Product Description

Instantly capture and share all your moments with the DCR-DVD308 Handycam camcorder. Record directly to DVD-R/-RW/+RW/+R Dual Layer discs while you're shooting. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens with 1 megapixel CCD masterfully captures every image, while the built-in microphone records audio in 5.1 channel surround sound. Screen your masterpiece on the generous 2.7"2 wide touch panel hybrid LCD monitor. And once you've finished shooting, share it easily on DVD or transfer to your computer with the USB 2.0 connection1. Fast and easy, the DCR-DVD308 shoots and shares video in a class all of its own.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1169 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Sony
• Model: DCRDVD308
• Dimensions: 1.94 pounds
• Display size: 2.7

Features

• 1-megapixel Advanced HAD CCD imager
• Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens; 25x optical/2000x digital zoom
• Dolby Digital 5.1-channnel recording with built-in microphone
• 2.7-inch Hybrid SwivelScreen LCD; one-touch wide-angle shooting
• DVD-R/RW+ RW/+R DL (Dual Layer) compatibility

Manufacturer Description
Easily capture video directly to DVD with the DCR-DVD308. Record in crystal clarity and 5.1-channel surround sound to DVD-R/-RW/+RW/+R DL (Dual Layer) discs. The active interface shoe provides additional powered accessory options and you can transfer your video direct to your PC with the hi-speed USB 2.0 connection.

DCR-DVD308 Highlights

1-megapixel Advanced HAD CCD imager 1/6-inch Advanced HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCD imager with 690K effective video pixels provides excellent detail and clarity, for exceptional digital video (up to 520 lines of resolution) and still image performance. Realize great-looking digital still images with 1,000K effective pixels.

Advanced HAD CCD technology Enhanced CCD design allow more light to reach the imager which reduces video noise to improve signal-to-noise ratio by up to 6dB (2x better than a standard CCD). Particularly effective when shooting in dark situations.

DVD format video recording The DVD recording format delivers digital picture and sound quality comparable to that of MiniDV, but on DVD. Playback of the DVDs couldn’t be simpler. After finalizing the disc in the camera, the disc plays back in compatible DVD Players, computers and even PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles.

DVD-R/RW+ RW/+R DL (Dual Layer) compatibility The DCR-DVD308 is compatible with a variety of DVD formats allowing the ease of use and simplicity found in DVD media. With DVD+RW media there is no need to finalize the disc (minimum recording time required). Simply remove the disc and insert the media into a compatible DVD player.

25x optical/2000x digital zoom The optical zoom helps to bring the action up close from far away. In addition, the digital zoom interpolation means that extreme digital zooming is clearer, with less distortion than previous types of digital zooms.

Professional-quality Carl Zeiss Vario- Tessar Lens Carl Zeiss lens have an advanced optical multi-layer coating offering less glare and flare with increased contrast. This results in vivid image brilliance, true-to-life color saturation, and perfect renditions of subtle tones.

Dolby Digital 5.1-channnel recording The DCR-DVD308 will record in Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound through the built-in microphone. By recording in 5.1-channel surround sound you can experience your home movies with active sounds coming from all directions. Enjoy your personal home movies the way you experienced them while recording.

2.7-inch Hybrid SwivelScreen LCD Provides excellent viewing clarity with improved resolution. The 123K-pixel LCD rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles, providing sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback. The Hybrid LCD Screen provides accurate viewing in sunlight or bright light, virtually eliminating the "wash-out" common with traditional LCD screens.

One-touch wide-angle shooting Easily switch between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios for shooting with just the touch of a button.

Memory Stick Duo media slot Capture still images up to 1152 x 864 resolution directly onto Memory Stick Duo media for easy tranfer to your PC and emailing, printing, or sharing with other compatible Memory Stick devices.

Visual index screen Shows thumbnail images of video clips and still images when playing back on your camcorder or DVD player, making your selection easier.

Super SteadyShot picture stabilization system An advanced version of Sony’s SteadyShot system that controls an even higher range of shake and vibration frequencies, to achieve an even higher level of smoothness without degradation of video like some other image stabilization systems.

Super NightShot Plus infrared system An advanced version of Sony’s NightShot infrared system that allows users to record natural color images in low-light conditions, but without the blurring common with other low-light recording systems.

Active interface shoe Conveniently gives you the option of adding accessories such as lights, flashes, and microphones to the camera, which can communicate with the camera and also draw power from the camera.

USB 2.0 interface The USB 2.0 interface provides an easy way to connect your DVD Handycam to quickly transfer video and still images to your computer for editing. The camcorder can also be used as an external DVD burner, which is convenient for making copies of your DVDs or burning edited movies.

InfoLithium battery with AccuPower meter system Charge the battery at any time because unlike NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) batteries Sony’s rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries are not subjected to a life shortening "memory effect." Sony’s exclusive AccuPower meter displays the approximate battery time remaining in minutes, in the viewfinder or the LCD screen.

Additional Features

• Progressive shutter system
• Scene selection modes
• Fader effects
• Picture effects
• Multi-language menu

Customer Reviews

A pretty handy Handycam
Tickets to Disneyland are expensive, sufficiently so that when my wife decided that I should record the memories in moving pictures rather than stills, the price of the camcorder was almost certain to be unimportant. If recording the Disney experience would cost me less than the Disney experience itself, then the camera could be relegated to the "acceptable collateral damage" column of my planned budget.

