Fujifilm DS-8 (1996)

Next >

The Fuji DS-8 was announced 1996-10-24. The DS-8 only came to life because of the sales success of it's predecessor, the DS-7. Users of the DS-7 complained about a missing optical viewfinder though, so Fujifilm deployed a clip-on viewfinder with the DS-8. Please note that this clip-on viewfinder was previously not available for the DS-7 so that is the reason why the Apple QuickTake 200 is based on the DS-8 and not, as many people assume, on the more popular DS-7! The DS-8 was called "ClipIt DS-8" in Japan and probably not marketed anywhere else.

It was in general completely identical to the DS-7 with a few minor differences. First of all the body color slightly changed to a darker tone (high quality body color for a high quality digital camera), then it was equipped with a high-quality fine mode, reducing the compression distortion. It came also equipped with a newly designed HYCP circuit to achieve a higher, sharper image in the sense of resolution. Also buyers were given free rechargeable AA nickel-cadmium batteries and a charger. On the downside the camera worked only with a 2MB 5V Smart Media card, so it wasn't really camera for the future.

I couldn't help myself but posting some alleged sample promo shots that were taken with a DS-8. They are from a now defunct Fujifilm website. I find it very hard to believe that the a simple 1996 point-and-shoot camera is able to take such vivid and colorful snapshots. Judge for yourself. Also you can see pictures of the DS-8 the way it was sold in Japan with viewfinder.

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