Summary: I've used my CD300 for nearly two years now, and I've made up my mind. I want something else. The CD drive is overly touchy, and can fail. I have to admit, the photos are excellent, and the on-board flash is pretty intelligent since it uses it's white balance and light meter so well. But the controls are a bear to learn, fine photography is difficult because of the learning curve and the teeny control knob...something Sony seems to love, but I seem to not love so much. It's slow to turn on, slow to record images onto the CD, and if you want really fine quality images, it takes even longer, so forget about getting a second chance on a good candid. I used to love this camera, especially after having one of the floppy disc Mavicas that came out in the 90's. But time tests everything... And as for the convenient storage on CD? Any digital camera will allow USB tranfer to your computer...just burn them on a CD later and save yourself the hassle.
Strengths: Intelligent flash, excellent photo quality, auto features easy to use, great white balance and light metering, permanent CD storage of photos
Weaknesses: Slow turn on, slow record time, poor ability to get a second shot, CD drive unreliable, controls are a pain, must use Mavica CDs or camera complains at each turn on - and may not work otherwise. No screw-on filters as with other cameras. Low light photos are a pain to get as well.
Similar Products Used: I switched up from the Mavica FD83 digital camera with the floppy disc drive in the side. The flash is much better and the image quality is beyond compare, but it's not reliable and it's difficult to
Rating Reviewed by: Mark (Unregistered User)
(Casual)
Review Date August 2, 2003
Overall Rating 1 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for 3 Months to 1 year
Review 2 of 11
Price Paid:
$399.00
from Inkleys (Ritz Camera
Summary: I love this camera, its selling point for me was the 3 inch disc,which cost about 50 cents apiece and very easy to find (Walmart,target,Circut City etc)It takes great photos inside with the flash turned off,which is lucky for me since the flash only works when it wants to.It will be a $140.00 repair thru Sony.One month after buying the camera I found a $50.00 rebate for it and Knocked the price down to $350.00
Strengths: Mini cd media
can take a photo in complete dark with no flash
rechargable battery
Weaknesses: Goes thru the battery quick
My flash does'nt work
Summary: After researching all the brand names, I finally decided on this model because it writes directly onto a 3" CD. This is a very dependable camera from a quality maker. The picture quality is like a raw jpeg image. In other words, it must be "developed" to your liking in your computer. I like that because it allows you to experiment with color, contrast, etc., and not what somebody thinks you'd like. Once you have the picture tuned to your liking, it's beautiful. Ergonomically, it holds like a medium-sized SLR, but much lighter, with a plastic feel. The Carl Zeiss lens is almost everything I need except more wide-angle coverage. This is a well-designed camera that's easy to learn and makes excellent quality photographs.
Strengths: It has the Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar lens; with ergonomic design, writes directly onto a 3" CD.
Weaknesses: It has a rather slow acquisition time, so it's not recommended for "action" shots. The lens will not accept screw-on filters. The LCD viewfinder is not visible in bright daylight, so an auxiliary viewfinder must be purchased.
Summary: I work at my Uni''s computing center, and the center bought this dude for students to check out for their projects.
It suits most student''s needs, because all most people want to do is press the button and get a photo to stab into their report.
But I think it kinda sucks.
The advantage of having this camera over others in it''s price range is that is uses CD-RW minis, which is great because you can put them in any modern CDROM drive and have your pictures without a problem. But by the same token, the CD-RW storage feature of this camera makes it big, sluggish, battery devouring, and a pain in the butt whenever you put a CD in or take one out because it has to finalize and unfinalize.
And I don''t think it takes all that nice of pictures either. I don''t know where these other reviewers are coming from, but I put this thing onto ISO 100 and use the best quality setting, and the pictures are still quite grainy.
I suppose I''m comparing this to what I''ve seen from the only other consumer digital I''ve spent a good amount of time with lately, the Canon S30. The Canon''s a cool $300 cheaper, takes better pictures, is smaller and more rugged, sports higher build quality (aluminum case vs plastic fantasticness for the Sony), responds faster, has more features and wider manual adjustability, and (and this is a small quip for most but a big one for me), it actually has a viewfinder just in case, for some crazy reason, you want to turn off the LCD and have your battery last more than an hour.
The controls on the Sony don''t make a whole lot of sense either. I put the dude in shutter mode and even though it''s obvious that I now wish to adjust the shutter speed, you have to click and unclick the tiny, dorky thumbwheel to tell it to now be in shutter select mode, which doesn''t have distinct clicks so you can''t tell how many stops you''ve gone unless you''re looking at the muddy LCD. Manual focusing is an exercise in probability because it''s really easy to focus an image accurately with the tiny dorky thumbwheel when all you have to go by is the muddy LCD with no zooming. Even in fully manual mode, this camera will try to do stuff for you (ie use a flash) unless you specifically turn that stuff off.
I feel like I''ll get some emails about this review from people that have attached their egos to this camera, but I''m telling you that this camera
Strengths: Uses CD-RW (A feature only if this is what you''re looking for. I''d take a smartcard over this anyday. Smartmedia is sooooo much more responsive)
Big, if not muddy LCD
I''ll assume the lens is decent, cuz'' it''s a Zeiss, but it sure doesn''t show in the pictures.
Weaknesses: Big and Bulky and Heavy for a consumer digital
Grainy pictures
Slow and sluggish and unresponsive
Lame control layout
Plastic everywhere
No Viewfinder
Battery is good for an hour . . . maybe. (Get 2 . . . or 3 or 4)
Not very much fun to use. (Feels like work because it''s so sluggish)
A really small quip: it''s ugly.
Rating Reviewed by: Chris (Unregistered User)
(Casual)
Review Date March 31, 2002
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for 0-1 years
Visitors rate this review 4.80 of 5,
5 votes
Review 5 of 11
Price Paid:
$879.00
from Navy Exchange
Summary: Excellent Camera. Originally I was opting for the CD1000, but its bulk persuaded me to the CD300. Only main differences between the two are zoom and size. This camera was our first digital camera. I am very satisfied after months of researching for the right one.
Strengths: *Excellent clarity in pictures. I have many framed pictures replacing scanned pictures from 35mm camera.
*Movies are exceptional. Movie lengths could be longer but professionals don''t use this camera for winning Oscars. It works for me.
*Pictures on CDRW versus a memory stick. 1000 pictures at 640x480 on a disk that can you can drop into any computer.
*Myriad photo taking options. Plenty of fun to be had here. The B&W and sephia effects turn nice photos into great photos.
*Ease of use.
*Look in people''s faces when you pull out the 3" CDRW. It never gets old. LOL
Weaknesses: *Sluggish operation in cold weather: I recently took the camera with me to Canada and realize how sluggished it operated.
*Battery Life: this is not an issue for me but may be for others. Buy an extra battery.
*Recording times can delay rapid repetitive shots.
*Night shots are very difficult even with a camera stand. Takes a lot of practice but worth it.
Customer Service: Great: I registered my camera for the warranty over the phone. Friendly service and very helpful answering my questions.
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