When Cameras Ran on Floppy Disks

Sony’s Mavica MVC-FD5

In the mid 90s, digital photography was finally breaking out of the lab, but for most people the path to their desk was anything but straightforward.

Early cameras were expensive, and saving images meant wrestling with slow and awkward transfer methods.

Then Sony introduced a camera that cut through the hassle with one brilliantly simple idea. You took a picture, popped out a standard 3.5-inch floppy and slid it into the computer and your photos were there.

That camera was the Mavica MVC-FD5. The first in a six–year line that carried digital photography into everyday life.