Sony Mavica MVC CD1000 2.1 Megapixel

I purchased my MVC CD1000 in when it first came on the market. While it is far from pocket size, the consistent quality photos and ease of use far outweigh any portability issues due to the bulkier size. While I also have the newer MVC CD 500 with double the megapixels, the MVC CD 1000 wins hands down for ease of use & picture quality.

We like this camera so much that we now own four of them. We love the ability to keep on shooting without the need to download the pictures to a computer. We have taken two of our cameras to Venice and Rome. In Venice we took 10,500 photos and in Rome about 6,000 photos. The 20:1 zoom lens with image stabilization allows you to take a picture of just about anything. While it is only 2.1 megapixels, it have a low jpeg compression rate that makes for great photos. We use about ten batteries to allow two people to use the cameras all day long. To take the 10,500 photos required 55 disks at a cost of about $13.00 and they're permanent. The chargers are 110/220vac which allows them to be used in Europe with just a plug adapter. We've bought newer cameras, but these are still our favorites.

First things first - I'm Sony biased.


I owned an FD85 floppy-disk Mavica and used it extensively on the job - I build cellular tower sites. The FD-Mavicas were very handy when they came out, as every computer sold had a floppy drive. Not so much anymore, though - due mainly to their small storage size, and incredible compression needed to fit multiple images to a disk.

The FD Mavica held up well to typical jobsite bumps and bruises - until I dropped it a good 5 feet on a rooftop. After browsing on eBay, I was able to buy a near-mint CD1000 Mavica for the same price I paid for the FD85 Mavica when it was new.

The feature I was most attracted to about the CD1000 is the incredible zoom - fully 30x with the digital and optical maximums combined. As I take a lot of survey photos at cellular facilities, this awesome zoom allows me to photograph cabling and antenna conditions at the top of moderately-sized towers (up to 250' AGL or so) and rooftop installations from the ground. This feature alone reduces a significant amount of cost and safety risks by reducing the need to have personnel climb towers or rent basket lifts simply to snap a few photos.

The Steady Shot feature is incredible, as well - allowing crystal-clear images at full zoom. The manual adjustability of this camera allows for very artistic photography, as well. It works nicely as a Point-&-Shoot or as a poor man's (near) DSLR.

The size is an issue for most users, but a true SLR with a 400mm lens would be incredibly bulkier, not to mention too easily damaged to use for workplace or casual photography.

My only complaint about the camera, and after having taken several hundred-thousands of photos, is the capture speed. While the shutter speed can be set to 1/500th sec., the capture speed at ~3.5 seconds means that this is definitely not a camera for use in high-speed action photography. Well, at least not more than once in a great while.

I'm about to upgrade to a DSLR, but will keep this Mavica on hand as a very versatile backup camera.

This is a great camera and I already had one but I wanted to keep it in my truck. I have bought several more and all of them work great. We take lots of pictures and these cameras work great.

I love this camera. I've owned 3 in my life and keep buying used ones when the others wear out. Even though 2.1 mexapixel, the Karl Zeiss lense is by far the strongest part of this camera. I call it my spy camera because the zooming can show you the nose hairs of a person clear across the room. While it's greatest weakness is movement of anytype, this is an awesome camera for still life photography. Pictures of flowers take on a dreamy almost 3D quality. Again the lens makes it. and the Moon + setting makes it quick and easy to take night shots on a tripod that are super brilliant and make nighttime shots look like day. I love this camera. Even though I have a top of the line Nikon SLR, I still take this sony with on every shoot and often capture images my Nikon cannot in terms of quality. Call me a Sony bigot, but I love this camera and while you have to be careful not to lose pics on those flaky CDs, if you are good about finalizing often, you don't run a risk of losing much. The batteries run dry too so good idea to have 2 on hand for any shoot cause battery usually only lasts about an hour.

good luck and happy photo hunting!
phyllis@nettone.biz my pics on flickr are ttp://www.flickr.com/photos/75649428@N00/

Selling on eBay necessatates having a great camera to take photos of the items being put on auction. I had known several friends who have Sony Mavrica cameras and have had excellent results taking pictures. I purchase mine through a reputable seller on eBay. It took great pictures, with a minimal effort, and looked great on the LCD. That is where the good stops and the bad begins. I could not download these great pictures to my computer. After trying to troubleshoot this problem, to no avail, I gave the camera to a computer specialist. He tried downloading to 3 different computers and had the same problem. Since the camera was previously used, there was no guarantee
for repairs. Not only I am I out the cost of camera, shipping and cost of the computer specialist, but I now have to replace the microchip at a cost that exceeds the price of the camera.

