Remember when digital cameras were big and clunky and annoying to carry around? Uh, yeah, me neither. But what's this on the left? Only the ginormous Sony Mavica MVC-FD90, a digital camera that looks like it could eat a soda can.

My brother gave me this camera 3 years ago after purchasing it in 2000 for $626.95 plus $49.95 for an extra battery. I've seen Mavica's online for up to $1300 list. Now you can buy one on Amazon for about $99 or on eBay for anywhere from $25 to nearly $200. Today, you could buy a D-SLR, such as the Olympus Evolt E-330 for less than $1,000.

As he was handing me the camera, my brother said "the technology is cool, but after awhile you won't want to carry it around anywhere." He was right. Measuring 4.3 by 5.75 by 3.3 inches, this camera has never left my house, except when I brought it to work to freak out our digital camera analyst. I have used it to for eBay product shots with pretty good results, though. The thing certainly can't match the quality you can get today, with point and shoot resolutions topping 10MP, but the FD90 shoots reasonably good pictures.

At the ripe of old age of 6, this camera is certainly a dinosaur. It's so large it requires a neck strap, and is bigger than most modern digital camcorders. The power adaptor is about the size of a bulky ultracompact, and the battery is rather large too. Check out the feature table at the bottom of the post to see how the FD90 measures up to one of Sony's newest compact cameras, the Cyber-shot DSC N2. And check back soon for a review of the N2 on PCMag.com

The funniest part of my recent experience with the Mavica is that I no longer have a floppy drive at home or at work, so in order to get some test shots off the camera, I had to scour the labs for a compatible drive. Luckily our laptop guru Cisco Cheng hooked me up with a USB floppy drive.

Additional features

16X digital zoom
A handy? light to brighten up the LCD screen
See the full specs.

Requirements:
Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher, Netscape Navigator, etc.
Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, NY 3.51
Included software
Arcsoft PhotoStudio 2.0 (now at v. 5.5) and VideoImpression 1.0 (now only at v. 2--bizarre!)
A Word From the Expert

Terry Sullivan, our digital camera expert, tells me that Sony still manufactures the Mavica. Why? Because many police departments still use them! (for mug shots I guess?) Guess they don't want to learn new technology. I let Terry borrow the Mavica for a bit to see what he thought of it. He was impressed with the camera's ability to adapt quickly to different lighting situations--he was able to switch between indoors shots, and "out-the-window" shots easily. (And the sun was shining too.) He also noted that while most cameras now require you to hold down the shutter button for a few seconds so it can focus, the FD90 does this automatically while you are setting up your shot.

PCMag has covered the Mavica line in news, reviews, and columns. In December 2001, John Dvorak wrote "During the Mavica era, the main selling point of Sony Cameras was their ability to put images on floppy disks." Read Dvorak's column: Sony Gets Back on Track.

See more images of the MVC-FD90

More Mavica Highlights From PCMag

A Stellar New Mavica (Aug '02)
This 4-megapixel beauty. . .takes excellent photos, and boasts infinite storage thanks to its 156MB 3-inch mini CD compatibility.

Lighten Your Mobile Load (Jan '01)
Some Sony digital cameras cameras use floppy disks for storage which can provide a lot of flexibility. . . [for travelers].

Sony Mavica Gets a CD-R (Sept '00)
. . .users can just pop a 3.5-inch floppy disk out of the camera and into their PC. . .

More photos of the Sony Mavica MVC-FD90

The soda can comparison












Out of the box



















Whatta battery!
























The box!!



















The back of the box!



















For comparison: the super slim Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7
























Side by side with the Cybershot N2



















From the side














The LCD. Plus a floppy sticking out the side of the cam



















The buttons and LCD with picture view!



















The memory stick and adaptor














The Mavica and the Cybershot N2 LCDs side by side




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From the front



















The Mavica Manual!



















The cops still use Mavicas for mugshots