was very well suited for my tiny ultra wide angle Voigtländer 15mm (21mm fov), without any issues of corner smearing, magenta cast etc. that I had on other cameras like the NEX. Just set it on 3m f5.6 and it was the greatest point-and-shoot. The tiltable viewfinder was great, too. Also the interface was very well thought out. Too bad I sold it.

[@Lauren_C]

Honorable mention was my old Aiptek camera/camcorder thing from 2006. Not only did it take photos and video, I could plug it into the cable box to record tv (recorded a lot of Avatar the Last Airbender), watch it on the thing, and could also play music on the thing. It was like a smartphone before the smartphone. Battery life was crap, you got like 4 stops of dynamic range, and I’m fairly sure its 8 MP was worse than my old Kyocera’s 3.2 MP.

[@garrettlison4992]

One of my customers at the repair shop I work at brought in an F828 to show me and that thing was a trip. As much as I prefer a simplified design in a camera body, those crazy designs and the engineering involved must have been fun to work on during development.

[@cameralabs]

The 828 was amazing and I can't wait to take it out for a spin again!

[@Just-SomeGuy]

Such a great video. Friendly, entertaining, lighthearted and informative. Keep up the good work.

[@stephenfox5133]

Really really great to see you working together.

[@exploresouthwest]

I loved my split body Nikon CoolPix. Best street photography camera, waist level shooting nobody knew you were taking pics. Or hold it over head to get a pic of a crowd.

[@cameralabs]

They were great!

[@MattParson]

I chose to review the Sony F828 because of it’s super rare RGBE sensor!

[@cameralabs]

I enjoyed your video about it! I'm working on mine soon...

[@matthieuzglurg6015]

I cracked up a little when the Leica Digital Modul R came up. In french, "MDR" means "Mort De Rire" and that's basically the french equivalent to "lmao" so Leica LMAO, that made me laugh

[@maxdmachy]

You guys - Jordan, Chris & Gordon are most certainly not short of amazing ideas! Photos the playful & creative way! Giving the subscriber (Chris, every reasonable person in the camera KZbin world is already subscribed to you & Gordon - don't worry too much about the crowd of ignorami who watch the jerks) fun and inspiring ideas about how to develop ones personal style!

[@wmilberry]

I love the collab! It's great to see two great camera reviewers having fun together.

[@Kolegu]

What a great episode you guys made, thank you!

[@robgendreau]

Just awesome. The GXR would be my pick too. Hard to get now. My honorable mention for odd and not quite getting it is the Air O1 by Olympus, or DxO’s attempt.

[@sonholee5769]

Wow! What fun! it really is a bit sad that the time of experimentation, where manufacturers did not have a fixed idea of what a camera should look like has passed. It passed while I was busy in school and did not even notice it. :P

[@Brightsparks1960]

Interesting and fun episode looking back at the evolution of the digital camera market. I even had a few of those cameras including the Lpdak DC50 and the Ricoh GXR complete kit

[@MgarrKid]

Passion for photography and cameras of both makes this video shine! No 'crazy' vlogger shenanigans' and gimmicks, just expertise, talent and experience! Will definitely check Mr.Lanig's channel!! Was he the editor of a computer magazine back in the 90s by any chance, or my memory is misfiring again? His face looks kind of familiar.

[@Mr48374837]

Chris is so humble he took Gordon’s channel first and his last. Hats off.

[@NoSuRReNDeR001]

Maybe you can have Jordan do a video one include with Geral Ud or someone... - Red Raven - Ajaj Cion

[@mmike855]

Absolutely loved this. Great chemistry between these two.

[@cameralabs]

It's impossible not to have fun with Chris and Jordan, those guys are great!

[@110341]

That was a lot of fun, so many options popped up in my head as soon as I read the title 😁

[@Edwin--]

Fun video! The Light L16 could be another honourable mention? I really liked the idea and concept, the execution though is another matter...

[@UdoKrawallo]

Great collaboration! Was fun to watch that and diving into the world of odd devices.

