Rating: 
Summary: Almost Perfect
Review: ... I think the 300 is almost perfect. However there a couple things that could have been done better so I'm focusing on the negatives here. Things that won't be fixed: ... I dislike the write time for each picture. The run time for a battery is not long enough. At best you'll get about an 1 1/2 hours. Part of the problem is that the lcd is the only way to view. It has a switch to shut off the backlight, but even on the sunniest days, you can barely see your subject with the light off. Interchangeable lens would have been nice. You can get some attachments, but truly interchangeable lens would be better. There are some irritating aspects as well. I find that the natural grip causes me to touch the lcd and leave thumb prints on it all the time. I often find that I've mysteriously set the macro button. I've taken a few pictures in macro mode without realizing it. The most irratating is that Sony harasses you for not buying their expensive media (about 6-8 times more costly than the good ones I buy elsewhere). Everytime you turn on the camera you get the message "Sony recommends Mavica CDs only" or some such thing. Things Sony could fix: My biggest complaint is that it doesn't come with a cover for the LCD. I primarily bought the camera to carry around on bike trips and I keep it in my front handlebar bag. The lcd is already pretty bady scratched from bouncing around inside the bag. The battery charger that comes with it is pretty inconvenient. You need to open a little door to plug in the cord. That little plastic door isn't too sturdy. A better idea would have been to give you a charger like the cheaper one they sell that you could also plug into the camera. I bought the charger and a second battery and am a lot happier. The new charger is also more portable. Like I said up front, I'm pleased with the camera. I plan on taking it on a cross country bike ride and anticipate a small stack of CDs will last me. I'd recommend the MVCD300 to anyone who won't find the above quirks too bothersome.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely fantastic camera!
Review: ... I, too, love this camera and pretty much agree with everyone else. This is the best purchase I've made in quite some time, so I'm just going to provide some information that I wish I'd had before I ordered the camera. The camera is fairly bulky. It's pretty much what you'd expect for a device with a built in CD writer but, when compared to other digital cameras, this thing's pretty big. I personally think that the benefits of writing the picture to a CD more than outweigh the minor inconveniences of a larger camera, but you should probably go to a local store that carries one and see if the size will bother you. Didn't bother me much at all. The delay in taking the picture can be annoying at times. Yes, there is a delay BETWEEN pictures as well (a more pronounced delay, in fact) due to the camera writing the image to the CD, but there's also a lesser talked about delay for even the very first picture. You need to hold the button halfway down for the camera to focus properly, and then wait 'til the camera tells you it's ready before you can take the picture. There isn't much of a wait, but there IS one and it can be aggravating at times. This particular delay, however, as far as I know, is common to ALL digital cameras, so I'm assuming that a digital camera just isn't a very good option for taking pictures that require split-second timing. You will probably want a case for this camera. The lens DOES have a cap, but the display doesn't and can be scratched fairly easily.
You'll probably also want an additional battery and separate charger if you're more than an occasional user. The battery lasts about 90 minutes (without flash) and has a built-in chip that tells the camera how much time is left ... a pretty nice feature that's displayed for all to see in picture taking mode. I've seen mixed reviews on the CD-R / CD-RW debate. I have used the CD-RW discs exclusively so far and haven't had any problems. One thing you should be aware of is that you can't go back and erase the pictures on the discs selectively. You CAN erase the last picture taken (if using CD-RW media) and replace it with your very next picture, but you can't go back further than one picture. Well, to be more specific, you ARE allowed to go back and erase a picture older than your last one, but it won't gain you any more disc space.
You CAN, of course, erase the whole disc and use it again whenever you wish (again, if using CD-RW), but you just can't go back, let's say, five pictures, erase one picture, then expect the disc space to increase enough to allow more pictures than it would have had if you'd left that picture on the disc. The camera often takes dark pictures. I've found that the picture is normally of better quality if I force the flash ... even in fairly well lit areas. There may be another technical tweak that would accomplish the same thing, but I'm an extreme novice when it comes to photography. It's VERY hard to find cases to protect these little discs! I have yet to find one. When buying these little discs, you usually have a choice of approximately 50 CD-R's on a spindle, or approximately 10 Mavica CD-R's in little cases ... both cost roughly the same price, but you can't seem to find protective sleeves or cases for the ones with a spindle. Not exactly a deal breaker, but annoying nonetheless. One disc holds about 81 pictures at the highest quality (which is absolutely breathtaking), and over 1000 at the lowest quality (which you will probably NEVER want to use).
If you have a good printer, print the picture on photo quality paper, and use the highest quality setting, I don't think you'll be able to tell the difference between that picture and an actual photograph.
