Sony DCR-SR300 First Impressions Review

The Front     
The front of the DCR-SR300 is pretty minimal. It is dominated by the camcorder’s lens barrel. The camcorder ships with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens with a filter diameter of 37mm. Attached to the left of the lens barrel is the camcorder’s built-in flash.  

The Right Side
The right side of the DCR-SR300 is extremely rounded and fits nicely into the palm of my hand. My thumb wraps around the back of the camcorder and lands on the camcorder’s battery pack that juts out of the back the machine, providing a perfect anchor point. This is a camcorder that I wouldn’t mind holding, even though it’s bigger than most HDD camcorders. Often, a heavier body proves easier to keep steady, even though it tires the arm more quickly. Combined with the OIS, it should be very easy to keep a stable picture.

Also, on the right side of the camcorder is an ovoid port cover that contains the on-camcorder A/V-out port and the remote port. Below this is Sony’s standard strap which is relatively cushy and adjustable even for bigger hands.

The Back
The back of the DCR-SR300 is the camcorder's main control center for mode selection. The mode dial is located on the top of the camcorder’s back and includes options for Video and Still modes. A selector button for the flash is located conveniently below the mode dial for easy toggling of flash options during handheld still capture. Near the flash button is the camcorder’s primary record button, in a long slender shape. The feature most jarring to the eye on the back of the camcorder is its H. Stamina battery pack that juts off the back of the camcorder enough to make it aesthetically unappealing. The good news is that the battery forms an excellent thumb rest during handheld use. The trade off, which we think quite favorable, is the estimated 5 hours of operating time.

The Left Side
The left side of the DCR-SR300 houses the LCD screen from which the user can operate the touch screen menu system. Within the LCD’s cavity are a number of buttons. Along the top of the cavity are buttons for Backlight, Wide Select, Display/Battery Info, and Easy Mode, most of which apply directly to how the LCD looks. Below this row is the switch for NightShot mode and the camcorder’s Memory Stick Duo / PR Duo slot. The button to enter the camcorder’s playback mode is located on the top right of this cavity. Along the left side of the LCD screen itself, secondary buttons are located for recording, zoom, and entering the “Home” section of Sony’s relatively new menu system.

The Top
The top of the DCR-SR300 features from front to back: The camcorder’s built-in Surround Sound microphone, its hot—yet proprietary—accessory shoe, its primary zoom toggle, and its photo-capture button. The proprietary shoe means that only Sony and Sony-licensed accessories will fit thus severely limiting the number of options, particularly for microphones. Sony is the only camcorder manufacturer to do this, and it drives us crazy.