Editorial Product Review:Item Description:The Sony DCR-DVD308 DVD Handycam(R) Camcorder captures the powerful sound and sharp images you expect from digital photography and video. Instantly capture all your moments and record them directly to DVD-R/-RW/+RW/+R Dual Layer discs. The Professional Quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lenses have an advanced optical multi-layer coating that offers less glare and flare with increased contrast. Built for serious recording, the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens delivers superior image quality -- and its 12x optical and 800x digital zoom make sure you never miss a detail. Its DVD recording lets you share your video more quickly than ever -- once your stills or movie has been recorded, simply pop the disc into any DVD player and watch it instantly. Preview your images on the large 2.7-inch SwivelScreen(TM) LCD display, and add multiple effects directly from the camcorder -- or transfer your images and video to a PC through the USB 2.0 port. Creating great video and sharing it quickly has never been this easy. Professional Quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens Aperture - f1.8 - f2.5 Touch Panel Full Range Auto & Manual Exposure Focal Distance - 3.0 - 36mm Shutter Speeds - Auto, 1/4-1/4000 sec. (AE Mode) Progressive Shutter System Program AE (Auto Exposure) Modes - Beach and Ski, Landscape, Portrait, Spotlight, Sports Lesson, and Sunset and Moon Compatible with DVD-R, -RW and +RW White Balance Modes - Auto, Indoor, One-push, Outdoor Picture Effects - Monotone, Mosaic, Pastel, and Sepia Fader Effects - Black, Overlap, White and Wipe Onboard battery information (displayed on LCD) Easy Handycam(R) Button USB 2.0 Port Optional S-Video out Dolby Digital 5.1 Channel Recording InfoLithium Battery with AccuPower(TM) Meter System Battery Life - Continuous recording for up to 8 hours on a single full charge Dimensions - 2-1/4 x 3-5/8 x 5-1/4 inch (54.5 x 89 x 130.5 mm) Weight - 16 ounces (4
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Buyer Reviews
Average Buyer Rating:
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Edited video quality questionable
Sony DCR-DVD308 works beautifully and seems well put together. It's light, compact, convenient and generally well designed. Operation is very easy, though it is so light it is very difficult to keep steady on a long zoom, and the zoom is extremely rapid and difficult to make unobtrusive - both probably what you get in this kind of camera. It may be a wonderful camera if you just want to watch what you shot, conveniently immediately, on your living room DVD player. Not so much if you want to edit it for anything other than YouTube. The problem seems to be the specific MPEG-2 compression for mini-dvd storage (which is not limited to Sony). I shot one dvd and then tried to edit it, which was a bit of a nightmare. I did manage to find a converter so I could edit in Adobe Premier Elements but the result was jumpy movement and otherwise pretty inelegant. I had much happier results from my old analog 8mm tape camera and a capture card. I have seen some references to simple editing software supplied, but couldn't find it on either of the cds that came with the camera. Sony's highly rated Vegas suites were not developed by Sony and reviewers say they don't provide any proprietary advantages for editing these miniDVDs. I eventually found an obscure software that will edit in the camera's native format without conversion, and that might work better - for another $100. These are just moving snapshots for me, but if I put a lot of work into editing (and I do want to edit), I want decent results that I won't be embarrassed to share or hate to watch myself. Reviewers (I later read) say the quality of miniDV format is better though tape is less convenient. So I've stepped back a technology, ordered a refurbed Sony DCR-HC62 miniDV, and if it proves better, this one goes on Craig's list.
Customer Rating: 
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Very Pleased
Very nice camera/camcorder and the price was an excellent deal. The camera arrived quicker than I had expected. I used it this weekend at my brothers wedding and the video and pictures turned out great.
Thanks so much, I am very pleased!!!!!!!!!!!
Customer Rating: -
Easy to use..works great
I am completely satisfied with the picture quality and zoom of this handy cam. I would completely recommend this handy cam.
Customer Rating: 
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I love this camcorder! Thanks to reviews on Amazon.com!
Before I bought this camera, I read the reviews of this one and others to compare and I even compared Mini-DV and Digital and thanks to the positive reviews on this camera (and it was in my price range) I bought it. I was not disappointed. I have only had it a month and I have used it many times. The mic pics up well, and the zoom works great (which I use for my kids sports). I have downloaded video to my laptop, and burned DVD's. I took the advice of other customers and bought the longer life battery. The only difficulty I had was in not understanding that formatting meant deleting what you had already recorded on the disc, so I now know. My laptop did not have DVD burning capabilities so I did purchase an external burner and everything works great. I would recommend this camera to anyone who has a budget but wants a quality camcorder.
