Guides / Digicams in 2026
Digicams in 2026
The early-digital bridge cameras and prosumer compacts from 1999 to 2008 that people are hunting again: 2/3-inch CCDs, f/1.8 lenses on 5MP sensors, swivel bodies, four-colour sensors, L-series glass that never came off. 52 of them, with what each one actually trades for today.
Last updated October 2026
For about fifteen years these were worthless. A camera that cost $999 in 2004 was a $20 thrift-store find by 2012, outrun by phones on convenience and by DSLRs on everything else. Then the pendulum came back. The CCD sensors in these bodies render colour and highlight roll-off in a way that current CMOS sensors do not, the lenses were built to a standard nobody puts on a fixed-lens camera now, and the files have a texture that reads as "a photograph" rather than "a phone picture." Prices have followed, and some of these now trade above what a used entry-level mirrorless body costs.
Almost none of this era is carried by the dealers we track. MPB's catalog floor is roughly 2009 and it had none of these when we checked. KEH stocks a handful intermittently. So the prices below come from eBay, and where eBay is quiet on a given night the page shows our editorial estimate of what a working body costs, marked as such. Treat the estimate as a starting point, not a quote.
The list
Oldest first. Filter by sensor size, what they cost today, when they shipped, or how many megapixels. Sensor size is the filter that matters most: the 2/3-inch bodies are the ones with the big-camera handling and the lenses to match.
1999 · 1/2" CCD · 2.1MP
The one that started the C-series: f/2.0 lens and full manual control when nothing else in a compact had either.
2000 · 1/1.8" CCD · 3.3MP
Same body at 3MP, with a buffer that made burst shooting usable for the first time.
2000 · 1/1.8" CCD · 3.3MP
The swivel body. Lens block rotates 270 degrees; the 2cm macro kept these on microscopes for a decade.
2000 · 1/1.8" CCD · 3.3MP
Started the G line. Champagne body, flip-out screen, RAW and a hot shoe in 2000.
2001 · 1/1.8" CCD · 3.3MP
First of the line with the f/1.8 lens that defines the 4040 and 5050.
2001 · 1/1.8" CCD · 4.1MP
The 4MP step before the 5050, same f/1.8 glass. The cheap way into the look.
2001 · 1/1.8" CCD · 3.3MP
990 with a pop-up flash, a lithium battery and a 4x zoom.
2001 · 2/3" CCD · 5MP
Zeiss barrel on a hinge, NightShot infrared, laser hologram AF assist. The swivel Sony.
2001 · 1/1.8" CCD · 4MP
The G1 at 4MP. Has its own following for the colour out of the early CCD pipeline.
2001 · 1/1.8" CCD · 2.6MP
A 10x stabilised zoom on 2.6MP in a body that looks like nothing else Canon ever made. The Pro1's odd ancestor.
2002 · 1/1.8" CCD · 5MP
The most collected body in the line: f/1.8 lens, magnesium shell, tilting screen, RAW, three card slots.
2002 · 1/1.8" CCD · 4MP
The last swivel Coolpix, slimmer and in magnesium. The one collectors ask for.
2002 · 2/3" CCD · 5MP
Nikon's 5MP 2/3-inch bridge with an 8x zoom and a tilt-swivel screen.
2002 · 2/3" CCD · 5MP
The F707 with faster AF, a hot shoe and a better finder. The one people mean when they say F7xx.
2002 · 1/1.76" CCD · 3.9MP
Panasonic LC5 twin and the first of the modern Digilux line. KEH stocks it now and then.
2002 · 2/3" CCD · 5MP
The original SLR-shaped prosumer bridge: mechanical zoom ring, real grip, hot shoe. Final version of the 7 / 7i / 7Hi trio.
2002 · 1/1.7" CCD · 3.1MP
The SuperCCD bridge that started Fuji's S line. 3MP native, 6MP interpolated, EVF, CF and SmartMedia slots.
2002 · 1/1.8" CCD · 4MP
New f/2.0-3.0 lens and the first DIGIC. The one reviewers of the day rated best in class.
2003 · 1/1.8" CCD · 5.1MP
The 5050's successor in a boxier body: 27mm wide end, tilting screen, slower lens.
2003 · 2/3" CCD · 8MP
The only camera ever built on Sony's four-colour RGBE sensor, behind a Zeiss 28-200 f/2-2.8. Famous purple fringing, colour nothing else matches.
2003 · 2/3" CCD · 5MP
First camera with sensor-shift stabilisation, two years before it reached any DSLR.
2003 · 1/2.5" CCD · 4MP
Schneider 10x zoom on a 4MP CCD, with the Kodak colour people now chase.
2003 · 1/1.7" CCD · 6.3MP
S602 body with the 6.3MP SuperCCD HR and RAW.
2003 · 1/1.8" CCD · 5MP
The G3 in black with a 5MP sensor and the same lens.
2004 · 2/3" CCD · 8MP
Olympus's 8MP 2/3-inch body and, by most tests of the day, the sharpest lens of the five. 28mm wide, magnesium, tilting screen.
2004 · 2/3" CCD · 8MP
The wide one: 24mm equivalent, the widest fixed lens of the era. Made in small numbers.
2004 · 2/3" CCD · 8MP
The 5700 body with the 8MP sensor. The only Coolpix of this era KEH was stocking when we checked.
2004 · 2/3" CCD · 8MP
The long one: 35-350 equivalent with Nikon's first VR in a compact.
