from a mavica veteran...
Written: Aug 02 '02
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Pros: elicits oohs and ahhs wherever it goes
Cons: i had to buy a Large case because it is a Large camera!
The Bottom Line: if you are looking for an $800 camera that looks and works like you spent $1200... pick this one up!
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| caffeinated257's Full Review: Sony Mavica MVC-CD300 Digital Camera |
THE LONG STORY...
i have had a long history with FLOPPY Mavs - i design marketing pieces for a real estate agency in the SF bay area. my office is piled to the ceiling with floppy disks - all photos of homes taken by real estate professionals (not photography professionals!) their shots come out great, and i only have to tell them 'point and shoot.'
i became such a fan of the "shoot straight to disk" method that when it came time to join the 20th century and buy a digital camera, i bought a floppy mavica without really researching other brands.
long story short: i loved my fd-75, but after a year or so, I outgrew its puny 1 Megapixel quality, so i handed it down to my dad and began the arduous task of shopping around.
my search began at the websites of all local office supply and camera stores. instantly i was surprised that Sony's competition offered 3 MP cams at almost $100 less! so i compiled a list of cameras to check out in person(sony cams were not on this list!) and feel for my self.
Although competition's cameras offer higher megapixels per dollar, in a side-by-side comparison at the electronics store, i was DEEPLY disappointed in the competition! - they all were puny, featherweight, and felt like they were going to fall apart in my hand... they were indistinguishable from the 35mm cams on display, and offered mostly point-and shoot automatic settings. (not to mention microscopic lcd screens annd AA batteries!!!???) these cameras were all in the $400-600 range.
just for fun, i took a few steps to the right to check out the 'luxury item' $700-1200 cams to salivate over. the Sony MVC CD-300 stood out as a cool, pro-looking camera, and i was instantly attracted. at $799, i decided to leave the store to go do some more research on th web (epinions, bizrate, etc)
GET TO THE POINT
the bulky, yet feature-rich mavica was again my choice (i have owned/used SIX other floppy mavicas). it was impressie looking, feeling, and offered more features. manual adjustments are great for really tricky or artsy shots, the macro function lets you get inches away from your subject, the video function is fun (but not if you want serious video - buy a camcorder!), and the usb-to-cpu feature is too simple! even though i groaned when i saw that the driver included in the box wasnt made for windows XP (big surprise ;P), by simply plugging in the usb cable, my laptop instantly regognized the camera and added it as an external cdrw - spectacular!
taking photos straight to cd is such a major convenience that i dont mind the start up or finalize times (they only seem to take 10 seconds or so) in only two short days, i have gotten aquainted with most of the manual adjustments, and the cd-rw media lets me screw up and just erase the shot, directly from the camera or later on my laptop.
already i have filled a cdrw with great photos of my pets, family, and miscellaneous junk around the house to test the cam out in unusual conditions (p.s. it does great in bright sun, dim rooms, and even inches away from a frantic parakeet).
i absolutely recommend this camera to anyone with a good printer (my hp-photosmart is sufficient for an inkjet - a color laser is next on my list), and $800 burning a hole in their pocket!
thank you for your time and happy hunting!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 864 after tx
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Epinions.com ID:
caffeinated257
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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