I've been involved in photography on and off for more than 50 years. I've lived through the Argus C3 era, Kodak Brownie, Polaroid early Pentax and finally my Canon and the "A" series 35mm cameras. All had a place in history, from print film, transparencies, and the instant prints. The Sony Corporation has been a major player in the electronics field, from pint sized pocket radios, to giant screen television. They have also led the world with innovations covering every imaginable electronics device one can think of. In the world of photography, Sony continues to design and market truly remarkable picture taking devices. The Mavica line took my interest several years ago with my first, a MAV-FD-91. It was a 1 megapixel camera that could take pictures and store the exposures on a conventional 3 1/2" floppy disk! Very innovative engineering. The quality of the exposures was(is) outstanding. A little later on Sony, after a few Mavica model changes, offered an adapter, shaped like a floppy disc, that accepted a memory stick. This combination broke the limitations gap of a floppy disk and added greater storage, megabytes!!! As progress continued over the years, Sony never lost a step in their contributions to photography, which brings me to the case in point. My first Mavica, the FD-91, cost me 1000.00. The models that followed were not much more cost effective. Not to worry! I joined eBay in 2004 and found an ocean of Sony cameras. More importantly, the very models I had wanted over the years and could'nt justify the expense, abounded on eBay. Hence the MVC CD1000. The camera I waited for for so many years. The camera, that as far as I'm concerned, delivers all the power, function, versatility, features, and technological innovations of all the cameras I've known. Permanent storage design using CD media, fully automatic and manual operating modes. Incredible optics, including 20X telephoto, image stabilization, SLR (true) through the lens viewing system, alternate LCD image display, threaded lens barrel for add on lenses. The Sony Mavica CD1000 Digital Camera has culminated into (for me) the most complete camera I have ever known. And, the beauty associated with the CD1000, is eBay, and the platform for ownership of a camera that carried a retail price of over a thousand dollars, to an incredible value at less than a hundred. Yes, I love the Mavica line. I have all the models introduced over the years, and can attest the quality, features, and performance of these great machines, are second to none. The sturdiness embedded in the Mavicas is also a great attribute. If reasonable care and tendering of these cameras is imposed, the same quality that came from the first snap of the shutter, will offer the same fine photographic images thousands of snaps later.

Thank you for this opportunity to express my views on Sony, and their very magical Mavica line of cameras. I have enjoyed years of faithful and productive service from all my Mavica machines. I can recommend, without reservation, the same experience and satisfaction I have realized from my use of these marvelous cameras.

Kindest regards,

Reel Audio

This is a great camera, has capability of taking video and stills. am enjoying it very much. My husband owns one and highly recommended it to me.Would recommend it to any one who wants a great camera and a video all in one.
Have seen others on ebay and this one was a better quality than most.
Will enjoy it for a long time. Thanks again

we love this camera we owned one previously and loved it when it broke we immediately purchased another one .... we like the fact that we do dont loose our pictures because they are already saved to a disk we love the quality of the pictures that it takes and all...

We love this camera it is great. We decided to buy it for work and for our children. Its much more easier than having to go get ur pictures developed and all of the above

I believe this to be one of the best cameras, for the the average price( on EBAY), for any type of photo rendering, EBAY listings, websites, archival work, ect! Mounted on a tripod, this camera will out-perform most anything on the market at 10 times the price! Don't let the low megapixel rating(2.1MP) fool you! The resolution options are incredible! I started selling on EBAY a year ago and, I used a CD1000 and an older FD95 and found them to be better and easier to use than some of my higher end cameras I was using! These may be considered "Obsolete" formats but, they perform like a high end Nikon! The only drawback is action photography, it is a bit slow on the draw! You best learn to pan the subject! Ebay wanted a rating, my rating is between GOOD and EXCELLENT!

