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Sony MVCCD350 CD Mavica 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom | List Price: $599.95
Discount Price: $400.00
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Brand: Sony
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 1 Year Limited
Features: - 3.2 megapixel sensor captures enough detail for prints up to 11 x 14
- 3x optical zoom plus 3.2x digital zoom (9.6x total)
- Captures full-frame video (640 x 480), limited by CD media (6 minutes for 156 MB disc)
- Stores images on 3-inch, 156 MB CD-R/RW discs; 1 CD-R and 1 CD-RW included
- Powered by rechargeable lithium-ion battery (NP-FM50 included); connects with PCs and Macs via USB
Great for taking, but not making, pictures [Posted on 2004-10-03]
When this camera works, it takes sweet pictures. It probably takes sweet pictures when it ISN'T working, but I'll never know. It has a habit -- I say "habit" because this has happened to more than 80% of the photos (around 500) that I have shot in the first two weeks I've had the thing -- of something happening so that the photos are unrecoverable from a disc. This level of unreliability is something I simply cannot fathom.
In looking around help forums and other user reviews on the Web, I find that the problem is far from unusual. The problem seems worse when one uses generic (i.e., non-Sony) mini-discs. And just try finding Sony mini-discs at any of your local big-boxes. It seems to me (we are in the Denver area, not exactly miles from nowhere) that the only place these things can be purchased is on the Web.
This camera was to be a replacement for my Mavica 88, a great little camera that never burped or blurbled on floppies in four years of pretty heavy use. That camera took about any floppy tossed into it, which made things very simple. By contrast, the MVC-350 is beyond persnickety about its discs and its discs are apparently impossible to procure, except on the Web.
I tried to work with Sony's service department, which seems to be offshore. It was clear that the person with whom I was speaking understood only about half of what I was saying: maybe less. There seemed to be a number of scripts available, none of which fit the problem I described. At this point, because I bought this as a new camera through an eBay vendor, I am becoming resigned to the idea of having lost over $300. If you have to try this camera, the odds appear to be relatively good because this problem appears to affect only 15% of users. So go ahead; if it works for you, you'll be very pleased. But for heaven's sake, buy from Amazon, where you will be able to return it if it does not work for you.
In five years or so of writing Amazon reviews, I have given one star on exactly one other occasion, for a very silly book. Even with kitchen equipment I have not liked, there has usually been at least one redeeming feature. In this case, the camera's unreliability is so antithetical to the very purpose of a camera that there is simply nothing good for me to say. This camera has, in effect, stolen my work and I am not very happy about that.
A camera's job is not only to take, but most importantly to facilitate making pictures. When it is impossible to process the picture taken, it is impossible to make the picture. For this reason, I can only recommend looking at this camera with great caution and, if possible, finding an acceptable alternative.
A Great Camera [Posted on 2004-11-10]
I am a professional radiographer and photographer (25 years now) and I used both the Sony CD500, CD400, CD350, CD300, as well as a Nikon Coolpix for field research 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 CD500 & 300 beat them all. It's not the most expensive or the best resolution but we all thought it did the best job.
Mavica CD500: best of all....resolution, reasonable recording time, great image control for exposure, close-ups, better controls, pretty much everything
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 CD350: not enough manual control for us, but usually got great images on automatic....some problems with exposure range for close-ups though
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!
Wonderful and convenient [Posted on 2005-01-01]
A truly magnificent product. The mini-CD format is robust and so convenient - no longer any need to download pictures to the computer en masse - just view and select them one by one to e-mail, print or modify - they are safely stored on the CD, which fits in the DVD or CD-Rom drive of any computer that I have yet met.
The camera is easy to use and captures superb images either singly or in bursts and it will even take sound movies!
There was no problem with using SONY 200Mb Mavica miniCD's a available for mere pence. Easy to use and store away as one fills them up - there is a noticable tendency for one to take many more pictures with so much storage available.
The camera is robust and light and easy to use both outdoors and inside it gives superd quality images. The battery seems to last, on average for about 240 images but one can always carry a spare. It has performed well in subzero and warm sunlight outdoors with never a glitch.
This is a camera which embodies everything that I need, I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone as a valuable general purpose camera for both work and pleasure.
Nice Camera [Posted on 2005-05-20]
I bought this Camera two years ago from Newegg. I do not have any problem with this camera. I love his camera. Easy to use.
Sony Mavica CD350 [Posted on 2008-04-09]
I bought this camera in mid-2004, and I have enjoyed it quite a bit. It was my first digital camera, and the purchase was based on my company's success with the FD Mavica. Having had the CD350 for 4 years and taken over 1,000 pictures with it in over 6 different states... it's still holding up well, and I have managed some really good pictures (in spite of being an amateur photographer). I have never had to replace the battery (though I did just buy one spare, as it's old now - but the original still holds a charge very well!), and I am still using the original Sony CD-RW that came with it (just bought a 3-pack so I'd have extras for LONG trips). I am hoping to pass it along to my daughter before too long - she's almost ready to graduate to a better camera, and this would be a great one for her.
PROs: Easy to use, very forgiving autofocus, and well-made. In spite of newer cameras out there, I'm still not QUITE ready to replace it, since it still takes great pictures and it has been COMPLETELY trouble-free (only problems have been due to Human Error).
CONs: "Shutter lag" is a bit long by today's standards. Just bought a Canon S5iS for my wife, and it is SO much newer (and as is the case with electronics, SO much nicer). Time to write to CD is a bit slow. I tried Memorex mini CDs, and the menu system warned me to not use non-Sony media; it worked, but VERY unreliably, so I've since stuck with Sony CDs and it's been solid. I wish there were an SD Card or other electronic storage drive like there was with the FD Mavica. Oh, since some folks will want to know... video file sizes are HUGE, yet resolution is quite dreadful (as is the case with all digital cameras I've seen, digital cameras take horrible video, digital video cameras take horrible stills - the strange paradox of digital photography). Newer cameras aren't quite as bad.
VERDICT: If I were shopping today, I'd probably go with a newer camera, as this one is simply old... meaning it's slow, light on modern features such as SD Card slot, doesn't have a LOT of zoom capability, and has lower resolution than newer cameras. But as far as a camera of its era, it's been great, and it just keeps on ticking! Definitely a good "first" digital camera, as there's not a lot of complicated features to mystify the novice.
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