Sony Mavica: Photos on floppy disks!

[AdamAnt316]

Dave A's threads on old digital cameras have reminded me that, for the past year or so, I've been futzing around with Sony's Mavica line of digital cameras. For those who aren't familiar with them, the Mavicas used 3.5" floppy disks as their storage medium, which came in handy back when pretty much all computers were still equipped with floppy disk drives, since solid-state memory was still expensive at the time, and transferring photos from most early digital cameras to your computer using a (non-USB) serial cable was slow and tedious. The first Digital Mavica models, MVC-FD5 and FD7, were introduced in 1997; the last models, MVC-FD100 and FD200, were introduced in 2002 and, as a sign of the future of digital photography, were also equipped with MemoryStick slots.

Anyway, on with the cameras! I'll start off with the first Mavica model I found, which was also one of their best (spec-wise), the MVC-FD91 from 1998:

I'm pretty sure the lens setup was borrowed from their Handycam line of 8mm camcorders, as it sports both 14x optical zoom and "SteadyShot" vibration resistance. The sensor is capable of 1024x768 resolution, as crowed by one of the various colorful stickers stuck to the housing, and each floppy disk generally holds 6-7 photos at the highest quality settings. The image quality isn't that great, even by Mavica standards, but it's definitely a capable camera, and the old F330/F550 "InfoLithium" battery packs still manage to hold a decent charge 20+ years on. Here are some example photos:




(more photos from the same convention taken with the FD91 can be found here)




More soon!
-Adam

[dishdude]

I'm shocked Sony actually used a standard storage medium! Those pictures are excellent for 1998, imo.

[Ed in Tx]

First 5 years of my digital camera life 2000 - 2005 was with an FD-91. Still have it. Don't think I have a battery that will work it though. Anyone with a hankerin' for one let me know!

Couple of pics from the races at TMS back in 2005. The wide one is two I put together.

[Chip Chester]

There's one of the basic ones available on Columbus OH craigslist right now...

[Telecolor 3007]

Seen one in a flea market, but didn't bought it. It was only the camera.
But I'm glad to see that some one bought one
Off-topic: what are those Pyramids?

Originally Posted by dishdude

I'm shocked Sony actually used a standard storage medium! Those pictures are excellent for 1998, imo.

There where some pro cameras back then that made better digital image, but the price was above the reach of ordinary consumer, even in U.S.A. You could put some money for house buying in stad of buying a camera.

[Electronic M]

I've seen some mavicas pass through the local Goodwill. But I know it would be a forgotten knick knack in a month. The FedEx Kinko's in Lakeland FL had one they used for IIRC passport photos a good 12 years ago.

[Dave A]

I dug out my FL-91 today and shot a few pix. I forgot how good it was for the time.

[jr_tech]

Sony made earlier use of the Mavica name for an instructional device, which apparently was not marketed.



jr

[Eric H]

Sony also had one that recorded on 3" CD-RW as I recall.

[AdamAnt316]

Originally Posted by dishdude

I'm shocked Sony actually used a standard storage medium! Those pictures are excellent for 1998, imo.

Given that Sony invented the 3.5" floppy disk in the first place, they probably saw it as justified. As for the quality, it's definitely lacking in low-light situations as evidenced in this photo, but does a pretty good job overall.

Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007

Seen one in a flea market, but didn't bought it. It was only the camera.
But I'm glad to see that some one bought one
Off-topic: what are those Pyramids?

I've bought four of them so far, all at flea markets and thrift stores. One of them doesn't work (drive issues), but the other three work splendidly for what they are.
As for the 'pyramid' photo, those are two Time Pyramids flanking an Alien Clock. One of the Time Pyramids doesn't keep good time, but the array sure looks neat, I think. Just a few of the many clocks in my collection.....

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I've seen some mavicas pass through the local Goodwill. But I know it would be a forgotten knick knack in a month. The FedEx Kinko's in Lakeland FL had one they used for IIRC passport photos a good 12 years ago.

Yeah, the Mavica line was very popular with insurance companies, realtors, and other businesses. I believe the last two models were in production for at least a couple of years after the end of the format due to that fact.

