How to research an obscure digital camera

Amy Hoy -

There are way more models of vintage digital cameras than have ever — or will ever — be featured in a retro review post or video. Whole brands nobody has ever mentioned (like DXG!).

And when you find a camera that's never been highlighted, they tend to be cheap.

And some of them are really, really good… or bad in the best way.

To find out if you've found an unknown gem, the first step is to hunt down image samples.

Here are my go-to's:

  1. Flickr: Search for the camera model and brand.
  2. Pbase: Search/browse by brand and model
  3. Wikimedia: Use the Taken with [Brand] index to locate it
  4. VintageDigitalCameras subreddit: Search by brand and model
  5. Lomography: Search by brand. They don't have samples from a lot of digital cameras, but they do have some of the weirder ones
  6. ExploreCams: painfully stuffed with ads and less reliable than Pbase, but sometimes has a better selection
  7. Google: Search for a camera make and model and then go to the Images tab. Sometimes you'll luck out with a random blog or old Instagram listing or other sources.

And sometimes there are zero — literally zero — samples images to be found.

If it's cheap enough, and you think the brand is worth a shot? Splurge. You never know what you'll get. I've gotten one of my absolute favorite cameras this way.