[@davidogan]

That was a fun episode. Thanks. There should be more! I love Gordon Laing. Must have been watching his camera reviews like more than 10 years ago. Always indept analysis. He was truly a pioneer on KZbin camera reviews. There is also another guy that I used to watch, Mike Perlman I think his name was. Also a fun camera reviewer in the early days of camera review on KZbin but he disappeared completely. His reviews were also very good and he was always driving his green Kawasaki motorcycle too. Pretty wild.

[@fredericbeudot822]

Great video guys and many cameras I had actually never heard of. That was great. I was just surprised neither if you gave the insanely priced and delusional Hasseblad Lunar and Stellar an honorable mention.

[@cameralabs]

Hah! Good call!

[@nycgeo18]

Keep these collabs coming! Love Gordon and DPRTV!

[@billr6983]

The first camera Gordon shows in the introduction, the Canon G1 I saw in a thrift store for less than $10. I passed on it and have regretted it ever since. It would have been a nifty retro camera to play around with.

[@cameralabs]

The G1 is a classic, check out my retro review of it on my Dino Bytes channel!

[@scottfineshriber5051]

Great look back at evolving digital cameras. I owned a 2mp Nikon 900 something or other with the swiveling lens module and tiny LCD on the back. The old CCD sensor was actually decent and we did a product flyer for a client using photos taken in our conference room with the “Rubik’s cube camera” as my daughter called it.

[@gyorgypisch7174]

So nice to see you guys working together

[@cameralabs]

It's always a pleasure!

[@TheCoolProfessor]

I love weird! Embrace weird! Weird is good because it makes you think.

[@jordanlaine7412]

The F717 was the first digital camera I ever purchased, that thing literally traveled the world with me. Two decades later I've got a variety of the latest Sony bodies and lenses and the Game Boy Camera has my heart.

[@SLLYT]

My Ricoh GXR with its VF2, 28mm module and 50mm module is still my favorite camera. The image quality is high; the handling is comfortable and friendly.

[@2020-k8v]

Excellent video, some great and incredible cameras - This camera with flippy disk is totally crazy, this noise !! 😂 - Really a good moment

[@marcusoutdoors4999]

Always good to see Gordon plugging his lovely little book

[@cameralabs]

Hah! Discreetly in the back though!

[@juanbatista5302]

Great video Chris 👍🏻👍🏻. Gordon reviews have always been among the best. Add on top of that he mentioned the BladeRunner -like focus of Lithro cameras, and you cannot ask for any better.guests.

[@cameralabs]

You're welcome!

[@MrNecropodo]

I also think Mr Laing is the jedai master of camera reviews!

[@cameralabs]

I am always learning!

[@pigfender]

Fun video! Surprised not to see the Light L16 on the list!

[@ryanehoward]

Oh, floppy disk sounds. Computers used to make so many different and crazy sounds that were totally normal at the time. Now if a computer's fan is even perceptible there's something that's gone HORRIBLY wrong.

[@cameralabs]

I miss the sounds, especially modems

[@ryanehoward]

@@cameralabs You're so right!

[@FabriSlv]

Oh God I wish I still had my game boy camera and printer! I have no idea where they've ended up, but I loved them to bits as a kid.

[@cameralabs]

You can pick up the camera cart and printer for about 50 on ebay if you're keen!

[@johnherzel718]

A whole lot of fun boys! Thanks!

[@ssthapit]

Know going to enjoy this even before starting. Love Dino Bytes.

[@cameralabs]

Thanks!

[@Wave_Drop]

A very good and original episode. There is only one Gordon and is from England. Thanks guys! 👏🏻

[@cameralabs]

I think there's only one of me, hopefully!

[@Wave_Drop]

@@cameralabs Of course! 😉

[@cpnock]

First Digital camera I ever used was the Sony Mavica, was doing some "Office" training and we had to import the photos in Word. Amazing camera, forgot about the noise that came with it.

[@borderlands6606]

Two themes dominate early digital cameras. One is to be as different from film cameras as possible, the other is to emulate them. The first type gratuitously avoided anything that resembled an SLR, the second attempted to replace film with modular backs or sensors. Replaceable sensors have long been on people's wish lists, but the churn cycle of digital cameras has made new tech synonymous with new cameras.

[@cameralabs]

You've hit the nail on the head.

