OK, Kodak Canada support rocks.

[Eug]

I have this 7 year old 1.5 Megapixel camera (pro DCS200 with internal hard drive) that has been sitting in a drawer doing nothing for the past 5 few years. When I came here I "discovered" it and have been trying to figure what was wrong with it.

Well, because this thing is so old, Kodak hasn't supported it for years. So I called Kodak and they gave me a few names. I left a few messages with 2 different people and both called me back. After speaking with both of them one confirmed what I thought was probably happening. The internal SCSI hard drive was likely toast.

Because it was so old, they didn't have any replacement parts, so they sat and explained how I could hopefully get the thing to work through a direct SCSI connection to a PC or Mac since drivers are still available for both Windows and Mac OS.

Better yet, they had some brand new (but 5 year old) external SCSI 160 MB hard drives sitting around made specifically for that series of camera. So they sent me one for free, and they paid shipping. Today, I entered my office to find the drive, which came with all manuals and disks, and AC adapter, although unfortunately, the drivers are all Mac. But still, I am very impressed with the service.

This is what customer service is all about.

 

[billandopus]

I didn't know that digital cameras existed 7 years ago ... with an internal 160 meg scsi drive?

 

[Eug]

Well, somewhere around 5-7 years ago this thing was purchased for an outrageous amount of money. They also bought a 2 MP camera for an even more outrageous amount of money. They're both pro cameras and use standard Nikon lenses. I must say, even though they're so old, I think the image quality of the 2 MP one is still better than some of the current 2 MP cameras. Dunno about the 1.5 yet, because I still haven't gotten it to work.

I dunno what the size of the internal hard drive is, but the externals ranged in size from 40 to 160 MB. (They aren't full size drives, and only the 1.5 one has one. The 2 MP is directly SCSI'd to the computer.)

 

[billandopus]

Wow, I was just thinking that those pieces must have cost big time! It wouldn't surprise me if that camera of yours outperforms many of the 1.5-2mp cameras nowadays. Kinda like the old bulletproof vcr's made of metal compared to ones now made of cheap plastic.