Oldest camera with live screen: The Casio QV-10 from 1995
A reader shows me the world's first camera with a colour screen. He had to write his own software to transfer the photos to the PC. The camera has a rotating lens and an unintentional self-destruct mechanism.
My recently acquired digicam from 1999 is getting on in years, but compared to the first cameras of some of you, it is directly modern. That's what I conclude from the comments on my review of the antique Canon PowerShot A50.
I'm particularly interested in user DigiFennek, who writes that he wants to get his Casio QV-10 up and running again. This camera was launched in Japan at the end of 1994 and was also available in Europe from 1995. This year, Stefan, as DigiFennek is normally known, struck gold: he bought the camera, which would actually have cost 1300 francs, for the bargain price of less than 1000 francs.
When I asked him if he had got the camera working and could send me a sample picture with the camera, he wrote back:
We can do that. However, I first have to find a way to get the images from the camera via RS232. I've already made a cable, now I'm looking for software for it. I might write something in C#, I've already found the protocol on the net.
Nerd skills are obviously required here. A few days later, Stefan has managed it: the connection between the PC and the camera works. Stefan comes to visit me at the editorial team and I can briefly play around with the Casio QV-10 myself.
What is immediately noticeable: The lens of the camera can be turned to the other side of the camera so that it points in the same direction as the screen. This allows you to take selfies.
Sensationally good for 1995
The fact that Casio has already built in a selfie function here surprises me at first. But the idea is obvious, because this camera is the first in the world that allows you to see yourself live while taking a picture. That's because of the screen. The Casio QV-10 is the first camera ever with a built-in colour LCD that can also be used as a viewfinder. Small LCDs that could display shooting data already existed in film cameras. But displaying a live viewfinder image is a completely different matter. The time delay is clearly visible and the refresh rate is anything but smooth, but it is sensational for 1995.
From today's perspective: So bad that it's good again
Casio dispenses with frippery such as flash or setting the aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. There is also no zoom, although a button is labelled as such. As the camera does not recognise the date and time, there is nothing it can write in the Exif data. Apart from the fact that the Exif standard had not even been invented when the Casio QV-10 was born.
The focus can be adjusted neither manually nor automatically. At least there is a macro mode that allows close-up shots. I can't say how close I can get with it, it's hard to tell on the screen whether the focus is right. Not in the end result either. So it's only logical that Casio didn't bother with the focus at all.
As the aperture cannot be adjusted, the images are overexposed as soon as it is a little bright. However, the camera has something like an ND filter: a layer is placed in front of the lens to darken it. This supposedly changes the aperture from f/2 to f/8.
The resolution of the images is an incredible 480×240 pixels. The photos come out of the camera in a distorted aspect ratio and have to be resized to either 360×240 or 480×360 pixels.
Such an image is about 20 KB in size. That takes a few seconds to save. To get such small files, the images are heavily compressed. I've never seen compression artefacts in a JPEG straight out of the camera, but here they are abundantly clear.
The lens shines with record-breaking chromatic aberrations and distortions.
One photo too many and the camera is ruined
The Casio QV-10 is powered by 4 AA batteries. Rechargeable batteries should not be used. These only have a voltage of 1.2 V instead of 1.5 V. This is why the camera stops working as soon as the batteries become just a little bit weaker.
In this case, this is not only annoying, but also dangerous. This is because the camera has a very nasty flaw: if the power is actually almost exhausted and you take another photo, the flash memory is corrupted and the camera can no longer be started.
"Fortunately, I didn't know this, otherwise I wouldn't have been so relaxed when taking photos," says Stefan. There is no battery status display either. It went well for two years, then it happened. The camera became unusable.
Resurrection in two parts
Many years later, around 2005, Stefan discovered software that allowed him to reset the camera. This enabled him to get it working again. But it is only today that the connection to the PC is working again. And only today is the Casio QV-10 old enough to be seen as a fascinating rarity. <p
36 people like this article
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