[@danfarmer_photo]

The floppy disc grind from Gordon 😂😂😂😂

[@danmiddle2]

More lists like this please... for this one, I was expecting to see the Sony QX series in the list. Great video, thanks

[@almostinfamous42]

Almost forgot about that, I think there should be a follow up. There's definitely enough material for it

[@MichaelManus]

Excellent video and so entertaining! Also my heart fluttered during the Alex cameo ❤️

[@josekuhn2819]

i had an Afga 1680 with a twisty body that I used to create quicktime VRs using a Kaidan VR tripod head.

[@shannonpalmer]

My dad had that kodak dc120 back when I was in my early 20s. As far as i remember, it was the first digital camera I ever used. The photos were terrible, but at the time it was so amazing to have digital photos. I wonder if he still has that thing???

[@cameralabs]

You should have a look!

[@thegreatvanziniphotos5976]

That was an excellent & fun watch. Still have my Mavica somewhere around here.

[@MrYoohootuber]

Wow that bought back memories. I had the Sony 505V back in the day. Before that Casio rotating camera module QV300. Fuji had interesting cameras back then too with the vertical grip MX series.

[@cameralabs]

Rotating cameras for the win! I've been testing my 505, 707, 717 and 828 all this week!

[@fakkerdakker]

Fantastic! Thanks guys!

[@Kaltpfote]

A nice and entertaining crossover, it was a great trip down the memorylane. I remembered some of the cameras, even though I only read about them in the also rather early internet days. At one point I had the Sony F-828 mentioned briefly by Gordon though, which in my memories still was a great camera, although it produced very noisy images. I can relate however to Gordon's Nr.1 choice: Being an 80's kid and a Nintendo fan at that, I got the Gameboy Camera at one point for birthday, even along with the printer. Back then I was already interested with in taking photos with my parent's film cameras, however I was only allowed a few shots, sometimes it took a long while before seeing them, because after a vacation a third of a roll was still empty and so on. The Gameboy Camera, although being of horrible quality, was in fact the first camera which I could happily use the way I wanted. It's quite impressive how things have developed since then.

[@cameralabs]

Would you use it again today though?

[@Kaltpfote]

@@cameralabs Good question, if I still would have the GB Camera around and would have a modern day Gameboy as demonstrated in your video, I might try it occasionally. But to be honest I wouldn't go and buy the Camera module and a fitting console just for that purpose. I didn't know about an actual hype and a community actually still using it and it's interesting to read and watch, especially as it shows how much technology evolved in the past 30 years.

[@FrankLeeYoung]

The Gameboy camera seems to be a hipster gamer's dream gadget today. Like the return of novelty Polaroid cameras, but geekier. Pleasantly surprised that Gordon made it his #1! Now I gotta check IG for all those GB cam pics.

[@cameralabs]

Definitely the hipster's choice!

[@slr7075]

Film too mainstream and expensive now.

[@sgtLPH]

Wonderful crossover!

[@blood_n_guts_murphy]

Casio Exilim EX M2 was my first digital camera. 2MP, credit card sized and it was also an MP3 player. Awesome.

[@deanisplemoni]

Absolutely loved mine! Sold it for a profit. Probably should've kept it....

[@sduck409]

I have a Sony f717 and f828. The picture quality of the f828 especially compares really well to much more expensive modern cameras.

[@cameralabs]

Look out for my Dino Bytes reviews of BOTH models soon!

[@ak4good]

What a fun episode! You guys are good together too. Maybe get Jordan in there too next time maybe for weird video/hybrid cams? :-)

[@peterdavies9166]

I work as an Aeronautical Engineer in the field of airframe structural repairs. I bought a Minolta Dimage back in the 90's especially for the removable lens feature. It was great to be able to "snake" it in to view damage in very inaccessible places. The alternative was a VERY expensive boroscope system that delivered very poor IQ.

[@thenexthobby]

Years ago someone in our townhouse complex had to make a hasty exit. The contents of their unit appeared in the shared dumpster. I noticed a small gadget and retrieved it. An Apple QuickTake, but not the "good" (200 model) one. I could not physically dumpster-dive far enough to retrieve the Mac tossed within. It was some years later I was able to attach the necessary printer cable to a host Mac to view any images. It wasn't worth the wait.

