Konica DG-1 (1998)

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Konica announced the DG-1 on 1998-06-15 and shown at the Laboratoy Systems Show '98. It was the first of the "Digital Foreman" series. Designed especially for use on construction sites. The camera was made almost completey out of durable rubber and made a sturdy impression. According to Konica the camera was "washable", which means that when the camera got dirty it could be rinsed with water and the dirt could be washed off. The camera's design was based on the previously released Konica Q-M100(v). The "Foreman" camera was not a new invention however because Konica had already released a ruggedized film camera in 1988 called Konica Genba Kantoku (work camera or Foreman camera).

 

Equipped with JIS protection grade 7 class of waterproof and dust proof performance, sand prevention from entering (dust and sand intrusion), it was built for harsh environments such as afore mentioned construction sites or rain. The lens was equipped with dust-proof glass that had been subjected to special strengthening treatment to withstand rain and dust. The camera was designed to operate automatically without having to manually adjust settings and could even be operated wearing gloves. A 4MB Compact Flash card was included with the camera and could record up to 50 images.

 

Among the features of the camera were an automatic dimming flash and a real-image finder, a 1.8"  MIM LCD viewfinder, 2x digital zoom function as well as video output (NTSC / PAL). Special software allowed the "foreman" to create a construction site album with photos for each construction site. Intrigued by this model I managed to track one of them down. Of course it had been heavily used and showed average wear and tear (don't expect to find one "NiB", "NOS" or "near mint"). To my surprise there was still a memory card left in the camera with actual footage of an actual foreman on an actual japanese construction site!

 

The camera was only sold in Japan, earned good reviews and was a market success for years until it was succeeded in 2001 by follow-up model DG-2 and the DG-3Z in 2003.