• 4.1 megapixel sensor creates 2,272 x 1,704 images for prints at sizes up to 11 x 14 inches

• 3x optical Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar zoom lens and 2x digital zoom with 5-area multi-point autofocus

• Stores images directly on 156 MB 8cm CD-R or CD-RW (rewriteable) discs

• Discs can be read by virtually all Mac and PC CD-ROM drives (not currently compatible with Apple iPhoto)

• Uses proprietary Infolithium rechargeable battery (NP-FM50 )

The unique feature of Sony's CD400 Mavica is a built-in mini-CD recorder, a clever solution that simultaneously provides affordable portable memory and long-term archival storage. The camera also features a 4-megapixel sensor, a 3x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens, a jumbo 2.5-inch display, and long-life rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Optics and Resolution
The CD400's 4-megapixel sensor captures a tremendous amount of detail, allowing sharp 11-by-14-inch prints with pixels to spare. If you're currently using a high-quality 35mm point-and-shoot, expect to see as much detail in your digital pictures as you currently see in your film photos.

A 3x Carl Zeiss optical zoom lens (34-102mm equivalent) helps you to capture exactly the picture you want, and an additional 2x digital zoom (6x total) further magnifies your image. Remember, however, that digital zoom tends to reduce the sharpness and detail of your image, so it's best used sparingly. In low-light situations (a particular weakness for many digital cameras), a focus-assist lamp sends out a small patterned beam to help the camera accurately determine distance.

To save space, there's no traditional optical viewfinder to look through. Instead, to compose your images or review shots you've already taken, the CD400 uses a 2.5-inch color display. The advantage to using the LCD to frame your shots is that the screen lets you see exactly the picture you'll capture. The disadvantage is that you can't turn off the screen and just use the optical viewfinder to extend battery life. Fortunately, the included rechargeable battery holds a relatively good charge.

More Features
The engineers at Sony have gone out of their way to make it as easy as possible to share your images online. For example, the e-mail mode stores a lower-resolution version of your picture on the disc in a separate folder from the full-size version. This compact file lacks the detail of the original, but has a small file size, making it ideal for e-mail attachments. In addition, a video e-mail mode captures highly compressed, less-detailed movie clips that are also small enough to easily e-mail. With the time, expertise, and the right software, owners of any digital camera can create these more compact files on their home computers, but Sony saves you this trouble.

More advanced photographers will appreciate manual focus, a 14-bit A/D processor that captures more gradations in color than most digital cameras, and an uncompressed TIFF mode for recording the highest-quality photos.

Power
The CD400 uses Sony's excellent InfoLithium battery system, which not only holds a respectable charge, but also displays on screen how many minutes of power remain. Both the battery and the charger are included. Because the battery is unique to specific Sony models and can be nearly impossible to find when on the road, we strongly recommend getting a spare if you're planning to take the camera on extended outings.

Movie Mode
In movie mode, the camera captures video clips with sound at resolutions up to 320 x 240 pixels. Unlike most digital cameras, the length of each video is limited only by the amount of memory left on the CD. The limited resolution of these clips guarantees that this feature won't replace your camcorder, but it's perfect for when you just want to capture a quick movie and e-mail it to a friend or relative.

Storage and Transfer
With a traditional digital camera, images are stored on memory cards, then transferred to your computer via a cable or card reader, and ultimately archived by recording on a CD-R or other high-capacity medium. Sony's CD Mavicas simplify this process by recording images directly to CD, using a 3-inch miniature CD recorder integrated into the back of the camera (hence the camera's rounded shape). These discs are substantially smaller than traditional 5-inch CDs, and only hold about one-fourth as much information (156 MB instead of 650 MB), but this is still enough space to store over 60 photos at the camera's highest-quality compressed mode. Each disc costs a couple of dollars. To transfer pictures to your computer, simply remove the disc from the camera and insert it into your computer's CD-ROM drive. Unlike images recorded on memory cards, pictures taken on a CD-R are permanently burned into the disc, instantly providing a digital "negative" for archiving your photos.

