Sony Aggressively Expands DVD Camcorder Line to 6 Models

by Robin Liss
Published on Jan 5, 2005 5:45 PM



At a press conference today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony announced their 2005 DVD camcorder lineup, expanding from 3 DVD camcorder models to 6. The new models include a radically new designed DVD camcorder, a 3.3 Megapixel DVD model, and a budget $600 model breaking new price lows for Sony DVD camcorders. The new models are being released by Sony in a renewed effort to pump up the fairly new format and expand it's adoption by consumers.

"Camcorder sales have been a little soft and there are a variety of reasons for that but the overall units being sold in the digital camcorder category continues to be on a rapid growth pace. A lot of that is attributable to DVD Handycam, and also lower entry price points for some of the low end tape products. Our focus in 05 will be almost two fold, first it is a very strong focus on DVD Handycam, and second in a more general sense is to increase usage of camcorders by consumers," stated Linda Vuolo, Director of Camcorder Products for Sony Electronics.

Sony is announcing five new DVD camcorders at CES. One of the other keystone's of Sony's 2005 camcorder strategy is their price reductions. The DCR-DVD301 is being reduced by $100, and Sony is introducing their first DVD camcorder at $600, the DCR-DVD92 (Review, Specs, $365). In January 2004, Sony's lowest priced DVD camcorder was the DCR-DVD101 (Review, Specs, $469) at $800, which was reduced by an additional $100 in the middle of 2004. Even with the price reduction, the DCR-DVD92 is being introduced at $100 less than the DCR-DVD101.

"There were certainly a lot of people or there were a lot of comments that we got back that said, 'wow this is great as soon as it comes down in price we'll make a purchase' and it could have certainly be some of the contributing factors to slower unit sales across the industry because consumers were delaying their camcorder purchase in order to wait to have the convenience of DVD at the more affordable price point," stated Vuolo.

Sony is also introducing a radically new DVD camcorder design with the DCR-DVD7 (Review, Specs, $445). Sony describes the DCR-DVD7 as "stylish" and "uniquely designed." The camcorder looks like CD player turned on it's side. The DCR-DVD7 features a 2.5 in. touch screen, a 10x optical zoom and a 680K pixel CCD.

The DCR-DVD92 features a 680K pixel gross CCD however Sony did not report the effective pixel count or the CCD size. The camcorder includes a 2.5 in. 123K pixel touch screen LCD with Sony's active 3D menu system. Sony has added a zoom and record button to the side of the LCD screen, which is an especially helpful addition because of the heavy dependence on the LCD screen on the DCR-DVD92. Also, the ultra budget DCR-DVD92 camcorder uses a black and white viewfinder and includes a large, 20x optical zoom, designed to compete with the big zooms of many MiniDV budget camcorders.

In a likely controversial move, Sony has not put a USB jack on the DCR-DVD92, meaning that the only way to transfer video off the camcorder is to place the DVD into a home DVD player or into a compatible computer DVD drive.

KEVIN QUOTE ON NOT HAVING USB

The step-up model from the DCR-DVD92 is the DCR-DVD103, available for $700. The DCR-DVD103 replaces 2004's DCR-DVD101. The DCR-DVD103 has the same imaging system as the DCR-DVD92 however it adds a color viewfinder, a USB jack, and a new Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound recording capability. The DCR-DVD103 also includes a 20x optical zoom. After the DCR-DVD103 is the DCR-DVD203 (Review, Specs, $587.65) for $800 which upgrades the CCD to 1.0 Megapixel gross - though Sony did not report the effective resolution or the pixel dimensions of the stills produced by the DCR-DVD203. The DCR-DVD203 replaces last year's DCR-DVD201 (Review, Specs, $549). Sony downgraded the zoom on the DCR-DVD203 from the 20x optical on the DCR-DVD103 to a 12x optical zoom.

The next model up is the DCR-DVD301 which has been available for a few months and includes a 3.5 in. LCD screen. Sony is continuing the DCR-DVD301 into the 2005 camcorder line, though they are reducing the price by $100 to $900.

Sony's new high end DVD camcorder is the DCR-DVD403 (Review, Specs, $489), which features a 3.3 Megapixel gross CCD, a 10x optical zoom, and a 2.7 in. LCD touch screen. Sony did not report the effective megapixel resolution of the DCR-DVD403, what picture pixel dimensions would be or what the CCD size is. The camcorder saves the digital stills to the DVD media as still photographs, giving the camcorder a huge still capacity with the very large DVD camcorder media. The DCR-DVD403 includes a 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound microphone on the camcorder body. The DCR-DVD403 also has a built in flash, a wide button dedicated to putting the camcorder in and out of 16:9 widescreen mode, and a Carl Zeiss T* lens.

In a surprising move, Sony has put a new accessory shoe on the DVD camcorders. The new accessory shoe is smaller than what has been the camcorder and still camera industry standard for decades. This is a move that will likely draw a lot of heat and cause controversy because it means that all existing camcorder accessories will not be able to easily attach to the new Sony DVD camcorders.

Sony has also added DVD+RW recording capability to all of the new DVD camcorders. While the camcorder already had DVD-R and DVD-RW, DVD+RW offers some specific benefits. DVD+RW allows for faster writing times, however it's compatibility is not as wide spread as DVD-R and DVD-RW. Sony has also added the capability for all of the new camcorders to record Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound using an external add-on microphone. The DCR-DVD403 already includes that microphone. The ability to record 5.1 channel surround sound is a major benefit of the DVD format.

Some readers may be surprised by the 2.7 in. LCD screen size, a size that has never been seen in a camcorder before. This is because Sony is introducing true 16:9 aspect ratio LCD screens on many of their 2005 camcorders, including the DCR-DVD403 and the DCR-DVD203. Sony is placing the new wide screen LCDs on their camcorders to facilitate shooting in their native 16:9 mode. The native 16:9 mode is becoming more important for Sony and every manufacturer because more and more individuals are purchasing wide screen televisions with dropping prices in plasma and other HD display technologies, and those users want to be able to playback video at the same aspect ratio as the TV which they purchased.

Off the record, individuals close to the camcorder industry say that Sony has been slightly disappointed with the sales of Sony DVD camcorders. However, it is clear that the company sees a strong future in DVD technology and is looking to expand it beyond just a point and shoot format. By offering a 3.0 Megapixel model for $1,000 Sony is attempting to compete not with just DVD camcorders but with MiniDV hybrids. Sony $600 DCR-DVD92 is also providing competition for Panasonic and Hitachi's DVD camcorders whose main appeal has been their low price.

In an uncharacteristic move, Sony did not release detailed specifications for their DVD camcorders. In the past, Sony has been unsurpassed in the level of information they make available to consumers and reporters when announcing new camcorders. However, with the 2005 DVD models, Sony broke from this trend releasing limited specifications. As soon more details are made available by Sony on the new DVD camcorders CamcorderInfo.com will report them.

All of the new DVD camcorders will be available in the Spring. The DCR-DVD7 will be available for $700, the DCR-DVD92 for $600, the DCR-DVD103 for $700, the DCR-DVD203 for $800 and the DCR-DVD403 for $1,000.