Sony MVC-FD71 (1998)

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 The Sony MVC-FD71 was announced on 1998-06-03 together with the MVC-FD51. The camera was equipped with 2x Floppy disk drive speed and a super small 10x optical zoom lens was added. The cameras now featured special recording modes like sepia and negative special effects. Writing speed was also reduced by 50% so the recording of an image only took 4 seconds. The novelty about the MVC-FD71 was that it was completely re-designed. The camera could also enhance images to 960 x 720 pixel which would take 9 seconds to record. Continuous shooting was also possible.

 

Initial production volume was set at 5,000 units per month. Because the Sony digital Mavica once dominated over 40% of the digital camera market in the late 1990's, it has become a mass-market item and therefore a very cheap entry for new vintage digital camera collectors trying to build a collection.

 

Although both models were announced and released at the same time, both cameras had different image sensors. The MVC-FD71 for instance had a 0.35MP progressive CCD and the MVC-FD51 a 0.41MP interlaced CCD.