If you prefer to transfer your images in the traditional way, just use an erasable/re-recordable CD-RW disc and connect the camera to your computer with the included USB cable. After transferring the images, you can erase the CD-RW disc to ready it for another batch of photos.

Size
At 5.5 by 3.75 by 4 inches, and 23 ounces, you won't slip this one into your shirt pocket, but it's still one of the smallest disc-based cameras available. The CD400 fits nicely into most SLR camera carrying cases.

Contents and Recommended Accessories
The package includes the CD400 camera, NP-FM50 battery, AC-L10 cable for in-camera charging, six 3-inch CD-R discs, one 3-inch re-recordable CD-RW, shoulder strap, AV cable, USB cable, and software on CD.

Everything you need to get started is included in the box, but we recommend these accessories to make the most of your camera: a carrying case, additional 3-inch CD-R or CD-RW discs, and a second battery (especially if you're taking the camera on extended trips). Compatible accessories for this camera are listed near the top of this page. --Shane Burnett

Pros:

• Integrated CD recorder provides inexpensive storage and image archiving
• Big 2.5-inch screen makes it easy to preview and review photos
• E-mail modes make it easy to share your photos electronically

Cons:

• No traditional optical viewfinder
• CD drive makes the camera bigger and heavier than cameras using memory cards

The most noticeable change up front is that the built-in flash unit has moved from the upper right side of the unit to right over the barrel. This helps with avoiding shadow effects when taking up-close shots.

Additionally, they have addressed the single most commented-upon flaw of the 200/300 series: Viewing the LCD screen in bright sunlit conditions. They have added a clear 'strip' along the top of the LCD panel that allows ambient light to help back-light the LCD screen, and the results are frankly good, making the LCD significant more usable in all lighting conditions without having to buy the 'viewfinder attachment' that Sony sells for the Mavica CD model cameras.

The third significant change is the addition of a standard flash adapter, allowing one to use external flash units with this camera for better lighting when needed. It is important to note - apparently it is critical to make sure you use a normal low voltage external flash instead of a studio-quality high-voltage unit, as this may damage the camera!

Like it's previous generation brothers, the CD400 includes a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens for high quality (professional?) photography without the distortions you may sometimes find in the 'corners' of shots taken through some lower quality digital cameras. It also upgrades the CCD from 3.3 megapixels to 4.0 or so, which means even more detail can be captured for folks who are interested in capturing everything possible.

The other unique addition is Sony's Hologram AF system, which uses a laser emitting diode to put a crosshatch pattern on your target prior to snapping the shot, letting the autofocus get better accuracy when dealing with situations that sometimes confuse traditional autofocus routines.

Sony's batteries also are decent, giving a typical user 2+ hours of uninterrupted shooting before needing replacement, and then recharging in ~45 minutes.

And of course the mail selling feature for most folks, myself included - the photos are saved on mini-CDs, rather than one of the various memory stick/card units. Mini-CDs are dirt cheap per MB compared to memory sticks, and typically store ~150-200MB worth of photos, depending on make. Sony of course recommends you use only their branded disks, but many folks are reporting no problems using other manufactured brands. Depending on CD used, this translates into ~10 photos at the absolute maximum resolution 2272x1704 at maximum quality (TIFF) through ~1300+ photos at 640x480 at standard quality (JPG).

As an added feature, you can record movies with audio with the camera also, though the image and sound quality are not comparable with a digital video camera so if video is your passion, go look for a video camera, not a digital still camera. Otherwise, this is a nice little bonus.

I had resisted the urge to purchase a digital camera for a long time, waiting both for the photo quality to start approaching that which could be found with 35mm cameras, and for the means to get the pictures into a usable format on the PC to become cheaper or easier. Mini-CDs work in nearly all modern CD drives on computers, and I have not run across one yet that failed to work, though I admittedly tend to have relatively modern equipment at home and work. (Nothing older than ~3 years old at least in terms of CD drives.) The MVC-CD400 is an answer to every criticism I've had about digital cameras for the last few years. I'm enjoying mine greatly!