[@lucavascon1498]

Oh wow! this is one of my favorire subjects and expertise area. The video is so fun, WELL DONE GUYS! these coop videos really ARE interesting, with you two being very involving and informative in a really wide range of audience. I'd put on the line Minolta Dimage 1500, with the ability of change lens mnodules, the 3rd party 3D module and the "SCRIPTA" operating system allowing user written software and enhancements (co-developed with Kodak). Epson RD1 was another weirdo, but it had lot of attention recently too. Apple quicktake were given their shape by Canon Ion series. Not digital but magnetic! analogue sensor and magnetic discs, as analogue a music cassette is! How to forget Sony clumsy big MVC-CD1000, writing on a mini CD? We need more of these experiments today!! Thank you p.s. We italians used to call the Sony 505 to 828 cameras as... well, it would be a citation, so it's "sony Biggus Dickus series" . Absolutely ergonomic and handy...

[@leonchen4065]

My dad had the 1st series of the camera that Gordan chose for his #5 weird camera.

[@guyjordan8201]

Gordon’s Mavica FD5... for a long time that was our engineering department’s only digital camera. 5years later engineers were using cameras on their flip phones better than the Magic’s but management would not upgrade... ... but my retro choice would be the Sony QX1.

[@D1N02]

This proves the Pentax K-01 is a perfectly normal camera

[@ingram98ab]

sony F717 was my first digital camera, a friend who worked at a school photo lab liked it so much she got her school to buy the F828, wich if i remember well, had 4 color CCD (RGBE). And both had night vision!

[@cameralabs]

The 707 and 717 had the night vision, they were fun!

[@maximburgman]

Just let Gordon plug his damn book so we don’t have to pretend it’s not in the background (twice!)

[@cameralabs]

They're glued to the wall

[@franzweber7494]

Thanks for this useful buying guide. I will order all of them!

[@patrickjclarke]

The Ricoh GXR had the A12 Leica M Mount module, and it’s HIGHLY collectible and goes for about $500 alone.

[@SLLYT]

My Ricoh GXR with its VF2, 28 and 50 modules is still my favorite camera.

[@erratic100]

I do wish the digital back thing had taken off, and worked (perhaps not in that order). I’d still be using my Nikon f4 if that were the case.

[@WiwatChang]

Weirdest digital camera I ever used was the Sony Mavica FD73 that write 3.5inch floppy disks

[@AdCosmo]

These guys really know their lipstick.

[@cameralabs]

I'm a modern man, what can i say?

[@rollertoaster812]

One I was hoping to see in this video is the Minolta Dimage Z1 which I have one of, with its quirky early digital camera "lens barrel with a handle" looks and an EVF that works by actually flipping the rear screen up inside the body and bouncing the image off a mirror!

[@charlesdavis6371]

some pretty wild stuff - loved it.

[@KelvinKamsg]

That Lytro illum body was really beautiful looking. Would be a good reference for any company intending to make a touchscreen dominant mirrorless camera

[@leojonkers3181]

My first digital camera was the Canon PowerShot A5. 1 megapixel. Compact flash cards were ridiculously expensive at the turn of the century, on vacation I could take 35 pictures with a small flash card (8mb). But it was a lot of fun, you could show the photos to the people, like a kind of Polaroid. I still have it, in the closet with other older cameras. I'm not getting rid of that! I closed my dark room and that's when the digital age started for me.

[@VamsiMohanKrishnaVadrevu]

Gordon Laing is the reason I got my D7000 back in 2013. Wonderful camera. Still use it to this day. I don't really need anything else for my use case.

[@vincevinnyp9224]

That Canon power shot actually looks like a great idea. Modern phones deal very well, with most peoples needs, for wide angle to short tele. A small dedicated telephoto, with good app integration, could work if it were marketed properly. Apple or Samsung branding something like that could do very well.

[@tombuck]

This is a pretty incredible assortment of oddities. I’d love to see a list of weirdest camcorders 👍

[@mustafakarakaya1301]

Fantastic episode! Keen to see one with video cameras too. Thanks.

[@shahabh2108]

I do need that modular Ricoh idea back as soon as possible! When you need shallow DOF use the FF sensor and when needed more reach, micro 4thirds!