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

First 5 years of my digital camera life 2000 - 2005 was with an FD-91. Still have it. Don't think I have a battery that will work it though. Anyone with a hankerin' for one let me know!

Couple of pics from the races at TMS back in 2005. The wide one is two I put together.

Those photos look pretty good! My first 'digital capture' device around 2002 was a Panasonic VHS camcorder tethered to a Snappy Video Snapshot device, later replaced a few years later by a Kodak 'EasyShare' camera which I found at a flea market. I remember hearing much about the Mavica line, but didn't come across one for sale until last year.

With regards to batteries, I've had fairly good luck with the original Sony 'InfoLithium' packs, but there are several companies selling reproductions like this which work fairly well. Some of the offerings like this also include a battery charger, which comes in handy if the original has gone missing, which seems to be fairly common with Mavicas for some reason.

Originally Posted by Chip Chester

There's one of the basic ones available on Columbus OH craigslist right now...

Yep, they're still out there, as are the disks. And even the basic models can be kinda fun to mess with, since they included a button to apply 'picture effects' to the photos being taken. More on that later.

Originally Posted by Dave A

I dug out my FL-91 today and shot a few pix. I forgot how good it was for the time.

Very nice! I've been getting quite a bit of use from these Mavicas as of late. Seems much more convenient to transfer from floppies directly into the computer than to use an SD card and have to deal with the associated photo library program. Not quite sure why that is.

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Sony made earlier use of the Mavica name for an instructional device, which apparently was not marketed.



jr

Interesting! I'm guessing that those 'Mavicards' are predecessors of their 2" "Mavipak" disks, also known as the "Video Floppy" format used with the original 1981 Mavica prototype, and later models like this one. Unlike the Mavica models from the late '90s, the earliest models were not digital, but rather were actually 'still video cameras', recording single frames of analog video onto the video floppies in concentric rings. I'm guessing the "Mavicard" model was an attempt at an early magnetic video disk using similar ideas. Any idea what size those 'cards' were?

Originally Posted by Eric H

Sony also had one that recorded on 3" CD-RW as I recall.

Correct. Of course, that would be rather stretching the meaning of "Mavica", given that it originally(?) stood for MAgnetic VIdeo CAmera, but whatever floats their boat...
-Adam

[Telecolor 3007]

Dind't realized that Mavica it's an acronym.
@ Dave_A : That railway agency is still in operation?

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by AdamAnt316

... As for the quality, it's definitely lacking in low-light situations as evidenced in this photo, but does a pretty good job overall.....Those photos look pretty good!
-Adam

Pic quality was pretty good for .9MP!
I've added a few more from TMS in 2005. The guy in the light blue T-shirt is me about 40 lbs heavier and 15 years younger(!) geezzz...

The bag on my shoulder was for carrying the camera, batteries and extra floppy discs.

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by AdamAnt316

I've bought four of them so far, all at flea markets and thrift stores. One of them doesn't work (drive issues)
-Adam

btw I have a "new in the box" a 3.5" drive for that camera, Sony 1-759-679-11 just in case I needed one someday. It is available.

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by AdamAnt316

"Stereo: Pioneer SPEC-4..."

Another "btw"... The Sony FD91 also took great macro closeups. I see "SPEC-4" in your list. I own two SPEC-4s, consecutive serial numbers. One of them blew up back in 2011. I've attached a couple of pics taken with the FD91 of weak cracked solder connections on the main amp board that fried. Before you turn on your SPEC-4 again I would highly recommend you go through it and re-solder everything! Then scrub off all the old brown nasty looking flux from the boards with a toothbrush and alcohol. Clean'em up good. All the boards in both of mine had cracked solder connections. The one that blew took out resistors, finals, drivers, other small transistors and diodes.

[jr_tech]

Along similar lines, Sony also made a MiniDisc camera, as seen in this e-bay listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Hi-MD-...0f65d61780169b

I don’t think that they applied the Mavica name to this device, although the MD was a magnetic/optical media.

not affiliated,
jr