ONE NOTE: Viewing 'unfinazlied' CDs on a Windows PC only works if you have DirectCD installed, which is an application that comes bundled with pretty much any CD burner on the market. 'Finalized' CDs are readable pretty much everywhere.

94 of 95 found the following review helpful:


Great Camera to travel with  Nov 25, 2002
Let me first start of by saying that this camera is probably not for everyone. I'll start of by describing its short coming, all of which I think is something that is expected.

Firstly, its bulky. Not big, maybe the size of a 35MM not as heavy though, but definitely much bigger than your average Digital camera. This of course is due to the fact that it uses CD as storage device. Sony did a nice job of putting a hand grip on the right side of the Camera that fit nicely in my hand. But I think that perhaps left-handers and people with smaller hand might not feel as comfortable with this camera. I would recommend going to a local store and try it out before buying it online.

Secondly, since it uses CD as storage, there will be lag time in disc access. Reading from disc or reviewing images are slow (very slow). And definitely for me the worst part of this camera. Taking pictures at regular interval (2-3 sec between shot) is ok since the camera stores the pictures into a memory buffer first before writing onto the disc. But you will have problem if you want to take lots of shots on fast moving object. The camera provides a mode for 3 burst shot or a multi burst mode for up to 16 shots (stored in 1 picture) but its not very good, you are probably better off with another camera. But again, this is something I was expecting from this camera.

Now to the good part. Of course the CD storage is great. The main reason I brought this camera is because I went on a 2 weeks vacation and didn't want to carry lab top around to off load my pictures. The CD storage are cheap, and allows me to take highest quality pictures at all times. I recomend using Memorex 210MB pocket CD-R for this (stores about 96 pic on highest quality). Much better than sony mavica standard CDR, and cheaper too. Furthermore, the CDR makes filing away pictures much easier. You don't have to store it onto a harddrive or burn the image afterward onto CDRs. Its probably would be convinence to be able to come back and look at the pictures 2-3 years from now.

Another important thing is that the camera just simply takes great pictures. The pictures come out real nice, and with its autofocus feature its almost impossible to shot out of focus pictures, unless of course you use the manual setting. You can add effect to the pictures (solarize, BW, Sepia, Negative Art) and also adjust the white balance...the usual stuff. And the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens works real well.

Sony probably realizes that the Camera is bulky and thus they actually put alot of features into the device (at least the 4 megapixels version) comparing to their other 4 megapixels camera DSC-P9. You can adjust the camera to Manual that allow you to adjust various stuff like Shutter speed, Aperture, exposure shift. Overall this, and the image quality, is the biggest different between the 2 megapixel and the 4 megapixel Mavica.

The camera has a movie mode which record the movie (with voice)onto the disc in mpg format. On an empty disc this its about 5 min recording time on best quality and 90 min on lowest quality. Its no substitution for camcorder though because zoom doesn't work under this mode. But its a nice little feature nontheless. Note that lots of Digital camera has this feature, but not all of them allow you to record movie up to the maximum capacity of the media. Many digital camera limits you to a certain fixed time (usually less than 1 min) of recording time.

Battery life is decent. The camera display the exact battery life remaining in minutes. It definitely is enough for normal operation for 1 day, before its nightly recharged. The recharging doesn't take too long, 1-2 hours. You can buy a backup battery/charger if you takes lots of pictures.

Overall I really recommend this camera for people who like to take pictures. Its not your typical digital camera so it definitely is not for everyone and you should be cautious when buying it. Go to a store try it out first. But I do tell you this, if you are thinking about buying the MVC-CD250 vs. MVC-CD400...go with the 400. Its more expensive, but its a much bigger bang for the buck.

74 of 74 found the following review helpful:


Man what a camera!  Nov 01, 2002 By Mike "dragonhound"
I've used this camera over the past several years and I remain a true believer of both it, and its updated 5MP version, which I also own. The expanse of capabilities and options with the camera allows for taking excellent pictures under nearly any conditions. The manual as well as the shutter and aperature priority imaging modes allow you complete control over the imaging process. I've taken pictures of everything including northern lights at 2 a.m., my cats in near complete darkness, portrait shots of subjects in dark rooms standing in front of bright windows, and they've all turned out wonderfully. For printing, I've used both my home printer, and a professional photo store, and prints up to 11x14 have turned out perfectly with no degredation at all.

