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Sony Handycam® DCR-SR300 (40 GB) HDD Camcorder

Sony Handycam® DCR-SR300 (40 GB) HDD Camcorder
Overall Rating: Product Rating: 4.0
Lowest Price: $659.95

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sony dcr-sr300

Written: Mar 27 '08

Product Rating: Product Rating: 4.0
Ease of Use:  
Durability:  
Battery Life:  
Movie Quality:  
Pros: no tapes ever! 6.1mb still pixel shot.

Cons: fuzzy playback of video in low light.you will need accesories.

The Bottom Line: this camera is great for families.beautiful still pictures and video all in none.no need for 2 cameras.not baulky.fits easily in purse,diaper bag etc.
Compare Prices ($660 - $900 from 4 stores)
at dbuys.com
at Sony Style
peterforce's Full Review: Sony Handycam® DCR-SR300 (40 GB) HDD Camcorde...
hi im Pete.this is my first review.not all my reveiws will be this long but your looking at possibly spending 1000-1400$ so read on my new found friend.

i have decided to also include how i have been personally treated by the company if i have ever had personal communications with them about the particular product i am reviewing.more and more these companies are awesome at selling and terrible at everything else.this camera is FUN!

NOW-THE PRODUCT_ DCR_SR300.i waited awhile to write my opinion anywhere about this camera for a few reasons.i have now been using it for almost a year and the most important being that it had been about 7yrs since buying my last sony camera- a high 8.which was great and still plays back with excellent quality.

here we go.i will use in my reviews poor-fair-good-great and perfect.and some inbetweens fair/good. like that.

FIRST OFF-personal experience has been great.i reccomend this camera when i take it out.this camera is actually a lot of fun.you will want some accesories though.

EXTERIOR-{great}.silver color is nice/modern.
the body holds up.i have dropped it twice in midrecording twice and picked it up to find no physical damage nor software damage.the gravity detection device worked!
{that is a device built in that detects if the camera is falling and shuts down safely}i recommend for this camera to get the exact case made by sony that fits it.i have it as well and its great.
CONTROLS/INCLUDING TOUCH SCREEN-{good}-if you have large hands like me you will find yourself hitting buttons you didnt want to.frustrating and can waste sometime but definetly not a reason to not buy the camera.it has not messed any of my recordings up by accidentally hitting a wrong button.

your record,picture take and zoom buttons are all located exactly where you would want them.i would say simply they are naturally placed for your fingers to access them easily when holding the camera.all three can be accessed using your pointer finger when recording.you can hold the camera in one hand and switch from picture mode to record mode plus zoom in and out all in the same hand!

also you can use a ton of features on the LCD screen itself.which some are the same that are on the camera some are not.you can access all pictures taken and playback all videos with just a few touches on the screen.thats nice.besides that i have not used it for much more.i have explored it for this review but i think 90% of folks who buy this camera will use the buttons on the lcd screen for the same thing.another pro is the lcd screen stays pretty clean compared to my past screen.a con would be of course the more you touch it the dirtier it will eventually get.all in all button function on or off the screen is rather easy to use.the camera even has a button that says easy on it.{sonys built in dummy proof settings button}

FINAL CONTROL REMARKS-some are color coded,you do have the classic NIGHTSHOT button,their is a button for still pics where you can switch from shooting them in widescreen or your traditional shot.while recording live video you can take up to 3 stills.i could go on and on.their is alot to do with this camera when it comes to its features.their are a ton of PROS in this dept.

STILL PICTURE QUALITY.4.6mb or 6.1mb-your choice-good/great.still picture is very simple.this camera takes wonderful still pictures 95% of the time.i think if you end up with a poor still picture with this camera it is most likely the picture takers fault.the 5% of the time when its not your fault is when you take stills while your recording.those pictures almost always come out a little fuzzy except under extremely bright conditions.lets keep in mind though that your camera is recording live video and doesnt stop while you take this still so i would just consider it a fun feature,give the camera some credit and take any real stills with the the camera feature.

LIVE VIDEO RECORDING-good-remember you are recording to a HARD DRIVE! 40-100gb trust me 40gb is plenty.you will never reach 10gb most of the time. no tapes ever needed.EVER! also their is a sony memory card slot which can hold as well another 4gb card. thats the biggest pro of this camera.im gonna keep this simple to.as far as recording it couldnt be simplier.for playback though you will find yourself though looking for very bright places to record.i after making a lot of videos have concluded that the brighter the area the better the playback is going to be.now i know that goes for all cameras.for this camera though it is especially true.birthday videos with dim rooms and candles burning playback little fuzzy.while sunny beach videos playback excellent.sony has even invented a light that plugs into accesory shoe on top of camera for low light recording.im sure recognizing this problem from the get go.this will be the one thing you dont like about the camera.the pros way out do the cons here though.

SOUND {good-great} the built in 5.1 is gets the good rating.if you get the bluetooth wireless microphone that plugs into the shoe the your 5.1goes from good to GREAT!i personally have the microphone and use it with all my recordings their is a TRUE difference sound quality difference when you play back your video.without the microphone it sounds like beefed up stereo-with it it is actually 5.1 playback.simple.

ACCESORIES and ACCESORY SHOE. to learn about the accesory shoe and what you can do with it i would just go to www.sonystyle.com.it is a great part of the camera though and you will use it.
my personal reccomendation for accesories would be extra battery,sonys case {not generic],shoe light and bluetooth wireless microphone.sony offers a deal where you get the bag and battery for 99$.worth it.

I know it was a long review but in the end you will probably spend 1000-1400 so i hoped i helped.in closing i have never had a problem with a sony product so therefor i cannot speak on their customer service.-pete



Recommended:
Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 800.00
Recommended for: Home and Families - Keep Memories of Family Vacations
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Epinions.com ID:
peterforce
Reviews written: 1
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Looking for a state-of-the art digital camcorder with surround sound and a hard drive? The Sony DCR-SR300 Digital Handycam is for you. This camcorder ... More at dbuys.com
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Take the next step in home video recording with the DCR-SR300 Handycam camcorder. The internal 40GB hard disk drive stores up to 28 hours of video (LP... More at Sony Style
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10x Optical, 20x Digital Zoom / 2.7" LCD / PAL RECORDING ONLY - NOT FOR US USE; NOT COVERED BY SONY US WARRANTY More at J&R Music and Computer World
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Shipping from $9.55. Sony DCR-SR300 Digital Handycam 40GB HDD Camcorder, 1/2.9" 16:9 CMOS Sensor, Optical Image Stabilization, Carl Zeiss T Lens, 2.7"... More at B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio
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