CR’s Best Digital Cameras Circa Y2K

Posted by admin on Mar 17, 2023

A look back at the point-and-shoot cameras of 1998 and 1999 and how to shop for vintage models today

Clockwise from upper left: Panasonic PV-DC1580, Nikon Coolpix 990, Kodak Digital Science DC210, Ricoh RDC-300Z, Olympus C-2000 Zoom.

By Perry Santanachote

In the November 1998 issue of Consumer Reports, a feature story about newfangled digital cameras was sandwiched in between a review of the rebooted Volkswagen Beetle and advice on how to buy a VCR—two wildly popular products in the late ’90s that are no longer in production today. (Although I’d start a petition to bring back the Beetle.)

The digital camera has managed to resist obsolescence despite constant improvements in smartphone cameras. Gen Z’s obsession with Y2K has moved beyond fashion and is even fueling a comeback for point-and-shoot cameras. On TikTok, the hashtag #DigitalCamera has over 300 million views, with creators sharing digicam images and the camera they snapped them with. Not any digital camera will do, though. What’s favored are vintage models from the late 1990s and early 2000s with blurry, pixelated images and no WiFi capabilities. For the real, low-quality deal, they’re shopping secondhand, checking in their grandparents’ attics, and looking online.

Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that searches for Nikon Coolpix increased by 90 percent on eBay between 2021 and 2022. But the Coolpix wasn’t the only digicam around at the time. I found about two dozen CR-tested models from that early era, originally priced from $380 to $800.

I was a teenager when these things came out and without the means to afford such a luxury (check out the prices below!), but Allen St. John, senior tech editor at CR and avid photographer, remembers that first wave well and understands why young people would romanticize those cameras today.

“There was a latency to them, a lag time between when you would click and when it would take a picture,” he says. “In a way, it’s digital aping analog. In the earliest days of photography, you had one plate and one shot with this gigantic camera. You lived in the viewfinder, waiting for that decisive moment of magic. And there was an Instamatic aesthetic to the digital images, where what you see is what you get. There wasn’t much you could do in terms of image processing with the first digital cameras.”

Shopping for a Vintage Digital Camera Today

It helps to know exactly what you’re searching for, so here’s a reproduction of CR’s original digital camera ratings from 1998 and 1999. You can search for exact makes and models online, but don’t ignore the models that didn’t rank high. What CR downgraded back then—poor print quality, long next-shot delay, and a short flash range—might be considered features today if the ideal is interesting lo-fi images and not picture quality.

Finding models that actually work and are compatible with modern computers is a bit more challenging. I purchased five models from the chart above to see what I’d get in the hopes that my experience will help you shop smarter. In the end, I was able to download images from two of the cameras.

Here are three factors to consider when shopping for a vintage camera.

1. Get a Guarantee That It Works

Whether you’re buying on eBay or Etsy, or at a used-electronics shop, make sure the seller confirms that the camera shoots images and the screen works.

Case in point: I bought a Panasonic PV-DC1580 on eBay for $75, and while it powers on and takes pictures, the screen doesn’t work, so I can’t format the memory card, change menu settings, or extract images. Fortunately, the seller accepts returns—something you should also look for.

The Nikon Coolpix 990 features a split-body configuration that is intuitive to use. And takes soft and dreamy photos.