Samsung Digimax 35 MP3 (2000)

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At the PMA 2000, Samsung introduced a small range of new compact digital cameras. Among them was the Samsung Digimax 35 MP3. The camera was supposed to be marketed together with the identical Samsung Digimax 35. The only difference being the built-in MP3 player. Personally however, I strongly believe Samsung skipped the Digimax 35 (without MP3) and marketed it as the Digimax 50 Duo instead. Traditionally manufactured in Taiwan, the 35 MP3 was already outdated when it was marketed, well that is as far as the resolution and the sensor goes. We are talking 2MP being the standard in 2000. Among some standard features the camera also sported a webcam function with 15 frames per second which was also a standard function in a plethora of compact digital cameras since 1998.

 

On one side the camera had an audio jack, an USB port, a digital computer port and even a DC jack. But therefore it lacked a LCD screen! So navigating through recorded images and MP3 files was kind of difficult. The transparent petrol applications were a nice touch and totally in line with the Zeitgeist back then (iMac). The camera itself though felt kind of cheap being made of plastic overall. A metal body would have been nice here. It didn't help much that Samsung included a free bag and some headphones with each camera.

 

What would be interesting is that Samsung listed the manufacturer of this camera as Samsung Techwin and the list price in 2000 was 259,000 Won ($229). Samsung praised this camera on their website as a 'New Generation Fusion Camera'. Oh by the way, the prototype shown at the PMA2000 was labeled Cybermax Plus. Samsung's initial thought was to call the Digimax series 'Cybermax'.