The iPhone is the most popular digital camera ever, but it wasn’t Apple’s first entry into the photo market. That honor goes to the QuickTake 100, a 1994 release that was on the then bleeding edge of technology. Its $749 introductory price was no small chunk of change for the time, but it was a far more obtainable device than other trailblazing digitals. For instance, the Kodak AP NC2000, a DSLR which debuted the same year, cost $15,500.
I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, to compare the QuickTake’s industrial design to Luke’s binoculars from Star Wars (Credit: Jim Fisher)
Before writing this story, I was aware that the QuickTake 100 existed, but I had never actually used one or seen one in person. Apple’s milestone 50th anniversary seemed like as good a time as any to change that. Read on for all the details of my experience with the retro relic, including what I think of its picture quality, the technical challenges I faced along the way, and the independent software developers who have kept the camera going all these years.
Totally ’90s and Ahead of Its Time
The QuickTake 100 is a product of its time; its design language is distinctly ’90s Apple, right down to the rainbow stripe logo. The QuickTake doesn’t look like the digital cameras of today or the film cameras of its era—Apple was unconstrained by the size of film rolls and cooked up a gray plastic device that many have compared with the macrobinocular prop from Star Wars.
The device uses a prime lens with standard angle coverage (50mm in full-frame terms), a 0.3MP CCD image sensor, and an optical viewfinder. It has a monochrome information LCD, but no playback screen, and internal memory that holds a whopping eight full-quality photos, or 32 quarter-resolution images (0.08MP). Because the camera uses internal memory and predates the USB standard, you have to use a serial connection cable to download pictures.
The QuickTake’s sliding lens cover doubles as its power switch. (Credit: Jim Fisher)
It’s safe to say Apple was ahead of the curve with the QuickTake. Canon and Nikon, the two largest names in cameras, wouldn’t try to crack the consumer digital camera market until two years later. Digital compacts didn’t enter the mainstream until we entered the 21st century.
But despite being first, Apple didn’t keep the line around too long. It released a QuickTake 150—which was pretty much the same as the original, only with better compression to hold twice as many photos—in 1995, and a redesigned QuickTake 200 in 1996. The QuickTake 200 looked more like a typical digital compact camera; it dropped the optical viewfinder in favor of a color rear LCD and added support for removable memory cards.
The rear houses an excellent optical viewfinder and simple monochrome LCD. (Credit: Jim Fisher)
A year later, Steve Jobs returned from exile to helm Apple, and the QuickTake was one of the first projects he eliminated. There’s some irony there. A decade later, Jobs brought the first iPhone to market, and within a few generations, it became the most used digital camera in the world.
I Decided to Try the QuickTake 100 in 2026
I was curious what it would be like to use a 30-year-old digital camera today, so I decided to buy one to find out. It’s not hard to find a used QuickTake camera on eBay. I picked one up for around $100, and while I knew I was taking a gamble on getting a working model for that price, I got lucky and had a fully functional camera in my hands within a few days.
The QuickTake 100 is a little bulky, but not heavy; it’s an easy camera to carry. (Credit: Elisa D. Keller)
I loaded a fresh set of AA batteries and was happy to see that the camera powered on fine and everything worked. Its flash fired, and the four control buttons around the rear monochrome LCD all functioned. I was able to change resolution, toggle the flash settings, set the self-timer, and clear off the internal memory.
One note on the last point: The delete button erases all the images you’ve shot, but thankfully, it’s not easy to press by accident. The button is recessed, so you’ll need to carry a paperclip, a SIM removal tool, or a similar pokey tool to clear off pictures.
I Hit a Few Speed Bumps Along the Way
I was eager to try the QuickTake out, but the device’s old-school, internal serial communication meant I couldn’t just download pictures from a memory card. I needed a way to run Apple’s QuickTake software, either on a 32-bit Windows system with a COM port or on a very specific Mac running OS 7-9 with an 8-pin LocalTalk port.
I reached out to Gordon Laing, editor of Camera Labs, who had previously done his own retro review of the QuickTake, for some advice. He was gracious enough to provide copies of Apple’s original software and to caution me that the QuickTake was very persnickety about the type of serial cable that would work. That proved to be a problem for me, as the camera I bought didn’t include any cables.
