Thirty years ago, Minolta and Agfa teamed up to make something strange.

Two cameras came from it: the Minolta RD-175 and the Agfa Actioncam. Both launched in 1995. Both built on the Dynax 500si.

1.75MP sensor (1528x1146). 2.0x crop factor. ISO 800, no more, no less.

Price? $9,500 USD.

Big sensors cost a fortune back then. Look at Kodak’s DCS line. Minolta and Agfa found another way. Three tiny 380,000-pixel CCDs (768x394), split by a prism. The camera combined them into a final 1.75MP image.

A wild idea. A bold experiment. Did it work?

Here’s how it compares:

  • Kodak EOS-1n DCS 3c (1995) vs. Agfa Actioncam (1995)
    Flickr album

  • Agfa Actioncam (1995) vs. Kodak DCS 520 (1998)
    Flickr album

  • Agfa Actioncam (1995) vs. Nikon D500 (2016)
    Flickr album

  • Fujix DS-505 (1994) vs. Minolta RD-175 (1995)
    Flickr album

  • Minolta RD-175 (1995) vs. Minolta RD-3000 (1999)
    Flickr album

  • Minolta RD-175 (1995) vs. Lumix GF2 (2011)
    Flickr album

What do you think? Ever used one?

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