Review on Sony DCR-DVD408 4MP DVD Handycam Camcorder with Enhanced Optical Zoom (Discontinued by Manufacturer) by Mike Groover

This camcorder is phenomenal. I bought it for my son's birthday but unfortunately it arrived too early, a day before the camera arrived. I should have bought it sooner. So for the excitement on delivery day I used an old Panasonic miniDV film camera and then a Sony 408DVD camera. Doesn't matter. I don't know why people think miniDVs give the best picture quality. I actually know of a profession that uses it and I believe that statement to be credible, but there are also some very expensive professional video equipment out there. But for the average home user, it's difficult to deal with cassettes that only play in your camera, or you have to burn them through your computer and burn them to DVDs, which takes hours and tons of hard drive space if you don't want to lose quality. . This Sony is one of Sony's best DVD cameras. I believe the exceptional video quality is due to the lens being T-Star (sharper) and twice the size of other cameras (1/3" vs 1/6"). I am very happy with it. Also, I don't always have to have 2 cameras with me. This camera shoots 2MP videos (very good even on HDTVs) and 4MP photos with the built-in flash in camera mode. This is enough to print sharp 4x6 or even larger images. So overall I'm very happy with this camera. You can either use rewritable mini DVDs and then transfer them to regular DVDs via your computer, or you can do what I do. I buy a cheap miniDVD -r or +r and then keep it as "Original". If I later want to combine or make a special DVD, I can do that. I almost bought a camera with a hard drive, but that fact put me off. I got a quality DVD camera for the same price as a cheap HD camera. Also, I can finalize and play on any DVD player without cables, computers, etc. I also feel that any time you transfer video data (digital or analog) there is a chance that the quality will decrease due to the software you are using. finally the computer processor and the quality of the DVD drive and the media used. So I decided to burn masters onto disposable DVDs and make copies as needed. The point is what you do is up to you. You are not forced to use a computer or rip and share DVD-RWs if you don't want to. Flexibility means everything in electronics. I would highly recommend this camera and if you can afford it try the 508 but if not the 408 is fantastic. I hope this helps you decide.