Cameras are at a point now where there are almost no bad ones anymore. There have been some odd camera releases to get where we are now, though. And some of them are by big mainstream brands.
In this video, Cong Thanh takes a look through photography history to talk about some of these cameras. And while they may have been commercial flops, they all have their dedicated fans.
Even film cameras aren’t safe
When I first saw this video, I was expecting it to cover only digital cameras. Because we saw some doozies in the early days of digital cameras. When technology companies like Hewlett-Packard suddenly jumped into the world of photography, all bets were off.
But no, it also covers film cameras, starting off with the Konica AiBORG. It’s a funny-looking camera with the oddest button arrangement I’ve seen on an all-in-one compact-style camera. Although, it looks more like a modern-day bridge camera than a compact.
We get onto digital pretty quickly, though, with Hasselblad and Sony. The Hasselblad Lusso wasn’t the first Sony rebrand, but it was probably the one that sticks out most. It was basically a rebranded, fancy-looking Sony A7 R.
And then there are the weird cameras
The video doesn’t just look at badly designed regular cameras. It also looks at other camera technologies and fads. Technologies that seemed to pop into existence with a lot of hype and then disappear completely.
This includes cameras like those from Lytro. These were light-field cameras. They let you change your focus and other features in post. They started by creating cameras for photographers but eventually shifted to Hollywood before vanishing.
The Light L16 is another that is mentioned in the video. It combined 16 lenses into a single smartphone-sized(ish) device. The goal was to be able to capture as much information about the scene as possible. It then used this to make as good a photo as possible. At least, that was the theory. The reality was rather underwhelming.
No mention of Nikon
I’m quite surprised that there was no mention of Nikon’s failed Keymission series of cameras. They launched to huge fanfare at Photokina 2016. I remember sitting there in the press area for the announcement in Cologne. Surrounded by a who’s who of YouTubers and tech journalists, all eager for news.
Then the news came. The promise was pretty great. The cameras looked awesome on paper. I really hoped Nikon would take off in the 360 space. Sadly, it was not to be. Nikon’s Keymission cameras were also very underwhelming.
There are a few other possible good ones that Cong missed from his list. Maybe we’ll see a Part 2 at some point? Did you use any of these cameras? Do you still own them? What’s missing?
