Apple debuted the QuickTake 100 on February 17, 1994 and began selling it on June 20, 1994 for $749 US. It was one of the first digital cameras targeted for consumer use. We obtained our QuickTake 100 in 2007 for $20. The QuickTake 100, built by Kodak for Apple Computer, is a 24-bit color still digital camera designed to work with classic Macintosh computers with a serial modem or printer port.
Specifically, to use the QuickTake 100 camera, you need:
A Macintosh with a 68020 or higher central processing unit (any Macintosh in existence in 1994 except the Macintosh 128, 512, 512Ke, Plus, SE, SE-FDHD, Classic, Portable, or PowerBook 100)
System 7.0.1 (with Tune-Up 1.1.1) or later version up to Mac OS 9
At least 4 MB of RAM with 8 MB of virtual memory or 8 MB of RAM
A Macintosh with serial DIN-8 modem or printer connector (RS-422, RS-232), or GeoPort
A hard drive with at least 10 MB available
Note:
The QuickTake 100 is Windows compatibility but we don’t address Windows issues on this website.
You must have a Mac running classic Mac OS from System 7.0.1 up to 9 because the QuickTake 100 uses a unique codec (compressor-decompressor) that is not available in Mac OS X.
If you attempt to open a QuickTake PICT in Mac OS X, you will get the following message:
QuickTake pictures must be converted to a different compression format under Mac OS 9 or earlier to be opened in Mac OS X. The QuickTake Version 1.0 software that shipped with the QuickTake 100 facilitates communication between your Mac and the camera, and allows you to download images and perform basic image manipulation. It also converts QuicTake PICT files taken by the camera to a standard Macintosh PICT file or TIFF file that can be viewed in Mac OS X. QuickTake Version 1.0 requires at least Mac OS 7.0.1, but we were unable to fully use this software on a Macintosh IIci running Mac OS 7.6, so we used PhotoFlash 2.0 and the QuickTake Image Access control panel that Apple later shipped with the camera that replaced the 100, the QuickTake 150, to perform all image manipulation and to mount the QuickTake 100 to the IIci’s desktop. PhotoFlash is an application Apple bundled with the QuickTake 150 and it is now available for free download on Apple’s older software downloads page. All QuickTake 100 images on this webpage were converted to standard JPEGs in PhotoFlash in our Macintosh IIci.
Once you’ve connected the QuickTake 100 to a compatible Macintosh with the included serial cable, you can use the QuickTake software to download your images. You can also control and run the camera from your Macintosh, so images appear on screen as they are taken. Downloaded images can be rotated, cropped or scaled, then saved in PICT, TIFF or QuickTake file formats (JPEG format if using PhotoFlash). This can be accomplished using the original QuickTake Version 1.0 software that shipped with the QuickTake 100 or the PhotoFlash software later available with the QuickTake 150. Both programs will work, but the latter will probably be more compatible for Macs using Mac OS 7.6 or higher.
We were unable to convert QuickTake PICT files to TIFF or regular PICT files using the QuickTake, Version 1.0 software in our Macintosh IIci running Mac OS 7.6. Perhaps there is a compatibility issue because every time we tried it, the computer locked up. No further testing was done because we accomplished file conversion using Apple’s excellent PhotoFlash program. As stated earlier, conversion is necessary because QuickTake PICT only works in classic Mac OS and thus must be converted to a standard format like JPEG or TIFF to share with the world. Unlike QuickTake Version 1.0, PhotoFlash has the ability to convert into JPEG format, which is the format we chose to convert our images for posting on this website.
The QuickTake 150 installer floppies we used because we could not get the QuickTake 100’s QuickTake Version 1.0 software to work installs a control panel called QuickTake Image Access. This control panel allows you to mount the camera like an external drive. You can also use this control panel to set the camera’s name, update the camera’s internal clock, erase the stored images, and set the time the camera sleeps after inactivity. When mounted as an external volume, it is possible to drag and drop the camera’s images into Macintosh HD.
The QuickTake 100 can take up to 32 standard-resolution images (320 by 240 pixels), 8 high-resolution images (640 by 480 pixels), or a mixture of both sizes. Images are stored in the QuickTake 100’s 1 MB Flash EPROM internal memory. For those used to measuring camera quality in megapixels (Mpx), the QuickTake is capable of a maximum 0.3 Mpx. The Apple QuickTake 100 has automatic exposure and flash, along with simple controls for ease of use. Shutter speed is 1/30 to 1/175 of a second. The QuickTake 100 has a built-in flash, but no focus or zoom controls.
