Hands-On Review: Sony MVC-CD350 CD Mavica Digital Camera
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Sony, (877) 865-SONY, www.sony.com/di
The Sony MVC-CD350 is perfect for use in an educational environment where it will be shared among many students. This is because rather than using an expensive memory card to store images, the MVC-CD350 uses a high-capacity 3" CD-R/RW disc for storage. Not only do these discs have a higher capacity than any memory card, they also can be quickly swapped and are reusable.
The MVC-CD350 has a fairly compact design that fits well in your hand. But like most digital cameras, the image is previewed on an LCD screen on the back. I would have preferred a standard through-the-lens viewer. Fortunately, the user is given a great deal of control over the appearance of the image with the camera's 3X optical zoom lens and 3.2X smart zoom lens. For traditionalists, the MVC-CD350 has a menu option to take both black-and-white and sepia photographs, as well as engage in macro photography.
The MVC-CD350 includes an auto-focus system that produced consistently sharp pictures under a variety of conditions. The auto-exposure system usually set the exposure correctly; although, I observed problems in the macro mode. The built-in flash can be used as a regular flash or as a fill flash when the subject needs extra illumination. In addition to photographs, the MVC-CD350 can capture full-frame video clips with audio.
- R. Richardson
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2003 issue of THE Journal.