These images were taken during the
years 2001 - 2003 in the so-called Azalea Valley in Gothenburg with a
Sony Mavica FD95.
The Mavica certainly was an odd camera at the time. It
was bulky, saved images in a time consuming way on floppy discs and
did not exactly impress with its 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution. And it
set you back by nearly 1000 Dollars.
Yet, it had some groundbreaking
qualities that clearly pointed towards a bright future for digital
photography. The image saving on a floppy disk opened up a freeway
for instant image transfer to almost any type of computer. It was
standard at the time to have 3.5'' floppy slots in all PCs and
systems, even in the Apple World. This was a huge advantage if you
wanted to distribute your images quickly and painlessly and without
installing new software. Of course, this changed over time, the
floppy did not live much longer. But it paved the way nonetheless.
The Mavica's autofocus worked
flawlessly, autoexposure likewise. Spot metering at your fingertip
was a blessing in complicated lighting situations. The steady shot
function was phenomenal, at times unbelievable! Given the huge 10 x
optical zoom, this meant an unprecedented possibility of zooming in
to the brink and wind up with sharp images with a handheld camera.
Pressing the tulip-button took you to a closeup setting with a
nearest focus of 2 cm. The LCD display was large, bright and of high
image quality, given these rather early days of digital
photography. It was further complemented with a LCD viewfinder for
those outdoor conditions where the larger display is overpowered by
e.g. bright sunlight. The colors of the resulting JPGs were generally very pleasing and clearly superior to many other digicams at that time.
All in all, the versatility of the
Mavica strongly boosted an enthusiasm for digital photography, both
for myself, for my colleagues at school and for many students.
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