The price of this camcorder isn't bad, but I've decided that camcorder pricing in general is a dishonest racket. The battery that comes with this camcorder is good for less than an hour of recording. When you're going to Disneyland, 45 minutes just isn't enough. You need to buy a bigger battery (I went with the biggest, 10 hours), and for that you'll pay almost a third of the price of this camcorder (less on Amazon, but I didn't have the luxury of waiting the several weeks they said it would take to get the battery). You need to buy a camera case. You need to buy a battery charger. You need to buy at least six DVDs (that gives you a bit under three hours of standard recording time). By the time I bought the stuff I needed to go with the camcorder, I'd spent about half the price of the camcorder itself. Plan to spend at least $200 more than the price of the camcorder on accessories if you want to take it on vacation with you. The collateral damage to your budget will always be greater than the price of the camera.

That said, this camcorder performed very well. It's very easy to use, and with a little practice I learned to record events one-handed while watching said events unfold in front of my eyes, not just on the screen. That is, once I got the camera going I could occasionally start watching my kids and stop watching the camcorder screen. Score a big one for the stabilization feature. The menus on the screen are easy to navigate, and the screen responds nicely to touch. I didn't have to push too hard, and it didn't respond to the passing of my finger over one button on its way to another.

The image quality is very nice. The zoom feature works very smoothly, and 25X optical zoom is more than enough to catch your kids' expressions of horror and delight when they're on a ride and your feet are planted on blessedly solid ground. And if you have to ride with them, well, I've nauseated friends and family with my clip of scenery zooming by while my kids made our tea-cup spin as fast as the mechanism would allow. I filmed at standard quality, and it shows nicely on a 32" HD TV. It looks grainy on a 42" screen.

The autofocus works pretty well when the lens isn't zoomed. I used it at full zoom in a large auditorium when my son's kindergarten class sang last month. I was seated about 150 feet back and the auditorium was dark. He kept going in and out of focus. I pulled back the zoom and the focus settled down. The sound was good, but I was bothered to hear my own whispers to my wife when I played back the video. I'd prefer that the microphone give more prominence to sound in front of the camera and less to sound that's in back.

If I had it to do over again, I'd probably buy a hard-drive camcorder rather than a mini-DVD camcorder. The DVDs are just more stuff you have to carry around in your bag, and the odds are you'll have to change the DVD at an inopportune time (e.g., right when your daugther is discovering just how long and wet a giraffe's tongue is). If, like me, you're a Mac owner, you'll find that Sony camcorders work pretty well with iDVD and iMovie. But my four-year old iMac doesn't support this camcorder. Newer ones do (we're upgrading, so no big deal for us). The video software that comes with the camcorder is only for Windows; it will only support still photos on Mac.

(An update on the above: No, new Macs do NOT support this camcorder. To download video to iMovie requires either that your camcorder have a firewire port or that it produce files in MPEG4 format. This camcorder has no firewire port and records in MPEG2. The fix that I've found is a program (e.g., Popcorn2) that will convert MPEG2 to MPEG4. It's not elegant and is mighty annoying, but it gets the job done. If you're a Mac owner, life will be simpler with another camcorder.)

On balance I like this camcorder. I'd like it more if it came with a bigger battery, a battery charger (you can charge a battery in the camera, but it takes a lot longer), and Mac compatible software. And if that touch-screen had a finish that weren't so easy to smudge.

Better than my mini DV
And more versatile. I edit my video 90% (or more) of the time, so mini DVD is perfect. I know and therefore shoot only the scenes that I want to see later. So, +/- 15 minutes of recording in one DVD disc is not a problem for me, btw, you can get more recording time if you use SP or even LP settings. For me, I use the highest quality setting, which is HQ (6 MB/sec).
I always use miniDVD-RW or miniDVD+RW, I have 3 discs of each type. The last time we went outing, I ended up only use 2 discs, and I got plenty of shots that I keep, in fact all 25 minutes of everything that I wanted to record and will see it over and over again.
I use MAC, and Sony and all other DVD camcorder out there don't supply you with any MAC compatible software. But my MacBook easily recognize the Sony! But since I use DVD-RW, I can (first) finalize the discs, and use "Popcorn" or "Toast" to copy the video to my MAC, it's faster this way.
And... I can Re-Use the disc later by "Un-Finalizing" it! .. Perfect.
DVD+RW is even better, you don't need to finalize the disc, you can just pop in to compatible (any player that accept 8" disc) player to see your recorded video.
Other important spec: DCR-DVD308 uses 1.0 Megapixel Advanced HAD(tm) CCD Imager, just perfect in term of quality and my budget. the 408 uses 2.1 MP and 108 uses 1/6".
Low light and indoor performance are good, better than Canon and Panasonic and waaayyy better than JVC (all in the same price range and similar specs)
I can go on with the specs, but just go to sonystyle and compare the 108, 308 and 408 yourself.
Canon's LCD I thought is sharper and brighter than Sony, but you actually can change the setting in the menu, to me, I prefer the default setting since I use it outdoors most of the time, and I can see better with the default setting.
Panasonic has a smoother zoom, in Sony, you can have the same smooth zoom by using the one in the LCD.
I don't use the photo features (still image), I have a Nikon D40 for that purpose.
My only wish list: ability to record to Memory Stick.
Anyway, this is a perfect camcorder for me.
My other choices (and worthy competitor to the Sony) beside this model are:
Canon DC230 and Panasonic VDR-D230

Easy to Use, Sweet Picture
This camera is really slick. The one thing that I don't like is that it does not accept SD cards (and no on-board system memory... you need a duo chip to take still pictures). However, the picture is amazing and saving to the DVD is a snap. The camera is comfortable to hold, and has a touch screen which makes viewing the videos easy, too. All in all, 5/5 stars. Excellent.

Update: One annoying issue is that every time I turn it on, it gives me a nice message that says "Sony media recommended." This stays on for 30 seconds. I get the picture, Sony! Sheesh. Unfortunately, I can't find a way to turn this message off.