A substantial frame camera with 35mm SLR quality. Highly economical as "film" costs about $2 per year. Batteries last about three years with care and proper use. Does a good job as a Point and Shoot, but has some "art" features as well. Takes great b&w as well and doesn't just look like the color is removed. Crisp and clear. Used, it's a great buy.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I am not an avid photographer, and by no means an expert at digital camera reviews, but I have owned this Mavica CD350 for over a year now, so I will share my experiences with it. The camera is well made, as we have given it a rough go for a year and it has held up to our tests, even being dropped a couple of times. It is very bulky, but that was to be expected considering it has to have room for an entire mini CD-R or CD-RW to fit inside, and the processing muscle to read and write to it. I have large hands, so this camera is a good fit for me, but my wife tends to think it is oversized for most other users, and when using the MPEG video function, it does tend to get a little heavy. One of the primary reasons we decided to get this camera is the ample storage provided by the CD-R and CD-RW discs. Consistantly high prices for memory sticks were also another reason that we decided to pay a little more for this mid-range camera. This fact alone has made the camera very affordable over the course of the year that we've owned it. Instead of having to upload and erase from our memory stick(s), we basically just take out the CD-R, place in another, format, and bang, we're ready for 100 more pictures. The most impressive thing to me is that by default, I suppose, most computer CD-Rom drives will read the mini CD-R discs just like they are regular Compact discs. This works well, considering the CD350 Mavica has one of the slowest upload rates of any camera (or any USB-based device) I've ever used. My computer is cutting-edge and built for graphically-heavy computing, and it takes the Mavica upwards of 20 minutes to upload a full disc of pictures through the USB port, which is insanely too much time. Aside from the laggy USB upload speed, Sony included an intuitive little CD-R adaptor that you can use to play the mini-discs in a regular CD-ROM drive. As I previously stated, most computers I've used will read the disc without this adaptor, but just in case, this little device will help you out. It's basically just the size of a standard CD-Rom, with a donutesque hole in the middle where you can pop-in-place your mini-disc, and there you go. The functionality of the camera is fair. The camera is very capable of taking very high quality pictures in ideal lighting and still-life situations, but if the light is a bit off, or the object moves just a hair during shooting, then some "ghosting" occurs. This is remedies somewhat by having a nice flash, but not enough to make it annoying at time. The zoom has always been a sore spot as well. Anything withing 2 feet, and you can't get it to focus. Again, I'm not an expert and maybe this is how it should be, but I've had disposable digitals that have taken better closeups. For the price of this camera, it gets the job done for taking good pictures of Ebay items, cars, mountains, and scenery, but I wouldn't give it 2 thumbs up if you're looking for ease and speed of upload, action pictures, or very impressive zoom capabilities. It's tough and durable though, and the mini-discs are a great money-saver over time.Read full review
It's easy to use, even though all the funcions seem to change of their own accord. The built in flash is a real boon. Feels 'sturdy' in your hands Love that little zoom lens. The cd-r's (mini) that it takes are readily accessible. I keep using the same one and then deleting the pictures although it isn't a cdrw. Just take them off (works on vista without the trouble i have with my other two cameras as no usb cable is needed), put on your computer and delete the old pictures on disc and then use it again! The only time i forsee using more is if we go out for the day and take loads of pictures.
Whenever I hear the name Sony, I think of quality and I'm sure I'm not alone in my opinion. This camera is no exception. I've had this camera for about a month now and I'm still discovering new features. It takes brilliant pictures and movies. If I was forced to give a con of the camera it would only be that after you take a picture it takes a few seconds for it to be burned onto the disc and if you want to view it you have to wait a few more seconds for it to load. But whats a few seconds...? make a sandwich...
I like that the camera discs can hold large number of pictures and can also record the max length of the cd. I do not like that it takes much longer to power up the camera to picture taking mode and do not like the fact that it is not a dual media camera. The memory stick is also easy to use and saves automatic without requiring finalizing the disc.
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