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Sony DCR-SR300 First Impressions
Review
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The
Sony DCR-SR300 is the no doubt big top hard disk drive (HDD) standard
account camcorder presented by Sony this year and much closer in
features to its low-quality camcorder, the DCR-SR200. These camcorders
substitute one of our front-runners of the year 2006, the DCR-SR100
(USD999). The SR300 is featured by a latest 1/2.9inch ClearVID CMOS
detector, supporting 3200K gross pixels in addition to a 10x optical
zoom and optical image stabilization (OIS). It shares these appealing
specifications with some of Sony’s latest high account camcorders for
example the HDR-HC7 (USD1129) and HDR-UX7.
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Previous ClearVID CMOS
detectors (sensors) have resulted well in our experiments, and it is an
invention that has made steady enhancement since it first launching in
Sony's PC1000 (USD700) that was introduced two years before. With the
feature of OIS (coming back to Sony user camcorders after a long break),
this might turned out to be a very appealing HDD camcorder.
Features
One of the main features
of the DCR-SR300 (USD762), that raised its sale level very much, is the
camcorder’s power to shoot 6.1megapixel stills. The sensor has 3040K
effective pixels (ratio of 4:3) in still capture mode. This cannot be
achieved without the camcorder’s large imager (a 1/2.9inch ClearVid CMOS
Sensor)—the same detector as we had already seen on the HDR-HC7
(USD1129) and the HDR-UX7. You will see that the maximal still image
dimension is nearly twice the pixels of the effective pixel number that
signifies that the chip is having an affect of some sort of insertion
which unnaturally raises the count of pixels. This doesn’t renders that
the image is losing resolution; it only means that there is no further
data in those new pixels - the resolution will be the same. By employing
the 6.1megapixel stills, the camcorder can photograph 3.1megapixel and
0.3megapixel still images. Unluckily, the DCR-SR300 does not provide the
widescreen 4.6megapixel stills just as many other Sony camcorders having
the same CMOS.
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Performance
The DCR-SR300 (USD762)
comes with a 1/2.9inch 3200 pixel ClearVID CMOS. The imager has got
2280K effective pixels in ratio of 16:9 whereas 1710K effective pixels
in the ratio of 4:3 in video mode. Whereas the gross pixel count is
approximately same to previous year’s SR100 (USD999), this is a 16:9
native sensor. Last year’s CMOS sensors were not 16:9 native, and
performance results in widescreen mode should improve from the
modification.
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The DCR-SR300’s video
performance result will create an exciting comparison with the HDR-HC7
(USD1129), but right now, it will be difficult to state precisely how
they compare. On the ground of CES, we just had the Liquid crystal
display screens to assess image quality which is never as exact as you
would wish it to be. The HDR-SR100, with a litter 1/3inch ClearVID CMOS,
had one of the most brilliant functioning we have experienced from a
MPEG-2 camcorder, including HDD (hard disc drive) and DVD camcorders.
Whereas we will wait classical assessment about the DCR-SR300’s video
functioning, we expect it to be in good order.
Unluckily, even though the
DCR-SR300 makes good video, there is not that much in the kingdom of
manual commands to support better quality video. What it does possess is
a good zoom on-off switch and nice handling power.
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