Sony DCR-DVD108 Camcorder Review

Last year’s DCR-DVD105 (Review, Specs, $399.95) was cursed with the stunted ability to record still images solely to a DVD disc. Well, for 2007, things are a bit different. The DCR-DVD108 is blessed with a MemoryStick Duo/PRO slot embedded in the LCD cavity. Wow, did Sony realize this could be a great way to push MemoryStick sales? Nevertheless, offering separate media for video and stills helps organize, and card memory better emulates the experience of shooting with a real still camera (which is about the closest you’ll get to that experience with the DVD108). With a maximum VGA 640 x 480 resolution and only two quality settings—Fine and Standard—most cell phone can produce better images. Overall, don’t expect much.

Still Performance (9.6)
In order to test the Sony DCR-DVD108’s still performance, we shot a Gretag McBeth Color Checker chart and ran the results through Imatest imaging software. As you read above in Still Features, this is not – not at all – a camcorder that you should use as a substitute for a digital still camera. This is hardly a stand-in for a cell phone camera. At best, the DVD108 produced a color error of 6.25, with a 1.615% noise and 97.1% saturation. The colors, as it turned out, were pretty accurate. The noise counter-balanced it to some degree. More telling, perhaps, is the still resolution score below.

In order to get this score, we had to lower the exposure by one notch. Only by reading the EXIF data can you actually tell what’s happening to the camcorder when you use this control. The camcorder itself offers no clue. In auto mode at 3000 lux, the camcorder set the aperture to f/4.0 and a shutter of 1/60. Lowering the exposure a notch closed the aperture to F/4.8, and this is where we found the best still color performance.

Still Resolution (2.03)
To gauge still resolution, we shot an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart and ran the results through Imatest imaging software. At best, the Sony DCR-DVD108 produced an approximate horizontal resolution of 390.4 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) – with a 2.85% oversharpening – and a vertical resolution of 264.7 lw/ph – with a 2.86% clipping and 15.9% oversharpening. The 640 x 480 image sizes just can’t produce a satisfactory resolution. Sorry, folks.

To get this best score, we had to bump the exposure up one notch from the auto setting. At 3000 lux, this equaled an aperture of f/5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/90th of a second.