Ricoh RDC-300 (1997)
Marketed in 1997, made by Ricoh and licensed to Philips. Unveiled at Comdex Fall '97. 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 (only Z and ZOOM models), 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.
In Japan the camera was marketed as the Ricoh DC-3. The camera was popular and therefore special editions and enhanced versions were available (please also have a look at my rarities section):
| RDC-300 | US market camera with 4MB internal memory | |
| RDC-300Z | US market camera with SmartMedia slot and 3x optical zoom, added b/w mode and auto-focus | |
| DC-3 | Asian market camera with 4BM internal memory | |
| DC-3G | Asian market camera with 4BM internal memory, dark grey body, 2MB SmartMedia included | |
| DC-3G Gundam | Asian market limited edition in Gundam colours, same as 3G model | |
| DC-3Z | Asian market camera with SmartMedia slot and 3x optical zoom, added b/w mode and auto-focus, 4MB SmartMedia included |
Ricoh also planned to market them in various colour variations, which was a first on the digital camera market. Only two extra colors ever made it to the market, brown, red and blue. See image.
Specifications
- Brand: Ricoh
- Model: RDC-300
- First mentioned: 1997
- Marketed: yes
- MSRP: $450
- Imager Type: 0.35MP 1/4" CCD
- Resolution: 640x480
- Internal Storage: 4MB
- External Storage: SmartMedia
- Lens: f=4mm /F3.8
- Shutter: 1/8,000s - 1/5s
- Aperture Range: F2.8
- LCD screen size: 1.8" TFT
- Size: 126 x 73 x 34mm
- Weight: 230 gr.
- Remarks: also marketed as the Philips ESP-2 and several limited editions