I am an EXTREME novice at photography and I have taken some stunning pictures with the default settings, but this camera also has a dizzying array of manual settings for even the most advanced photographer. I couldn't seem to easily find what out what this camera was SUPPOSED to come with, so that's what I'm supplying. Camera.
One battery.
Lens cap.
Adaptec Direct CD software.
MGI Photo software.
USB cable for connection to computer.
Power supply for the camera (used to charge the battery).
8cm adapter to put the mini-discs into a regular drive.
Manufacturer warranty (I think it's one year, may be 90 days).
One CD-R media.
One CD-RW media. Well that's about what I wanted to know when I was thinking of buying this camera. Hope this review helps.
Rating:
Summary: the future of Digital
Review: After looking for 6 months at Digital camera's, I finally found the MVC-CD300 and am so happy with all the features and ease of operation. The quality of the 8x10 print was excellent. The comments from my friends was "WOW" that's amazing. I think CD Digital is the future. I'm glad I waited long enough to fing this Camera.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic camera, easy to use.
Review: First of all, let me say I'm not a professional or even semi-pro photographer. I wouldn't know an f-stop if it landed on me. That being said, I love this camera. It's extremely easy to use. I bought mine in Tokyo, so the manuals were of course in Japanese (which I don't read or speak) but I still figured out the camera with no problems. If you can figure out something without a manual you can read, then the thing wasn't very complicated. The pictures are fantastic, in my opinion. The cd-rw works very well. You have to initialize the disc, then finalize it to be read in your computer's cd-rom. With cd-rw discs you can then unfinalize them in the camera to store more pictures on the disc. Each of these procedures take a couple of minutes, and you have to sit the camera on a flat surface and not move it during that time. If you use plain cd-r discs, you can't unfinalize them. I've read that some cd-rom drives have difficulty reading from cd-rw discs, but mine had no problem. If you have an older cd-rom, you might have to use cd-r discs instead of cd-rw. But since you can get them for less than a dollar and store 150+ images, you're still getting a bargain compared to Memory Stick or Smartmedia prices. The camera comes with one cd-rw and one cd-r disc, but will work with 80mm discs from other companies. You do get a nag-screen on the LCD saying "Mavica discs recommended" if you use non-sony media, but I figure that's okay with me, considering how much cheaper non-Sony discs are. P>There is very little lag time between pics, much less than I expected. 2 seconds or so, usually less. This is my first digital camera so I don't know if that's a long time compared to other cameras, but I was surprised, considering the image is being burned to a disc. However, I've read that if you use the 'uncompressed TIFF' option, it takes 30+ seconds to write the 10Mb image to the disc. The cd-rw speed is 4x. One cool thing is that you can zoom in up to 5x in images that are stored in the camera, move around within the image to see the part you want, and crop the pic if you want to while it's still in the camera, no computer needed. You can hook up the AV cable to see this on your TV as you're doing it. The battery recharges inside the camera - there is no external battery charger. So if you buy an extra battery, like I did, you can't charge it while you're using the camera. That's the only complaint I have, and it isn't much of a complaint. For a long time serious photo hobbyists have turned up their noses at the Mavica line, but I think this should change because of this camera. 3.3 megapixels makes for excellent pictures, and the flexibility allows for a lot of control over the more advanced features. I can't recommend this camera highly enough. ---- After owning the camera for a couple of weeks, I have to make a small addition. There is no optical viewfinder, which is a problem under dim lighting conditions. For nighttime shots or macro work where vibration is more of a problem, you would want to use a remote control, and the only remote control available is the one built into Sony tripods. You can get around the vibration problem by using the timer, but it would still be nice to have a wired remote control. Those are my only nags thus far. I would still buy the camera without hesitation.
Rating: 
Summary: Great camera, but slow write time
Review: I agree with all the positive statements from other reviewers. Outstanding camera. Only downside you should be aware of is the relatively long write time to transfer image to cd at high resolution. During this time the camera isn't usable. There's also a 3 picture at a time mode, which is a clever feature, but writing to cd takes even longer in this mode. I found myself frustrated at times wanting to take the next picture and waiting for the write to finish.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely The Best Available Digital Camera!
