UMAX DC-A1 (1998)

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The 1998 CeBIT fair held many surpsrises for digital camera enthusiasts. Before this event the market was dominated by japanese manufacturers but now european, korean and taiwanese manufacturers stepped up and flooded the fair with props, mock-up devices and prototypes. Some only showed pictures in a leaflet! Yes, the 1998 CeBIT fair was the pinnacle of digital camera inventions and innovations. Some of the weirdest devices were shown and most of them didn't come to market. Samsung and LG were on the forefront, just to name a few.

 

The UMAX DC-A1 was such a device. Not built by UMAX but by NMC and announced 1998-05-15 together with the DC-F1. It was an OEM model from Taiwan. In the 1990's UMAX was one of the market leaders for scanners but now demonstrated a new VGA model. The camera sported a built-in flash, compact flash storage, optical and LCD viewfinder, serial and video out connectors and automatic exposure and white balance settings. According to UMAX the camera could process images as fast as 3 seconds. The camera never made it to market and was also announced under the NView DMC brand. According to one source the novelty on the CeBIT fair was the compact flash card compatibility in digital cameras as well as the announcement of more XGA models.