Sony DCR-DVD305 Camcorder Review

The oddly placed port for the MemoryStick Duo

Compared to Panasonic DVD camcorders at this price range, the DCR-DVD305 offers a better resolution due to its larger 1/5.5” imager (vs. 1/6”). Panasonics support SD cards which are a much more common format than Sony’s proprietary MemoryStick cards.

The DCR-DV305 includes a self timer feature that can be used in both still camera and video modes, offering up to ten seconds of delay before photo capture or video recording starts. The manual and auto controls available in video mode are also available in still camera mode, including exposure, focus, Spot Meter, Spot Focus, etc.

The Active Interface Shoe provides some additional options when mated with Sony accessories like the HVL-HFL1 Combination Video Light and Flash.  We don't like the fact that Sony chose the proprietary route here, but a selection of Sony products is better than no choice at all.

Still Resolution (4.0)
The Sony DCR-DVD305 was tested for the resolution of its stills by shooting a standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and running those stills through Imatest imaging software. In all, we found the highest resolution still, 1152 x 864, to have a total approximate resolution of 397924.92.

This score is a little higher than the stills from the DCR-DVD205, which takes the same size stills, but records them to DVD rather than MemoryStick.

Still Performance (3.75)
Camcorders are not designed to take good still pictures. There, we’ve said it, and maybe that’s how we should begin this section every time. The Sony DCR-DVD305 is a prime example of what we mean when we say this. Still photos and video work with color differently, and no camcorder manufacturer seems to have mastered both tasks yet. In this case, the DVD305 produces stills that are far too blue, despite a proper manual white balance. As a result, the only two colors that seem to appear properly are blue and yellow. Everything was carted away by the color police, who have a particular bias against red.

These stills would be fine for record keeping, as the resolution is satisfactory, but they would need to undergo some serious color correction in order to secure a spot in the family album.

The Sony DCR-DVD205 displayed exactly the same picture. Both of these were loaded with blue noise, indicating that HAD noise reduction properties are perhaps not at play in still mode. The DCR-DVD405 took a different tack. It didn’t lean in favor of any one color, and instead chose to undersaturate the entire image. However, the higher resolution of 2016 x 1512 (versus 1152 x 864) made for much sharper images.

The Panasonic VDR-D200 can only manage 640 x 480 stills, and the results are not pretty. There is little color differentiation, though red seems to be the most popular, and made a cameo appearance while everyone else sits it out. The stills of the D200 had just as much grain as the video.

Finally, the GZ-MG77 had the best looking stills of the bunch, with exceptionally low noise and relatively even color performance. The greens were wanting, but the reds and blues look quite good, without overpowering the image.