Review: I am a professional radiographer and photographer (25 years now) and I used both the CD400,
CD300, as well as a Nikon Coolpix for this year's field research season x-raying mummies in
Peru. This means the cameras were pushed hard.....blowing sand, huge contrast ranges, high
resolution radiographs needed, fast manual control of radical light conditions, etc.....essentially
most of the tough conditions and imaging requirements you can imagine. Here's what I found: The Sony Mavica CD300 beat them all. It's not the most expensive or the best resolution but we
all thought it did the best job. Mavica CD400: best resolution but extremely slow recording time made it impossible to work with
most of the time....the CD300 often got 3-4 shots while the 400 was recording one. Mavica CD300: not the best resolution, but now that I've done some prints for publication from it's
highest res setting I will not be buying any more 400s....just not a significant enough difference,
plus it's not as heavy or bulky. Nikon Coolpix: not in the running by comparison with the Sonys....although it is more
lightweight....we are buying mini CDs for 33 cents each in bulk... and getting 140-180 high res
images per CD.....they are so easy to format, initialize, and copy on any CD burner that I can't
believe we even considered using memory stiks, or USB downloads. The best features are common to both the Sony Mavica CD300 and 400 series though.....manual
control of the images, excellent close up abilities, decent wide angle (which can be enhanced with
add-on lenses if necessary), and both rapid video and automatic functions with night focusing for
flash, etc., etc. Finally! There is a great digital camera.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely The Best Available Digital Camera!
Review: I am a professional radiographer and photographer (25 years now) and I used both the CD400,
CD300, as well as a Nikon Coolpix for this year's field research season x-raying mummies in
Peru. This means the cameras were pushed hard.....blowing sand, huge contrast ranges, high
resolution radiographs needed, fast manual control of radical light conditions, etc.....essentially
most of the tough conditions and imaging requirements you can imagine. Here's what I found: The Sony Mavica CD300 beat them all. It's not the most expensive or the best resolution but we
all thought it did the best job. Mavica CD400: best resolution but extremely slow recording time made it impossible to work with
most of the time....the CD300 often got 3-4 shots while the 400 was recording one. Mavica CD300: not the best resolution, but now that I've done some prints for publication from it's
highest res setting I will not be buying any more 400s....just not a significant enough difference,
plus it's not as heavy or bulky. Nikon Coolpix: not in the running by comparison with the Sonys....although it is more
lightweight....we are buying mini CDs for 33 cents each in bulk... and getting 140-180 high res
images per CD.....they are so easy to format, initialize, and copy on any CD burner that I can't
believe we even considered using memory stiks, or USB downloads. The best features are common to both the Sony Mavica CD300 and 400 series though.....manual
control of the images, excellent close up abilities, decent wide angle (which can be enhanced with
add-on lenses if necessary), and both rapid video and automatic functions with night focusing for
flash, etc., etc. Finally! There is a great digital camera.
Rating:
Summary: Your last camera purchase!
Review: I can't think of anything this camera can't do, except maybe mow the lawn! It's easy to learn to use - comes with a well-written manual (really unusual) - and makes you an expert instantly! The only drawback I have found is that the digital image can be difficult to see in very bright sunlight - it needs a sun/glare shield. Records sound with images, records burst action up to 15 seconds, and the built-in flash works well both for low-light conditions and for fill. Edit as you go, and post on-line from the cd - there's enough storage space to shoot all day, and the battery bounces back to 100% with a quick re-charge. A super camera!
Rating:
Summary: Your last camera purchase!
Review: I can't think of anything this camera can't do, except maybe mow the lawn! It's easy to learn to use - comes with a well-written manual (really unusual) - and makes you an expert instantly! The only drawback I have found is that the digital image can be difficult to see in very bright sunlight - it needs a sun/glare shield. Records sound with images, records burst action up to 15 seconds, and the built-in flash works well both for low-light conditions and for fill. Edit as you go, and post on-line from the cd - there's enough storage space to shoot all day, and the battery bounces back to 100% with a quick re-charge. A super camera!
Rating:
Summary: More than ever expected!!!
Review: I find this camera to be the best I've ever owned or used. I find myself using it more than I ever use my 35mm and digital video combined. I love taking lots of pictures, and with this, I can get hundreds per CD. This lets me be as creative as I can be, without worry about not having enough film or stick memory. CDs are inexpensive, and quick and easy to format and use. I can get 5-10 CDs for the price of 1 good roll of film. You can also get accessories like wide-angle and telephoto lenses. I'm glad to see that there are more options for getting the media. I've owned the camera since August, and at first could only find the mini CDs on-line. Now I can get them at local business supply or computer stores. I recommend the CD-RW to get the most out of the media. Take the pictures you want; load pictures to your computer; burn the ones you want to keep to a large CD; and then re-use the mini CD-RW. The only con I had was that it took a while to get used to the display and not a viewfinder. Now I find it easier to frame my photos.
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