Fujix DS-220 (1995)

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The Fujix DS-220 was the world's first digital camera that used Lithium Ion batteries and was announced on 1995-11-01. It was the successor of the Fujix DS-200F. Right from the start the camera was announced as a modular, versatile digital camera system, intended for many applications. Apart from the camera one could also buy an external LCD monitor (PA-D22) (doubled as a viewfinder), an external macro flash adaptor with twin strobes and extra macro lenses (MC-D22) and a suitcase (LC-D22). The LCD monitor and the converter kits would cost another $1,000 making it a pretty expensive camera set. The camera itself was a pretty advanced piece of technology, not exactly point-and-shoot but with all the extra accessoires attached it became quite unwieldy.

Now because the camera was also used in dentist offices and because the camera could be equipped with a twin strobe macro kit, people tend to believe that this was a special model built for dentistry or medical purposes. This is simply one of the many errors floating around the internet. Fujix offered it as a multi-purpose camera for a variety of applications. See the german brochure above. Also there was a wide converter kit available without the strobes. So there you go. The now defunct japanese Fujifilm DS-220 site suggested the following fields of work: Inside the building, in the medical field, in Real-Estate, in mass media or news organizations, for DTP publishing and for building websites. Anyone with a little bit of knowledge of the internet can google this information and everyone else can stick with the bullshit from digicamhistory.com.

Initial production was set at only 1,000 units per month.

All images © digicammuseum.com except the promo shots © Fujifilm Corporation