You’ll need a special cable to connect the 8-pin serial port to both computers new and old (Credit: Jim Fisher)
With that knowledge, I went back to eBay and picked up a 32-bit Windows XP machine from a seller specializing in refurbishing old systems, and decided to take a gamble on a next-day delivery serial cable from Amazon. I had no problems installing the software, but couldn’t get it to talk to the camera. I kind of expected this would happen with the basic cable, but I had a backup ready to go—I picked up another serial cable from PCCables that was reported to work in this guide, and while I had to wait about a week to get it delivered, I was optimistic that it would solve my problems.
It didn’t, at least with my QuickTake camera and PC. No matter what I tried, the software would lock up the Windows XP computer whenever it tried to communicate with the camera. I even went in and checked the IRQ settings on the COM ports, and made sure I was running the Apple software in Windows 98 compatibility mode. I was pretty sure I was stuck, and since the cable I was using was reported to work, I suspected that either something was wrong with the PC or the camera, but I didn’t have the know-how to troubleshoot either any further.
I was able to get the QuickTake software running in Windows XP, but couldn’t get my system to communicate with the camera. (Credit: Apple/PCMag)
I’m not one to give up easily, though, so I went back to Google to see if anyone else had run into the same issues. That’s when I discovered JQuickTake, a relatively new piece of software written by an independent developer that runs on modern operating systems. I loaded the software on my aging but working 2014 MacBook Pro, connected the QuickTake using the USB adapter and cable, and… that didn’t work either.
I emailed JQuickTake’s author, Kevin Godin, a retired IT specialist from Canada, who offered some troubleshooting advice. He suspected that there was an issue with the serial cable I was using. Despite others reporting success with it, the cable did not have the exact same wiring specs as Apple’s original. Godin used his soldering skills to wire up a custom cable and sent it to me. His custom-made cable worked as promised, so after a couple of weeks of frustration, I was finally up and running. JQuickTake immediately recognized my camera, and I was finally able to offload my first batch of photos.
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The QuickTake 100’s images are 640-by-480 pixels (0.3MP), which made sense for TVs and computers in 1994 but look tiny on today’s displays. (Credit: Jim Fisher)
An aside: Godin’s cable did not work with my Windows XP system, which leads me to believe something is configured incorrectly, since many others have gotten the QuickTake and Apple’s software to work with XP. I also loaded JQuickTake on a brand-new MacBook Neo, and it worked, too, giving me a highly portable solution for downloading photos. I’ll also note that it’s necessary to install drivers for the USB-serial adapter for it to work, a step many of us forget in today’s plug-and-play computing world.
JQuickTake is a passion project for Godin, who was gifted a QuickTake camera that was set to be tossed out way back in 1999. The camera sat mostly unused for years; Godin would take it out every once in a while, but it wasn’t his everyday camera. Even so, he was frustrated when Windows 10 was released, and Apple’s aged QuickTake software wouldn’t run on the new operating system. While he was savvy enough to set up a virtual machine as a workaround, he was curious if it would be possible to write QuickTake software that would run on modern operating systems. JQuickTake is written in Java, so it works with the latest version of Windows and macOS. Godin tells me he’s considering adding support for Linux, too.
The QuickTake’s lens has fixed focus from 4 feet to infinity, so it’s not a good choice for macros. (Credit: Jim Fisher)
Godin procrastinated a bit, but once he retired, he was ready to find a project to occupy his time and started work on JQuickTake in early 2022. The project didn’t get off to a running start. Figuring out the language that the camera uses to talk to a computer proved to be a real challenge. That was until another QuickTake fan stepped in with a solution.
Colin Leroy-Mira, a systems administrator from France, stumbled upon an old post from Godin in the VintageApple subreddit asking for help decoding the QuickTake’s communication protocol. He had already figured it out as part of an ongoing series of personal projects to expand the functionality of his Apple IIc. Leroy-Mira learned to program on the IIc and cites it as the system that made him decide to pursue a career in technology. He’s cooked up several projects for it, including a client to access Mastodon servers.
“I managed to learn enough to implement a Mastodon client with the help of a serially-connected Raspberry Pi that was doing network proxying,” Leroy-Mira tells me. “This client could display pictures posted by people, and send them, but I only had Mousepaint to make ugly drawings.” He first tried to connect a scanner to the Apple IIc, but found that the QuickTake was a better fit; its serial port could interface directly with the system, while old scanners required expansion cards that don’t work with the IIc.
