Sony DCR-DVD105 Camcorder Reviewby Matt CullerPublished on Jun 28, 2006 12:30 PM
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Still Features (4.0)
A pared-down DVD camcorder, the DVD105 records video and stills to DVD disc only and only captures either at 340K effective pixels, just like the video. This spells bad still performance and, most importantly, added inconvenience when transferring stills to computer. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a dedicated still media device (Sony MemoryStick) in which to quickly dump your photos? I thought so, but you’ll have to buy a camcorder two steps up (the DCR-DVD305) for such a capability. The DCR-DVD205 captures stills to disc as well, but at a higher resolution, up to 1.0MP. Many of the competing DVD camcorders, such as the Panasonic VDR-D100 or the Canon D100, feature dedicated still media as well as the ability to manually adjust digital stills with more precision than Sony offers for its video. The DCR-DVD105 does include an 8 second self-timer so you can get in your own shots.
This is the same capability that last year’s DCR-DVD92 had. I wouldn’t let it be the deciding factor between this year’s and last year’s models. The DVD105 does not have a flash. The next model up, the DVD205, takes larger (and better) stills. The model, after that, the DVD305, has a Sony active interface shoe, which gives you the option of adding a flash. The model after that, the DVD405 (and now we're talking a $400 upgrade from the DVD105), has a built-in flash.
Still Resolution (1.3)
We tested the DCR-DVD105’s stills for resolution by shooting a standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and running those stills through Imatest imaging software. In total, the camcorder managed to produce a resolution of 127184.43. As the chart below shows, the DVD105 neither wowed the competition nor did it fall into disgrace.
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Still Resolution |
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Sony DCR-DVD105 |
1.3 |
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Sony DCR-DVD92 |
0.6 |
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Canon DC100 |
1.7 |
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Canon Elura 100 |
4.0 |
Still Performance (3.25)
The Sony DCR-DVD105 only produces stills at 640 x 480, or 0.3MP, making it virtually useless as a replacement for a dedicated still camera. Even the cheapest still camera can shoot at 6x to 8x that resolution. The only thing the DVD105’s stills might be good for is visual record keeping. For those who say that 640 x 480 is more than enough for web photos, remember two things. First:, camcorders are designed to capture video, not stills, which requires a different internal process. Secondly, it’s a much better idea to take a higher-res still, then shrink it down with a photo editor. Picture quality will improve immensely.
The DVD105’s stills show terrible color performance, cast over in a blue hue despite custom white balancing. Very noisy, they suffer from blue noise in the violets, reds, greens – almost everywhere. The image lacks even the video’s fine detail.
The Sony DVD205 captures at 1152 x 864, which proves to be only a larger version of a bad image. The color performance is just as bad as on the DVD105, though noise is lessened. The DVD92, last year’s camcorder, is actually better. The color levels come close to that of the video image, rather than being washed out and blue. If anything, though, the noise is worse. The Canon Elura 100, which captures at a maximum of 1024 x 768, is more washed out than any of the Sonys. The image is sharper and less noisy, but really not that much better.
As stated above, this is not a suitable replacement for a dedicate still camera.
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Still Performance |
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Sony DCR-DVD105 |
3.25 |
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Sony DCR-DVD92 |
3.5 |
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Canon DC100 |
3.75 |
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Canon Elura 100 |
3.7 |
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