Several recommendations if you buy this camera. Don't waste your money on Sony's cd-r disks. I've used verbatim, memorex and k-hypermedia cd-r with no problem. They're certainly much cheaper, and they all hold 185 MB while the Sony's only hold 156 MB. I would also suggest that you buy the Sony external flash for the camera. While the hot shoe will accept other brands of flash, I've been very impressed with the improvements to my pictures since buying the sony flash. I would also recommend buying a small (3-6") expandable tripod that will fit in any case. This allows you to set up longer exposure shots for dark environments, as well as for using the timer function on less than ideal surfaces.

If you're looking for huge storage (and archive) capabilities, excellent images, and complete control over your picture taking (minues the zoom limitations), then this is certainly the camera for you. Everyday I think it is worth the price I've paid, and with a new baby in the house when first purchased, being able to take several hundred pictures in the first few days and email the "best-of" off to the grandparents is certainly a plus.

99 of 103 found the following review helpful:


Great Camera But Consider A CD300 For Less $$  Jul 06, 2002 By Richard R. Carlton
I am a professional radiographer and photographer (25 years now) and I used both the CD400, CD300, as well as a Nikon Coolpix for this year's field research season x-raying mummies in Peru. This means the cameras were pushed hard.....blowing sand, huge contrast ranges, high resolution radiographs needed, fast manual control of radical light conditions, etc.....essentially most of the tough conditions and imaging requirements you can imagine. Here's what I found:

The Sony Mavica CD300 beat them all. It's not the most expensive or the best resolution but we all thought it did the best job.

Mavica CD400: best resolution but extremely slow recording time made it impossible to work with most of the time....the CD300 often got 3-4 shots while the 400 was recording one.

Mavica CD300: not the best resolution, but now that I've done some prints for publication from it's highest res setting I will not be buying any more 400s....just not a significant enough difference, plus it's not as heavy or bulky.

Nikon Coolpix: not in the running by comparison with the Sonys....although it is more lightweight....we are buying mini CDs for 33 cents each in bulk... and getting 140-180 high res images per CD.....they are so easy to format, initialize, and copy on any CD burner that I can't believe we even considered using memory stiks, or USB downloads.

The best features are common to both the Sony Mavica CD300 and 400 series though.....manual control of the images, excellent close up abilities, decent wide angle (which can be enhanced with add-on lenses if necessary), and both rapid video and automatic functions with night focusing for flash, etc., etc.

Finally! There is a great digital camera.

36 of 36 found the following review helpful:


Great vacation camera  Oct 01, 2002
We looked at the 2megapixel versions that were out plus the 22X zoom cd mavica before purchasing this particular model. Had there been a zoom version upgrade with the cd rather than the memory sticks, we probably would have purchased it because we liked the zoom feature so much. We wanted 4 megapixel with the cd option, which left us with this camera. Having had access to use all 3 cd mavica cameras, we chose this one because the zoom isn't bad, the Zeiss lenses are great and the options are all there.

After taking this on a trip to Washington DC, we used only 2 disks using 2nd from the highest resolution. We also shot a few mpeg videos, which were an interesting endeavor. Because it isn't a full camcorder, you cannot zoom in and out while making a video. We didn't find this out until we filmed the changing of the guards at Arlington. Also, at highest res, you only get 5 minutes 28 seconds of video. The next step down gives about 28minutes. All in all, it was great to only have to carry cd's and knowing what we know now, we can go completely high res on our next vacation and not have to worry about disk space.

Also, the functions on the camera allowed us to take pictures of items behind glass at the Smithsonian museums. We could instantly see if we had a glare or not and the camera offers a few different ways to eliminate the glare completely.

Other than the "wow, this is a different camera" comments through airport security, we had little problem with it. The battery life was impressive - 3 days before recharging.

If you want to do videos, we would recommend purchasing a separate unit that has more functionality, but it was great if you only wanted to carry one camera.

See all 35 customer reviews on Amazon.com