I used the 320-by-240 file size for my first batch of photos, the images are incredibly low res by today’s standards. (Credit: Jim Fisher)
Leroy-Mira shared his progress with Godin, who got back to work on JQuickTake and released the first Windows version in 2024. “If I’m being honest, it was a bit scary releasing JQuickTake into the wild,” Godin says. “I imagined it having all kinds of problems, and I had serious doubts that it would be interesting to anyone.”
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Those fears proved unfounded. “I advertised it on a few online forums related to Apple hardware and vintage digital cameras, and, man, was I surprised at the responses I got,” Godin says. “A few people downloaded it, used it, and then gave me great feedback on how it could be improved.”
JQuickTake connects QuickTake 100 and 150 cameras to computers running the newest versions of Windows and macOS. (Credit: Kevin Godin/PCMag)
JQuickTake, currently at version 1.4, is now cross-platform for Windows and macOS. Godin estimates that he’s spent about 500 hours on the project and still has some work to do. The current release downloads pictures from the camera, supports wired remote control, and lets you rename the camera and set its date and time.
But it’s missing one huge feature that Apple’s software had—it can’t yet convert the camera’s proprietary QTK file format into a format new computers can read, like JPG. Godin plans on releasing a version 2.0 with integrated image conversion, but doesn’t yet have a timeline for its debut. It’s easy enough to convert the photos with another app, however. Godin recommends RawDrop for Windows, and I had good luck using ReaConverter’s web app to convert QTK photos to JPGs on my Mac system.
Is It Worth It to Get a QuickTake Today?
I had a good time trying the QuickTake 100, but I wouldn’t recommend it to a broad audience today. It’s far more of an academic curiosity, a time machine back to the very first days of consumer digital photography, than a camera that makes good images.
Its resolution is meager, so pictures look pixelated on today’s displays, and photos show a very limited dynamic range and exposure latitude, which means you’re likely to see crunched shadows or overblown highlights. Exposure control is purely automatic, so there’s no way to adjust exposure settings to overcome tricky lighting scenarios, intentionally use a short shutter speed to freeze motion, or make long exposure images. The QuickTake is as basic as cameras get.
The QuickTake’s photos look pretty good on a sunny day, but appear dull and flat on an overcast day. (Credit: Jim Fisher)
But if you’re a vintage tech enthusiast, an Apple fanatic, or want to revisit the early days of digital photography, the QuickTake is a viable option today in large parts thanks to the efforts of Godin and Leroy-Mara.
I have some recommendations to make your life easier. If you’re not an expert with old school PCs, a masochist, or both, skip the original software and use JQuickTake. I’d also push you to get a QuickTake 150, as it holds more images but has the same retro charm, and you’ll have a better chance of finding one with the elusive serial cable included. You’ll probably have to pay more for a camera with the cable, but for me, that was the hardest part of getting the camera up and running. Finally, it’s worthwhile to use lithium AA batteries, either disposable or rechargeable, as the QuickTake simply chews through disposable alkaline cells.
Despite its limitations, I had a good time taking photos with the QuickTake 100, if only as a reminder of how far digital photography has advanced in the past 30 years. (Credit: Jim Fisher)
Given all that, I’m glad that I got some time with the QuickTake. It has its high points, including a large, bright optical viewfinder, similar to what you’d see in an early DSLR, and there’s something to be said about a digital camera that doesn’t provide immediate feedback—it’s closer to the experience of using film.
The QuickTake was too rough around the edges to be a hit with consumers, and its picture quality is nowhere near as good as the 35mm compact cameras that ruled the world in the ’90s, but it is historically important as Apple’s first digital camera. That’s no small thing, given the iPhone’s profound impact on imaging.
The QuickTake is more of a curiosity, a footnote in Apple’s long history, but I’m so glad that it’s being kept alive today thanks to the efforts of some very devoted software developers.
About Our Expert
Jim Fisher
Principal Writer, Cameras
Experience
Images, and the devices that capture them, are my focus. I’ve covered cameras at PCMag for the past 14 years, which has given me a front row seat for the changeover from DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, the smartphone camera revolution, and the emergence of drones for aerial imaging. I have extensive experience with every major mirrorless and SLR system, and am also comfortable using point-and-shoot and action cameras. As a Part 107 Certified drone pilot, I’m licensed to fly unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for commercial and editorial purposes, and am knowledgeable about federal rules and regulations regarding drones.
