Polaroid

Polaroid PDC 2000/40 (1996)

"This camera is a fine example of why collecting vintage digital cameras is so much fun," is how one collector's website describes the PDC 2000. The absolutely unique appearance is reason enough. Is it a Star Wars weapon or a device for taking pictures?

Polaroid produced a camera for professionals which cost more than US$3,500, yet this machine has no user-adjustable settings at all, including no manual focus control. There is also no screen for viewing photos. However, it did have a huge internal image memory of 40mb – that's the reason for the 40 in the name – and it came with the connections and software to be linked directly to the photographer's Apple computer for processing the photos and controlling the camera.

Another rare feature was the auto-focus mechanism which emitted sound waves rather than the usual light beam.

But it's the remarkable design that makes the PDC 2000 such a treasure.