Sony DCR-DVD305 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Aug 31, 2006 10:00 AM
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The Front (6.5)
Sony’s DCR-DVD305 (Review, Specs, $498) shares a body design that is nearly identical to its DCR-DVD205 (Review, Specs, $384.99) and DCR-DVD105 (Review, Specs, $399.95) cousins. A few upgrades from the DCR-DVD205 are reflected in the appearance of this camcorder: ports for the included remote control and USB 2.0, a card slot for Memory Stick Pro media, and the Active Interface Shoe. Beginning from the camcorder’s front is the prominent Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with a 27mm filter diameter, aperture of f1.8-f2.5 and 3-36mm focal range, located on the upper right side. Below and just to the left of the lens is an opaque black plastic cover concealing the camcorder’s infrared sensor. The only other feature on the front of the DCR-DVD305 is the onboard stereo mic, located on the lower portion where the camcorder curves away. This is the camcorder's default mic, though it does ship with a 5.1 channel mic as well (see The Top, below).
The Right Side (7.0)
The main feature of the right side of the DCR-DVD305 is the DVD drive mechanism, occupying the bulk of available space. The DVD compartment door is hinged on the bottom in the vicinity of the hand strap, but opens wide enough to facilitate quick disc changes. In an unusual move, Sony has placed the MemoryStick PRO Duo card slot behind a small hatch on the outside of the DVD compartment door. It’s surely a space-saving approach but we question whether it’s wise to literally locate a door (for the card slot) on a door (for the DVD compartment). Clearly this will add some wear and tear to the hinge and locking mechanism of the DVD door, but it's also inconvenient from a usability perspective. We prefer that ports and features, on a camcorder’s body, be as accessible as possible during normal use, and in this case, swapping out a Memory Stick Duo Pro card during handheld shooting entails changing your grip. This may sound minor, but it will cost a few potentially valuable seconds, and any grip change is another chance to drop a camcorder.
To the left of the DVD door is a small port cover that conceals a jack for the included remote control, and the AV port. This port cover is the same as the DCR-DVD205, but that camcorder lacks the remote control jack. Running end-to-end along the camcorder’s bottom edge is the hand strap, which angles slightly downward, towards the front, to better position the DCR-DVD305 for handheld shooting. The strap is nicely padded like those on all of Sony’s consumer camcorders, and is better than most straps made by other manufacturers.
The Back (5.5)
The back of the DCR-DVD305 shares the elegant design commonly found on Sony’s consumer camcorders, though this model nests the DC-in port in the midst of some vital controls. The Mode Dial is just above the DC-in port on the top left side and the Record start/stop button is just below and to its right. When the DC-in cable is connected, the camcorder can be powered from an outlet and it is inconveniently close to both of these controls. Plugging the DC-in cable also precludes use of the EVF (electronic color viewfinder) just above and to its left. It is worth noting that in situations where the camcorder is DC-powered, it’s likely to be tripod-mounted rendering its location just a minor annoyance, but it’s still a design choice that we find less than ideal.
The EVF is extendable, and has a dioptric adjustment switch on its right side. This isn’t a control that most users will need to manipulate often but it’s tiny and very difficult to adjust accurately with large fingers (and, needless to say, impossible to adjust when the DC cable is plugged in). The camcorder’s battery slot takes up the balance of the DCR-DVD305’s back, from just below the EVF to the base. The battery release is on the underside of the body, making it inaccessible when the camcorder is tripod mounted, potentially at the cost of a few valuable seconds. Our criticisms aside, the Mode Dial and Record button are good for handheld shooting.
The Left Side (6.0)
The DCR-DVD305 shares a 2.7” widescreen LCD display with both the DCR-DVD205 and the DCR-DVD405 (Review, Specs, $649), and it’s mounted on a sturdy hinge. The hinge swings open to 90 degrees, and the display can swivel through 270 degrees offering numerous monitoring angles. Sony LCD’s suffer less from solarization than those made by other manufacturers, enabling a user to monitor the shot from quite an angle. Below the LCD screen on its frame are three buttons aligned horizontally, from left to right: Record start/stop, W for “wide” or zoom out, and T for “tight” or zoom in. These buttons are redundant controls that offer another interface when holding the camcorder in positions that make accessing the main controls difficult, such as overhead.
Inside the LCD cavity are three buttons stacked in the middle of the camcorder. On top is the ubiquitous Sony Easy button, which instantly shifts the camcorder into full automatic mode. The Easy button may be the single control that sums up the key strength of this and other Sony consumer camcorders: ease of use. Below the Easy button is the Wide Select button, which toggles between 4:3 and 16:9 video recording modes. The last button is labeled Disp/Batt Info, and when the camcorder is in recording mode, it turns the LCD on and off and shows or hides screen info. Holding this button in, when the camcorder is off, brings up a detailed battery charge level display on the LCD.
The Top (6.75)
The top of this camcorder has configuration like the DCR-DVD205, but adds an Advanced Accessory Shoe that accommodates Sony devices such as the included surround sound microphone. This Advanced Accessory Shoe is proprietary – you are limited to only Sony-made devices for consumer camcorders, and this shoe is the camcorder’s sole device interface. The shoe is positioned just above the EVF. To the right of the EVF and Shoe is the Mode Dial at the back edge of the camcorder, followed by the Photo Button and Zoom Toggle. On the top surface of the DVD drive housing is a release switch which opens the compartment for inserting or removing DVD media. To the left of this switch is the NightShot On/Off switch.
The ECM-L100 Surround Sound external microphone fits into the hot accessory shoe on top of the camcorder, and has a rather curious design. This microphone is shaped like an L rotated 90 degrees clockwise when viewed from the side, and the wire mesh screen faces upwards.
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