2004 · 1/1.8" CCD · 7.2MP
Black magnesium brick with a Zeiss lens, hot shoe and NightShot. Thin listings.
2004 · 2/3" CCD · 5MP
Aperture ring, shutter dial, manual zoom, rangefinder looks. The most expensive camera on this page and the one with the most CCD failures, so buy a working one.
2004 · 2/3" CCD · 8MP
The A1 with 8MP and the best EVF in the class. The Konica Minolta badge dates it to the merger.
2004 · 1/2.5" CCD · 5MP
A Leica 12x zoom with a constant f/2.8 and optical IS, on a small sensor. The Lumix that got people's attention.
2004 · 2/3" CCD · 5MP
The Digilux 2 without the red dot: same Leica lens, same rings, roughly half the price.
2004 · 1/1.8" CCD · 7.1MP
Last of the original-shape G bodies before the G7 dropped RAW and the flip screen.
2004 · 2/3" CCD · 8MP
The only L-series lens Canon ever fixed to a camera: 28-200 f/2.4-3.5 with the red ring and fluorite.
2004 · 1/1.8" CCD · 7.1MP
The pocket CCD from this era: 28mm wide, RAW, sliding lens cover.
2005 · 1/1.8" CCD · 7.1MP
Last of the C-x0x0 line. 5060 body with 7MP; Olympus retired the series after this.
2005 · APS-C CCD · 10.3MP
The outlier: an APS-C CMOS sensor behind a fixed Zeiss 24-120 in 2005, a decade before anyone repeated the idea. Not a CCD, but it belongs here.
2005 · 1/1.65" CCD · 8.4MP
The LX1 with a red dot. Trades at about double for the badge.
2005 · 1/1.8" CCD · 8MP
Kodak's 24mm-wide 8MP prosumer bridge with a Schneider lens and RAW.
2005 · 1/1.6" CCD · 9MP
Manual 28-300 zoom on a 9MP SuperCCD in a DSLR-sized body. Sold as the S9500 in Europe.
2005 · 1/1.8" CCD · 8MP
Bigger sensor, mechanical zoom and focus rings, a real grip. The FZ50 is this body refined.
2005 · 1/1.65" CCD · 8.4MP
The first 16:9 sensor compact, with a Leica 28-112 and optical IS.
2006 · 1/2.5" CCD · 7.1MP
Kodak's last prosumer bridge: Schneider 12x with IS, RAW and a hot shoe.
2006 · 1/1.7" CCD · 6.3MP
The CCD-era low-light legend: usable ISO 3200 when the class stopped at 400. Prices have run up hard.
2006 · 1/1.7" CCD · 6.3MP
The F30 with face detection and a slightly better JPEG engine. The more sought-after of the pair.
2006 · 1/1.8" CCD · 10.1MP
The last big-body CCD superzoom anyone made: 35-420 f/2.8-3.7 with manual rings, tilting screen, RAW.
2006 · 1/1.65" CCD · 10.2MP
LX1 at 10MP with a bigger screen.
2006 · 1/1.8" CCD · 10MP
The G-series' no-RAW year, and the redesign that ended the original G shape. Still a 10MP CCD with an optical finder.
2007 · 1/1.75" CCD · 10MP
GR Digital sibling with a 24-72 zoom and a removable tilting EVF. Never sold in the US, so almost every listing is a Japanese import.
2008 · 1/1.8" CCD · 6MP
Not a CCD: a high-speed CMOS that shot 60 frames a second and 1,200fps video in 2008. A one-off nobody followed up.
Nothing matches that combination. Loosen one of the filters, or reset.
What to check before you buy
Three things kill cameras from this era, and none of them show in a listing photo.
The sensor itself. A run of Sony-made CCDs from 2002 to 2005 fails outright, giving a black, purple or heavily striped image, and the affected chips went into cameras from nearly every brand on this page. The Digilux 2 and LC1 are the famous cases but the F717 and the Coolpix 5700 are on the list too. Ask for a current test shot, not a stock image, and treat "untested" as "dead" when pricing.
The battery. Most of these use a proprietary lithium pack that has been out of production for fifteen years. Third-party cells exist for the popular ones (the Sony NP-FM50 in the F-series, the Canon BP-511 in the Pro1 and G1 through G6) and are a gamble for the rest. The AA-powered bodies, which is most of the Olympus C-series and the Coolpix 990 and 995, sidestep the problem entirely, and that is a real reason to prefer them.
The card. SmartMedia stopped being made in 2006, xD in 2009, and both are now priced as collectibles. CompactFlash is fine and still sold new. A camera that takes both, like the C-5050 or the FinePix S602, lets you ignore the dead format. Memory Stick bodies (the Sonys) are a Memory Stick Pro Duo and an adapter away from working.
Condition grades from MPB and KEH mean something and carry a warranty, on the rare day one of these is in stock. An eBay "good condition" means whatever the seller wants it to mean. How we collect and normalise all of this is on the methods page.
Where to go next
If the appeal is the CCD look but you want something that still has dealer stock, a warranty and a battery you can buy, the compact cameras guide covers the 2008 to 2013 generation (LX3, G10 through G12, S95, the first Ricoh GR Digitals) that sits right above this era. If it is the zoom range, the bridge cameras guide covers what replaced the FZ50 and the Coolpix 8800. And if you came here for the Four Thirds DSLRs that share this era's sensors, the Four Thirds guide has them. And for what a CCD sensor is actually doing, which family is in which body, and the DSLRs and rangefinders that share these chips, there is the CCD cameras guide.