A still video camera (SVC) is a type of electronic camera that takes still images and stores them as single frames of video. They peaked in popularity in the late 1980s and can be seen as the predecessor to the digital camera. However, unlike the latter, the image storage in such cameras is based on analog technology, rather than as a digital file.
Design The most common design has an image sensor and basic processing hardware similar to that of a consumer camcorder designed for analog television using the appropriate regional format (NTSC, PAL, or SECAM). However, instead of storing consecutive interlaced fields on tape to form a moving image, a single field or frame (combined from two fields) is extracted from the output video signal and saved on a rotating magnetic disk, typically a standard Video Floppy. During playback, the disk is spun at the frame rate of the video system with the field or frame being read repeatedly. This produces a conventional analog video signal that can be viewed on a normal television. The resolution is limited by the device's playback system, which is equivalent to pausing a single field or frame from a video recorder. Since the image is stored as a conventional analog video field or frame, the resolution is limited to the regional SDTV format; in addition, since the images are not stored digitally, transferring the images to a computer requires a video capture card.
History
Development and prototyping Canon began developing a still video system as early as 1977 following a secret presentation from Texas Instruments (TI). Processing the image data from a CCD sensor into a digital file would have required a supercomputer at the time, so a strategic decision was made to use analog recording methods, and Canon recruited Sony and other manufacturers to create a standard format, resulting in the Video Floppy. Other members included JVC, Matsushita (Panasonic), Olympus, Philips, and RCA. The first still video camera was a prototype Mavica (a portmanteau of magnetic video camera), which was unveiled by Sony chair Akio Morita on August 24, 1981. The prototype Mavica was equipped with an interchangeable lens and was approximately the size and weight of a conventional 35-mm SLR camera at 130 mm × 89 mm × 52 mm (5.1 in × 3.5 in × 2.0 in) and 790 g (28 oz). It offered shutter speeds ranging from 1⁄60 to 1⁄2000 s; the video floppy (branded "Mavipak" by Sony) was capable of storing up to 50 images. The Mavica was equipped with a single CCD sensor with a basic resolution of 570 × 490, but resolution was limited to approximately 350 horizontal lines. This was because it was designed for video playback, which is composed of interlaced video fields of approximately 240~280 horizontal lines; the Mavica's resolution was slightly boosted by recording color information on a separate FM channel, instead of as a subcarrier to the analog signal. At the time, Sony stated it would be 15 to 24 months before the Mavica would be marketed, at an estimated cost of US$660 (equivalent to $2,340 in 2025) for the camera and an additional US$220 (equivalent to $780 in 2025) for the playback unit.
Film manufacturer responses At the time, both Polaroid Corporation and Eastman Kodak were rumored to have developed competing still cameras similarly using image sensors instead of film. Polaroid offered no comment regarding Sony's Mavica, but previously had published a patent describing a camera that stored images electronically by 1980. Kodak published its position in an internal employee newsletter: "Technical capability does not necessarily mean mass-market capability. For any number of reasons—including costs, convenience, quality, and size among others—electronic systems don't meet the needs and expectations of the amateur still-picture-taker." A Fuji executive, on the other hand, stated in 1980: "Silver halides will continue to be dominant for the next five years, but beyond that you will see more interfacing with electronics." Kodak was developing its own CCD sensors and prototype digital file-recording cameras, including both the Lloyd/Sasson 1975 digital camera and the 1988 1-megapixel monochrome "Electro-Optic Camera" for a U.S. Government client. The film companies would go on to release standalone appliances to view, record, and print images stored on video floppies, seeing the technology as a way to replace conventional film processing and slideshows, rather than film cameras. At Photokina '84, Fujifilm displayed its Fujix TV-Photo System, which was a Video Floppy player that could be connected to a user's TV; floppies could be created for a nominal fee when consumers dropped off film at a Fuji processing center in Japan. Kodak showed off its initial still video efforts in 1985, including the Color Video Imager, a color printer designed to take any analog video signal, and the Still Video Player/Recorder, which transferred a single still frame from an analog video source to a video floppy. The Color Video Imager displayed the input signal on a cathode-ray tube to expose a sheet of instant film; the Still Video Player/Recorder offered interline interpolation to improve the display of a single field; estimated retail price was US$700 (equivalent to $2,060 in 2025) for the Color Video Imager. Sony would respond with the ProMavica Recorder, announced in May 1986.
Professional cameras
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