Great Camera
Written: Jan 27 '04 (Updated Feb 17 '04)
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Pros: DVD-RW recording is THE BEST. .
Cons: Short battery life with supplied battery using the LCD flip out screen.
The Bottom Line: Buy this camera because you don't have to rewind tapes. This Camera can record old VHS tapes directly to DVD too.
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| fishreed's Full Review: Sony Handycam DCR-DVD300 DVD Camcorder |
This camera is the one I have waited for 10 years to own and I spent 15 years in the consumer electronic "rep" business. I use only the RW discs and then transfer to my computer for video editing and burning to full size DVDs so one only needs a couple of double sided RW discs. NO MORE TAPE REWINDING. The double side RW discs are the ones to get since it gives you 30 minutes per side (60 per side with LP mode. I have no use for the DVD-R since they are NOT erasable. Tape based camcorders are a thing of the past just like VHS camcorders. Pixela software included with camera is VERY limited, but you will need it to tranfer your movies from the camera discs to your computers harddrive. I got Sonic's MYDVD Studio Deluxe (79.99)for movie creation. This camera has AC3 (dolby digital 2 channel) audio Mpegs which is Not supported By Pinnacle or Ulead and many other software companies since AC3 is the latest sound format and was not around when some of the more popular video editing software was written BUT I FOUND Sonic MYDVD will import this camera's AC3 audio. I paid 850 bucks with coupons and price matches for the DVD300 at Best Buy and they financed in for 2 years interest free. THIS IS THE CAMERA OF THE FUTURE. TAPE BASED CAMERAS ARE OBSOLETE. Video editing from the camera is limited but that was never a concern for me since I do that when it gets to the computer.
ONE BIG Advantage. You can hook this camera up to your VHS VCR with the camera's supplied RCA video cord and you can record ALL those OLD VHS tapes to the DVD300's Mini DVD discs and then transfer to your computer as Mpegs. No need for a separate capture card or firewire connection. I have transferred nearly 6 hours of VHS tapes to edited and finished 2 hour DVD movies and they look as good as the original VHS tape. This DVD300 unit has a remote control too that makes the VHS capture process reaL SLICK.
The Big downside to the DVD300 is The Pixela/Imagemixer software. You need to use Pixela to get what's on your camera's Mini DVD to your computer but as far as making a DVD movie and editing that movie with wipes, fades, title screens, audio ......FORGET It. Even Sony's own software company doesn't support Mpegs with AC3 audio. Sonic's MYDVD Studio 5.0 Deluxe which has the REQUIRED audio AC3 importing capabilitiy and will make your DVD movie creation REAL EASY and GOOD LOOKING and it runs from 79.99 to 99.99.
As an update(2-17-2004) to this review, I found that the latest video editing software, Sonic's MVDVD 5.0 Deluxe WILL NOT import this camera's AC3 audio files like the Sonic's MYDVD version 4.14 does. IF you want to capture VHS tapes I would suggest an ATI 9600 All-In-Wonder video card and bypass using the DVD-Sony camcorder. The folks at SONIC realize they inadvertantly dropped the AC3 importing feature from 4.14 to 5.0.
After taking the time to learn Pixela's IMAGEMIXER video editing software which comes with the DVD-300 Sony camera, I found this software isn't as limited as I thought. The software does have the features to produce a great movie. The big thing this software doesn't have is GOOD directions. Calling the Pixela software support line helped BIGTIME but this software company hires people who have a tough time speaking the English language. While I think these folks know their software, communicating their knowledge in English isn't one of their strong points, but they did after awhile answer my questions with the things I needed to know.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 850.00
Recommended for: Trendsetters - Hip and Stylish Gadgets
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Epinions.com ID:
fishreed
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 2 members
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