Sony DSCH300/B Digital Camera (Black)

Update June 20, 2019:My second set of NiMH batteries just went flat after taking photo number 1488. So I am getting on average 744 photos per charge on a set of rechargeable NiMH batteries. That is really good battery performance.The Sony DSC-H300 is a very nice camera for the price. It is not equal to a Rebel SLR or my Fuji, but it costs a fraction of the price of either of those. For a basic point and shoot camera it has a lot going for it.The user interface is about the same as most digital cameras, so you should be able to figure it out. I had very little trouble with it.The complete operator manual is available by going to sony dot com and digging down through support.The photographs are sharp enough. The colors are a bit more saturated than they are in my other cameras, but that is what I have noticed in Sony cameras that I have owned previously.The autofocus can be a bit tricky, but with practice I am mostly able to make it work. I take a lot of macro photos, and sometimes it does better using the area focus, and sometimes it does better using the spot focus. I try things until it works.I was initially put off by the fact that there is no obvious Macro setting. I take a lot of macro photographs. However, the camera does have a macro mode; it sets it automatically, removing the need to remember to put it into macro mode before shooting. So the lack of a menu setting for macros is a benifit rather than a deficiency.I also was initially put off by having to set the exposure correction through the menu system. You have to push the menu button, then click down a few spaces to get to the EV setting. It takes four or five menu clicks. However, once I had set the EV to something other than zero, pushing the Menu button took me directy to the EV menu, so it became a one-click setting at that point. Clever. In fact the menu does that in general. The menu rembembers where it was and takes you back there when you push the Menu button. That memory is reset when you go in and out of replay mode or turn the camera on/off.The camera uses AA batteries, which is a requirement for me. I have boxes of NiMH rechargeables that I use in all of my cameras, and the DSC-H300 works fine with them. I shot 646 photographs on one set of fully charged Eneloop 1900 mAh NiMH batteries. That is not an estimate; I actually took that many photos on one set of batteries. It reports the charge level accurately as well.For connection to a computer, the camera uses a Mini USB 5-pin connector, not to be confused with the older USB mini 4-pin connector, which is larger. I have some older cameras that use a connector that is called a "Mini USB", but it is not the same connector as the one that works with this Sony. The older connector is more accurately referred to as a "Mini USB 4-pin" connector. Fortunately, the camera came with the proper cable, so this was not an immediate issue, but if you need to replace the cable, make sure that you get the "Mini USB 5-pin" version.A nice feature is that the backup battery that maintains the settings, such as the clock when the main batteries are out is rechargeable. So if you leave the camera with no batteries in it long enough for the backup battery to go flat, you can simply leave fresh AA batteries in it for a while and the backup battery will recharge. You don't have to buy a replacement cell to put into the camera.One of my favorite features of this camera is that it allows me to decide whether to connect to a computer using Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) or USB Mass Storage. PTP is a camera-specific protocal that connects to the computer in a readonly fashion. That makes it very unlikely that I can do something stupid and damage the SD card. In PTP mode, unmounting the card just requires turning off the camera. If you want to change anything on the card using the computer you have the option to connect to the computer as Mass Storage USB. That protocol gives you full access to the SD card. Just be careful to unmount the card before pulling the plug or turning off the camera or you risk damaging the file system on the card and losing your images. I use PTP because it is simpler and safer.The camera connects properly to USB on Windows 7, Linux Mint 18.1 and Linux Mageia 7 Beta 1. It connects using both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.Caveat: It is necessary to take off the lens cover before turning on the camera. When you turn on the camera, the lens moves out slightly, and the lens cap blocks that motion. If you leave the lens cap on, the camera throws an error telling you to turn off the camera and try again. So always take the lens cover off before turning on the camera. An exception to this rule is that you can leave the lens cover on when it is connected to a computer. It does not attempt to move the lens when it is connected to the USB.Here is another tip. The instruction manual says that to change a menu setting, find and set the new setting, then push the OK button to select it. However, pushing the OK button makes the menu disappear. If you are setting multiple items in the menu, it is annoying to go back into the menu for each item. However, you can set multiple items easily. To set multiple items, select the desired item and setting, then push the Down button or the Up button to accept the new setting. The menu will remain displayed, and the new setting will be accepted.So I give high marks to the Sony DSC-H300 as a beginner camera or a less expensive knock-around shop camera. If you are looking to take truly outstanding photographs to print in large format, you might want to look around and spend more. But for a general purpose camera, the DSC-H300 works.

I got a refurbished item during the cyber Monday deals. I just got it today, which is fine. The camera looks nice, it came with all the accesories, batteries and even the original box. I unpacked it and tried some pictures which came out very clear. I was just happy with my product until... 5 minutes later, the screen froze and started showing lines accross the image. When I tried to turn it off, the buttons would not respond anymore. I had to remove the batteries to reset the camera, hoping it was just a one time glitch, but unfortunately it kept on doing the same freezing problem over and over. I was just really hoping the problem would go away, because I wanted to keep the product, but it will have to be returned.I don't think I will be able to get another one as cheap as this one. i have the feeling that I just got a bad apple.I will keep on looking for a working camera again.Edit: As it turned out, I was able to get the same deal with the same vendor. I just for the new camera today and it works great. The pictures are crystal clear, the camera is very easy to handle and it does not feel cheap at all. So far so good. Another interesting fact is that I returned the defective ítem today and I was just notified that I got the money back even before they got it. That is great customer service and I will gladly bump up my review to 5 stars both for the product and the service.Edit2: After using the camera over the holidays, it seems to me that the pictures taken are not as sharp as those that I have been taking with my LG4 telephone. It probably needs a little getting used to, but I have not been able to get a decent picture that I really like. I am using it @ 15 MP with the auto mode. I have only used it with interior pictures at night. I am waiting to take some pictures on panorama mode at a landscape. Probably it will work better that way. Still waiting for the perfect picture.

I like the feel of the camera, it is comfortable to the hand. Picture quality looks good. I wish that it had an eye viewfinder, not just the scree, The only thing that I don't like is that while shooting video, the zoom motor is loud in the video.

For the price range, I would say this is a good camera. However, it should be noted I am not a professional photographer. It is not mirrorless, so you cannot change the lenses. The camera does have video. I guess the annoying part of this camera is that it uses AA batteries not a rechargeable battery. This is annoying, especially if you film alot of video on it, as it eats through batteries. However, on the positive side of things, this camera is very user friendly and you don't really have to know alot about cameras or photography to use it. It takes an SD card to store pictures on. It also comes with a wire to transfer pictures from the camera to a computer, but honestly I just put the SD into my computer instead. But it has been a great camera and I have had it for a while. It also has a great price tag. I would recommend this for a beginner or an older relative.

Bought this for my wife for Christmas and wanted to wait until we had it for a while before writing a review. I gave it three stars because it’s cumbersome and hard to use. There’s no built in battery to charge which is a pain. It takes four AA batteries, but when it gets cold out (I live in Colorado) the camera doesn’t work. The battery light flashes and then shuts off. This is with new batteries too. The focus is pretty straight forward but working the functions is tricky and hard to understand. The picture quality is alright, about the same as my iPhone X which isn’t saying much for this camera. It does take a memory card that’s if you can keep fresh batteries in it long enough to fill the card up. There’s no option to change out lenses should you want to, I know we didn’t plan on this option we just wanted an easy to use camera. In this day and age of smart phones, you might be better off just using your phone rather than buying this future paperweight.