UPDATE 11/01/15: Just want to pass along some info for our Nikon fans out there that I have been informed of HUGE instant rebates going on for a limited time. You can check out all the Nikon deals HERE. From what I can see some of the instant savings are up to as high as $1100!! on certain Nikon camera/lens combos. If you’re looking to buy new Nikon stuff, this is the time to do it!
You may also find the Nikon deals HERE. While browsing/dreaming, I was amazed at the deals and wish I had the funds! For example, you can now get a new Nikon D7100 for close to the price of a USED D7000. This is a screamin’ deal for some of Nikon’s hottest cameras and lenses.
“Retro Thang.” The Nikon Coolpix 100, released in 1997, is Nikon’s first camera under the “Coolpix” banner.
The Nikon Coolpix 100 is a .03mp digital camera introduced by Nikon Corporation in 1997. It is the first Nikon Coolpix camera and the first Nikon digital aimed at the general public.
The Coolpix 100 featured 52mm f/4 fixed lens and a whopping .03mp resolution, proving a maximum of 512×480 in Fine mode on a 1/3″ sensor.
The camera takes no media card as it is built around an old school PCMCIA serial connection and has a built-in memory which holds a maximum of 19 images in Fine mode and 37 images in Normal mode.
The Coolpix 100 is a long and funky camera. The camera is built around a PCMCIA device and takes no flash media. Instead it has built0in memory for very limited storage of images.
I found this camera for…59 cents!! The camera was in “As Is/Parts” condition. At first it didn’t seem to work, but after fiddling with the battery compartment, it came back to life.
However, I can’t show you any pictures from it because I have been unable to locate my oldest computer which might have a PCMCIA slot.
The Coolpix 100 with its “jeans” off revealing its PCMCIA computer connection.
Information is scarce on this camera. In fact, if you search “Nikon Coolpix 100” what comes up is a more recent “Coolpix P100” camera.
That said, this camera, as with many from the dawn of digital are not worth much if anything. It is only valuable to me as a collector, but financially it’s worth almost nothing.
Despite its low value and (now) low tech, the Nikon Coolpix 100 is indeed Nikon’s first ever consumer digicam under the “Coolpix” label and therefore has its place as a Camera Legend.
Camera Legend 
The early digital cameras all cracked me up as the makers tried to figure out the right technologies and form factors. This one is all new to me!
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Thanks Jim, it was new to me too! I haven’t thought about this camera in nearly twenty years and I certainly wasn’t looking for it when I found it 🙂
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Leave it to you dude! 30 kpixels! I remember the Fuji camera that was shaped like a pack of cigarettes. I think it was 0.5 Mpixels or perhaps even 1.0. Anyway the guy at the camera shop tried to convince that this was all I’d ever need! :-))) It was a store next to Bed Bath and Beyond around the corner from Adorama.
It was interesting seeing PhotoExpo go from having a tiny digital section with oddities like this Coolpix to what it is today….in such a short time! Tech moves with lightning speed once it gathers momentum.
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Absolutely Bro! It boggles the mind to think that of all the great Nikon digital cameras we have seen, the D4s, the D3, D700, D2H, etc, etc…it all started with this Coolpix!! By the way, I love the new Flickr page and Boscodamus is back!! You actually got me out of my self-imposed Flickr exile to comment and who knows, maybe post there again 🙂
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