I Love The 20x Zoom.I Had One Before And Really Liked It.I Enjoyed Taking Pictures Of Deer That Most Cameras Cannot Bring Up Really Close.This Is An All Around Camera From Macro To Infinity.I Have A Crippled Hand The Smaller Cameras I Have Trouble Holding. The CD1000 Has The Right Hand Hold For Me To Use.The Steady Shot Really Helps On Long Zooms.

I love this camera. It is in top notch condition and exactly what the seller said it was. I will return to buy other items from this A1 seller.

The Sony Mavica MVC CD1000 is a great camera for taking prize winning still photos even at its smallest setting. The CD is capable of recording as many as 1200 pictures per CD. It has a great 20X zoom even though it is only 2.1 megapixels. The camera’s drive system is a weak point in that it can fail to initialize and finalize a disc or may cause unknown “disc error”. I paid $1200 for my first one in 2001, but the e-bay deals on a used one are really great. Make sure you are buying from a reputable seller who has a "PayPal Buyer Protection", insure your shippment and pay through PayPal. Ebay member since May 2002

Excellent camera.
Like storage -- mini CD discs.
Like zoom lens -- 20X
Dislike size of camera -- zoom lens makes it somewhat bulky.

So far so good . Got a lil nervious when I found out they were due to discontinue the mini pocket disks that it takes so I bot a lifetime quantity of them . It is super telefoto I can catch a fly across the street of focus in on closer than an inch in one mode . it also has a few diffrent textures it makes like seipea tone or one that makes the pic look like a drawing or negitive tone .What I first liked about it was it used cd roms instead of expencive memory chips. So far i have just stored on a bunch of picks it holds 1000 low res photos per cd rom .I think the main thing I liked was it's huge lens that sticks out . folks will think you really know what you are doing . I down loaded the 80 page manual and digested that made a book . There are a million diffrent knobs and switches on the thing . So far so good . if you get one you can buy tons of pocket cd roms on ebay fairly cheap . so get lots of them you can also get re riteable ones . I hear the dvd's don't work they are the same size as the CD-R

a tad bulky, but easy to handle and fantastic picture quality..Hell its a sony. Can take a lot of pictures with changing disks, i did find that it goes thur batteries fast, make sure you have a couple of spares.

this was on of the best items I've purchased, it was very well packaged very securely shipped,loaded with a ton of xtras,and a super fast delivery; all my thanks to the seller; This camera isn't for the weak, it's heavy and one should use a tripod with it.But this is one of the most exceptional cameras one could buy.I've used different screw in lenes on it with great success,various filters,and the pictures that it takes in macro are simply astounding, and for the price that you can get them for now it makes it a no brainer.Everyone should get this camera even if just for a spare, it's really that great.

I have reviewed and dreamed about this camera since it came to be. However, at the original price of 1200.00, my dream seemed a mere wish for years.

I just happened to be curious recently as to what they were selling for on e-bay ... saw a price, gave a counter offer and low and behold, my dream has come true !!!

The transaction was smooth and quick, as if it were all meant to be .... I am now the proud owner of a sony mavica mvc cd1000 !!!!!

GREAT CAMERA TAKE PIC OR MOVIES POP IN YOUR COMPUTER AND WATCH THAT EASY NO WAITING FOR DOWN LOADS ALREADY ON DISC HOW EASY IS THAT

I loved the adjustable len on the cd1000 camera; however, I hate that it do not accept cd-rw. Overall camera is excellent.

I'm enjoying my Sony that I just purchased from eBay, it takes great photos!!!! I already have a Sony Mavica MVC CD500, but I wanted to try the MVC CD1000 for the zoom power. I purchased it for so little. The eBayer I purchased the camera from was very nice and helpful, smooth transaction as well..Thanks again
rusticlogcabin

Bought because I like sony cameras,love telephoto lens,dislike cdr,memory stick version is the way to go.