Sony DCRDVD300 MiniDVD Handycam Camcorder with 3.5" LCD and Digital Still Capability (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

This is the camera of my dreams, since I have lost a lot of time administering the data captured from camcorders and cameras. Now, this camera offered to me a way to record directly into an unviversally accepted media! I loved it! Secondly, the image quality is indeed very good.The things I don't like are the media price. DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs are still quite expensive and not easy to be obtained. Sony should provide more media for free considering the price of this camera, not to talk about some other accesories such as filtering lenses, etc...

My father in law purchased this camera for us in preperation of our new son. We were able to power it up and begin using it within an hour. The controls are easy to use and fairly simple. I would have to say that I do not hear or notice the drive vibration or the sound of the dvd recorder while in use.I have done some looking around on various sites and forums and have found NO mac support. I have both a PC and a Mac and plan to use it on my PC.When I finalized a full DVD, so that I could use it in my DVD player I was happy to see that it too 3 min to do so and played wonderfuly. The still picture quality is ok for 1 megapixel but with no flash on the camera I cannot recomend that aspect. I do have a 4.2 megapixel camera that I plan to use for still shots. The last area of review, the editing software that comes with the camera... VERY frustrating to use!!! I am not sure if I didn't spend enough time with it or if it's cheap, but I gave up on it.The media that I use is DVD Rw's and I have 3 of them (8 bucks each). They work great. I also love the large view screen.One con, poor battery life with included battery.I think that if your BIG into editing video, research this video camera before buying. But if you want ease of recording and high quality to be able to drop into a standard format (DVD) then I give this camera 4.5 stars.************UPDATE: 12-22-03After 2 weeks of recording I wanted to drop my video's onto my computer so I can edit them. I was unable to do so and called Sony's tech support. I went straight for the question "Do you have a driver update or some type of resoloution for the USB 2.0 issue with my sony handy cam"? The tech support guy was polite and said that they are working on it. I kept probing for more information about the problem, and the "Work Around" was to plug the sony camcorder into a USB 1 hub. This did fix my problem but I wanted to know when the USB 2.0 problem was going to be addressed. I was asked for my email address and they said I would be contacted when there was a fix or soloution. He did tell me that this has something to do with Chipsets on the mother board. He said that they KNOW that it works with SIS but were still working with testing others. (I have an Intel Chipset).I also found out the following in regards to editing mpeg videos:**********************************(Taken from papajohn.org )Playback/importing of MPEG2 content is completely dependant on the third party MPEG2 decoder installed on the user's machine. Most do not work well. Some decoders go so far as to block decoding when used for anything other than rendering to the display (to make it harder to convert DVD content to other forms). Having DVD burning or playing software on a computer doesn't necessarily mean that the MPEG2 decoder that comes with it will work with Movie Maker 2.MPEG2 files are common. They are used to burn SVCDs and DVDs. Some cameras record directly to this format. But there is a license fee associated with using an MPEG2 codec, so the codec is not commonly distributed. If you try to import an MPEG2 file without 'THE appropriate' installed codec, Movie Maker will attempt to go through the process but, in the end, give you an error message like the one in the figure below. Another error message I've seen is "...the file is empty." Sometimes it'll import the clip, but then cause problems when trying to work with it in a project or render a movie from it.*********************I wanted to use Windows Moviemaker to edit my movies and I found that when I had Sony's software installed it will crash movie maker just after opening a movie to edit it. I also had to load Adobe Preimere to find a codec that would work correctly so I could edit the mpeg files from my camera in Movie maker.I think that I am going to have to change my overall rating on this camera because of the difficulty of editing the video's in anything but the Pixela Cheesey software that comes with the camera. The camera that would better for editing on your pc: A camera that writes in DV format.3.5 Stars

the DCR-DVD300 sits atop the recently released line of miniDVD camcorders from sony. other models in this line are the DCR-DVD200 and DCR-DVD100. the main difference the three camcorders in this line are LCD size and CCD resolution: - DCR-DVD300: 3.5" LCD, 1MP CCD - DCR-DVD200: 2.5" LCD, 1MP CCD - DCR-DVD100: 2.5" LCD, 640K CCDpros:- records dolby digital stereo.- carl zeiss lens.- 10x optical zoom.- video quality almost at par with miniDV camcorders (at slower recording modes).- Super SteadyShot image stabilization system - and sony's system really helps.- three low light shooting modes: Nightshot, Super Nightshot, and Color Slow Shutter.- big, 3.5" LCD display.- great connectivity options: firewire, USB 2.0, S-video, headphone, mic input, etc.- USB 2.0 support for fast downloads.- the convenience of DVD navigation - simply select the scene and you're there!- supports analog-to-digital conversion.- hot accessory shoe with lots of optional accessories.cons:- expensive - as with most sony products, you pay a premium, plus you pay for DVD convergence.- average low light performance.- no memory stick support; if you want to take a still picture, it is saved on the DVD.- mic picks up DVD spinning noise in quiet environments.- finalizing a DVD takes upwards of 10 minutes, and it can be a confusing process.- don't expect much from the still images recorded, even at 1MP resolution.- no pop-up flash for taking stills and no built in video light but you can get a flash/video combo light for less than a hundred bucks.- no manual focus ring.- getting video into editing software (e.g. Final Cut Pro) is harder than it should be.- not Mac friendly.- poor battery life with included battery so add $$ to your budget to buy a higher capacity spare.- compared to current release camcorders, this is a pretty big one at 3.1 x 3.8 x 5.6" weighing 1 lb 9 oz.this is a nice, solid effort by sony and i give them points for dvd convergence. however, in my opinion, the DCR-DVD300 is too big and not easy to use. it's expensive for the feature set but the alternative to this dvd camcorder (a miniDV tape camcorder and DVD recorder combo) is even more expensive. i already have a dvd recorder so for me, a smaller and easier to use miniDV camcorder makes more sense. if this is your situation as well, i would recommend a panasonic gs-70 or sony's pc-105, both miniDV camcorders. otherwise, if you want a finalized DVD straight out of your camcorder, consider the DCR-DVD300.a final note. if you have decided you want to record directly to a DVD, which camcorder should you buy? DCR-DVD300 or DCR-DVD200 or DCR-DVD100? only one hundred bucks separate these three camcorders (street price). for me, a hundred bucks is worth it to get the 1MP CCD and the big 3.5" LCD.i hope this helps you with your buying decision. peace.

I bought this camera before I found out that Opra put it on her recommend buy list. This caused all of the sheep that follow her to rush out and max out their credit cards on the camera causing a shortage of the cameras and more importantly the mini-discs that you need to use it! If you are buying it for the holidays - forget about it! Go for the Hitachi - Some places are selling them for cost and this is their thrid generation version vs first for Sony. I bought the Sony becuase of the hype of the better lense - which - unless you are professional I'm not sure you are going to noitce the difference.I'm going to take advantage of my 30 day guarentee and dump this thing back on their counters.

I would like to recommend Johnny in which he really helped me in getting the camcorder to me before Christmas. It was also well wrapped for shipment and it was as good as he said.