Looking for a current value for the Kodak DCS-100 System

Discuss older Nikon-based Kodak digital SLRs, including DCS 100, DCS 200, NC2000, DCS 400/600/700-series, etc. Ask questions, post general comments, anecdotes, reviews and user tips.
drummond93
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Military and government users...

Post by drummond93 »

I don't doubt that the military/ or the government used some of the DCS 100's... but I'm not seeing them come through the surplus auctions or sales like I would expect if they had bought say a hundred or two... and I've been tracking surplus auctions for over 10 years, well within the time frame of when they should have been surplusing them.. I don't think that they are all stashed somewhere, or that they get disposed of somewhere else.. they just aren't there in the military or federal gov't channels. In the same time frame, I've seen probably a couple hundred DCS 200's, 420's, 460's, and the like get surplused.. but only 1 DCS-100. (and that was by itself, no DSU) My only explanation might be once the cameras were surplus, they sent the cameras to other state/ local agencies and therefore they stay out of the surplus auctions altogether.

That's how I originally figured only around 100-200 being produced, due to the ratio of the 1 DCS100 I'd seen compared to all the DSC 200's and 4xx's

Anyway, it's not real important... we know they don't seem to show up very often, hopefully as people start reading/hearing about them they'll pull them out of closets and try to sell them.. :-)
NikonWeb
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Re: Military and government users...

Post by NikonWeb »

drummond93 wrote:I don't doubt that the military/ or the government used some of the DCS 100's... but I'm not seeing them come through the surplus auctions or sales like I would expect if they had bought say a hundred or two...
Perhaps they threw away the worthless DCS junk and kept the camera bodies? I don't know. Whatever happened to the DCS kits, I'm happy to have one :)

Jarle
Brian Sweeney
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DCS100

Post by Brian Sweeney »

By the time that Kodak was advertising and showing the DCS"100", the DCS200 was not far behind. I looked at a DCS100 at a Computer show in Washington in ~1991. When I lined up the funds to buy one, the DCS200 was available. It was just much more practical for field tests and other experiments. People down the hall bought the color version of the DCS200. I do not believe that anyone at the Naval Research Lab bought one, and we bought LOTS of stuff.
drummond93
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Location: Columbus & Dayton Ohio

DCS-100 not bought by the military

Post by drummond93 »

I'd have to agree with Brian, I was thinking that the military research labs would be on the forefront of technology and if anyone were to buy a DCS-100, it would be them... but I haven't seen any come from that arena. Even from the Air Force, I haven't seen any come from the Air Force Research Labs (Wright Patterson, Hanscom, Eglin , Edwards, Kirtland)
and I've seen plenty of neat, ultra expen$ive gear go through surplus at those sites (neatest was probably a Canon FD 1800mm catadioptic ultra-telephoto lens, used with a separate focusing unit (not included), 1 of maybe 10 built by Canon for the Space Tracking network)

That's again why I felt 100-200 total was a better guess for production numbers than the 1000~2000 based on serial number.

Would anyone now how Kodak uses serial numbers for products?
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DCS 100 vs. QV-1000C

Post by NikonWeb »

The DCS kits are obviously rare, but they still show up on eBay and elsewhere from time to time.

If only 100-200 cameras were made, very few -- if any -- would be seen 'out in the wild'.

Let's compare with the QV-1000C, one of the rarest Nikon cameras ever produced. About 100 units made. The units I know of ended up with collectors and Nikon offices around Europe (and probably other continents, as well). I was *extremely* lucky to find one, with invaluable assistance from the Norwegian Nikon distributor. I would never had found it by myself.

If only 100-200 Kodak DCS cameras were made, they should be practically impossible to find. Still, I've seen two on eBay since April, and located and bought a third one. At least two different DSU's have also been offered on eBay during the same period. Mentioning of several DCS cameras (yes, the original F3-version) can also be found on Google and elsewhere. How many QV units have you seen?

You should also remember that Kodak made 10 (yes, ten!) different F3-based DCS models, indicating that the total number should be higher.

Now that I got one, I'd be thrilled to find out that only 100-200 units were made. Unfortunately, I can't imagine being so lucky twice.

Jarle
Stan Disbrow
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Post by Stan Disbrow »

Hi,

Maybe they made 100-200 units for each of the 10 sub models. That would put the total production in the 1000-2000 range, and make both production estimates valid. ;)

Oddly enough, the very first ESLR I ever saw in the field was a QV-1000c at Watkin's Glen International Raceway around 1990. I didn't know about the Kodak DCS 100 until I was researching buying my first DSLR in 1999, which turned out to be an E2, quickly followed by the D1 I should have bought in the first place! :P

Stan
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer
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