CCD Camera Buying: Memory Cards, Batteries and Condition

Buying a used CCD digicam is a little different from buying a modern camera. These bodies are fifteen to twenty-five years old, and the things most likely to stop you shooting are not the sensor but the boring practicalities: an obsolete memory card, a dead battery, or hidden wear. Get these three right and you will actually enjoy the camera.

Memory cards: know the format first

Different brands used different, often incompatible cards, and some are now hard to find:

• SD / SDHC / SDXC is the easy one, used by most Panasonic, Casio, later Fujifilm and many Nikon and Canon compacts. Watch the capacity tiers: an old body may only accept plain SD up to 2GB, SDHC covers 4GB to 32GB, and SDXC needs a newer camera. Match the card to the era.
• Memory Stick is Sony's family. Early Cyber-shots use full-size Memory Stick or MS Pro, while slim models use the smaller MS Pro Duo. A Duo card fits a full-size slot with an adapter, but not the reverse, and capacity limits apply on older bodies.
• xD-Picture Card was used by Olympus and early Fujifilm. It is discontinued, scarce and expensive, capped at 2GB, and some Olympus panorama modes needed branded Type M or H cards. Always confirm a card is included.
• CompactFlash (CF) appears on older prosumer bodies like early Nikon Coolpix and Canon PowerShot G models. CF is still available new, which is a plus, but check whether the body needs Type I or the thicker Type II.

Whatever the format, format the card in the camera before serious use, and carry a spare, since old cards can fail without warning.

Batteries: proprietary is the norm

Two broad approaches existed. Many bridge and budget cameras used AA cells, which is ideal today because you can buy rechargeables anywhere and never worry about a discontinued pack. Most slim compacts, however, used proprietary lithium batteries, and the naming tells you the brand: NP-series for Sony, Casio and Fujifilm, EN-EL for Nikon, LI-series for Olympus, DMW-BC for Panasonic, and NB-series for Canon. Genuine cells for these are long discontinued, so you will usually be buying aftermarket. When you do, test that the battery holds a charge and powers the camera through a full session, not just to the home screen.

Condition: what to check on a used CCD body

Beyond cards and batteries, inspect the camera itself:

• Sensor faults. A well-known issue affected many CCD cameras built roughly between 2004 and 2008, where a faulty sensor component could cause distorted images, a purple or pink cast, or a completely blank display. Shoot a test frame and view it, since this fault is a dealbreaker.
• Battery compartment corrosion. On AA-powered bodies, leaked batteries leave white or green residue on the contacts, which can mean intermittent or dead power. Inspect the springs and contacts.
• Lens and zoom. Run the zoom fully in and out, listen for grinding, and watch for a lens error, especially on slim folded-optics bodies.
• LCD and controls. Check for dead pixels, backlight bleed and a sticky mode dial or buttons, since these cameras rely on the screen for everything.
• Card slot and ports. Look at the pins in the card slot for bending or corrosion, and make sure the door latches properly.

Adapters, readers and workarounds

A few practical tricks make old cards easier to live with. A Memory Stick Pro Duo slots into a full-size Memory Stick slot with the simple plastic adapter Sony bundled, so one Duo card can serve both a slim and an older Cyber-shot. For getting images onto a computer, a cheap multi-format USB card reader that handles xD, Memory Stick, SD and CF is far more reliable than the camera's own USB port, which is often a slow, obsolete connector. Note that there is no true adapter that turns a microSD into an xD card, so xD bodies genuinely need real xD media, one more reason to confirm a card is included. Where a body offers dual slots or later firmware that added SD support, always prefer SD, since it is cheap, fast and still made in every capacity.

Formatting, care and storage

Old digital cameras appreciate a little maintenance. Always format a card in the camera rather than on a computer, so the file structure matches what the body expects. If a camera runs on AA cells, take them out when storing it for weeks, because a leaking cell is the single most common way these bodies die. For proprietary packs, store them partly charged rather than flat, and give an unused camera a top-up charge every few months. Keep the camera in a dry place, ideally with a silica-gel pack, since humidity is hard on old electronics and can encourage fungus inside a fixed lens.

Putting it together

The smartest used-CCD purchase is a body that comes with a working card and a battery that holds a charge, so you can test it on the spot. If a listing has neither, factor the cost and scarcity of the correct card and pack into the price, especially for xD and Memory Stick bodies. Buy on condition, not just megapixels, and you will end up with a camera that shoots rather than a shelf ornament. It also pays to buy the right accessories once, rather than repeatedly: a spare battery, a correctly sized card of a capacity the body actually supports, and a multi-format reader will keep almost any CCD camera usable for years. Spend five minutes checking these things and a twenty-year-old camera can be as dependable as a new one. Every CCD camera at Boston Camera is tested with a card and battery and confirmed working before it goes on the shelf.