Samsung's early Digimax compact — 4.1MP 1/1.8in CCD, 3x 38-114mm equivalent zoom and AA power
The Samsung Digimax 420 was a four-megapixel compact from 2003, announced alongside the three-megapixel Digimax 360 as Samsung built out its early Digimax digital range. At the time four megapixels with a 3x zoom placed it in the mainstream middle of the market rather than the bargain basement.
It is built around a 1/1.8in CCD with roughly 4.1 million effective pixels, larger than the sensors in most later budget compacts, behind a Samsung SHD 3x optical zoom equivalent to 38-114mm. Autofocus is through-the-lens with normal, macro and infinity modes, focusing to around 6cm in macro. There is a 1.5in LCD, 16MB of internal memory with an SD card slot, 4x digital zoom, and power comes from AA batteries.
Today the Digimax 420 mainly interests early-digicam collectors and anyone curious about mid-2000s CCD colour from a comparatively large 1/1.8in chip. It is slow by modern standards, with a small dim screen, but AA power and SD storage keep it usable without hunting rare accessories.
When buying used, test with fresh AA cells and a small-capacity SD card, since very old cameras can reject large modern SDHC/SDXC cards. Check the lens extends cleanly, the CCD shows no purple smearing or dead columns, and the battery contacts are free of corrosion from cells left in storage.