Philips ESP-2 (1997)

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Marketed in 1997, this was Philips entry model into the digital camera market. Unveiled at Comdex Fall '97. Made by Ricoh. The camera was a simple yet effective small VGA digital camera. It had everything one would expect from an early digicam. It featured macro shooting, a built-in flash, video out port, DC jack, both internal and external memory, a regular sized TFT display, three compression levels, a self-timer and the possibility to operate the camera with the use of an optional remote control. There is nothing negative to say here about the device. It was a good OEM camera choice for Philips to start their foray into the digital camera market.

 

Three models would follow, the ESP-50, ESP-60 and ESP-80. The ESP-80 was yet another Ricoh clone. At the turn of the millennium Philips announced two more models which were actually prototyped but never released (see Prototype section). After that Philips canned all digital camera plans. Above you can see the very first and only picture in the world of the entire Philips ESP digital camera line-up.