Quick Review Camcorder : Sony DCR-DVD403

The DCR-DVD403 features a large 1/3” CCD, which accounts for some of its strong showing in video performance. While the picture was not quite as sharp as some comparably priced 3 CCD MiniDV cams, the sheer liveliness of the colors was on par or even better. The slight lack of definition is caused by the compression techniques of getting the video on a DVD, an inescapable reality of DVD media, for now.

Still performance was even better, and this cam outshined nearly every consumer camcorder out there, with the exception of those JVC still-wonder twins, the GR-X5 and the GZ-MC500. The DCR-DVD403’s color was slightly over-saturated, but this tended to work to its advantage, making the colors deep and rich. Still options are good, also. The DVD403 shoots at a max resolution of 2016 x 1512, and with the enormous capacity of DVDs, you’ll have more than enough room for all your pics.

Low light performance was also excellent, bucking yet another bad reputation that DVD camcorders have earned in the past. There are some noise issues, but the colors remain remarkably rich. Whatever Sony has been doing, they should keep it up.

Sony camcorders specialize in ease of use and automatic controls. Focus, exposure, white balance, and shutter speed have all been taken care of. And if you are the type of user who doesn’t even want to know such features exist, you’ll find a big, fat EASY button of the left side that whisks your troubles away.

Manual controls are one of the primary areas that need work. This is a comment on Sonys across the board. And while DVD camcorders may be marketed almost solely for the point-and-shoot crowd, we are of the firm opinion that options should always be given to the user. That said, there are few manual control options on the DCR-DVD403. Those that are included are so inconveniently buried in the touch screen menu that you probably wouldn’t bother, anyway. They have included some “training wheel” type manual controls, like Spot Metering and Spot Focus. These features allow you to touch an area on the LCD screen that you would like to focus on and correct exposure for. Finally, the zoom is smooth, extending to 10x optical (120x digital).

The DCR-DVD403 features all the playback conveniences of a DVD cam. When you’re ready for playing the video back on your TV, set the DVD to Finalize, pop it out, and you’re good to go. Editing DVD footage is not so easy as MiniDV tapes, but new editing programs hint at better compatibility in the future.

You’ll find an exceptionally good array of ports on the DCR-DVD403: an A/V input / output (supporting analog to digital pass-through), USB, and a LANC jack (for remote control on a powered tripod). There is also a smart accessory shoe on top for an external mic or stronger flash than the one built-in, but unfortunately Sony has not included a microphone input jack.

This camcorder surprised us in almost every way. Great video, stunning stills, and exceptional usability raced it up towards the top of our list this year.

Sony DCR-DVD403 Compared to the...

Sony DCR-DVD 301 Rating:	Sony DCR-DVD203 Rating:167.12	Hitachi DZ-GX20 Rating:	Panasonic VDR-M75 Rating:164.37	Panasonic PV-GS400 Rating:170.50
Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
-Affordability	-Affordability	-Navigation system -Manual control	-Manual control -Ports -Navigation system -Handling -Ports	-Manual control -Ports -Navigation system -Handling -Imager specs -Video performance -Low light
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
-Hot accessory shoe -Image Stabilization -Ports -Audio dubbing	-Hot accessory shoe -Image Stabilization -Ports -Audio dubbing	-Electronic Image Stabilizer	-Hot accessory shoe -MPEG video recording	-Optical zoom
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
-Low light -Video performance -Imager specs Ease of use -LCD	-Low light -Video performance -Imager specs -Flash -Audio -Ease of use -Still capability -LCD	-Imager specs -Ease of use -Automatic control -Optical zoom specs	-LCD -Imager specs -Ease of use -Automatic control -Optical zoom specs -Audio dubbing	-LCD -Ease of use -Automatic control -Still capability -Flash -Ports