Sony DCR-DVD405 Camcorder Reviewby James MurrayPublished on Mar 30, 2006 11:00 AM 
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Audio (4.0)The DVD405 does not have an external mic jack. Sony has teamed up with Dolby Digital to provide the ability to record audio that can be output through 5.1 channels via Dolby’s 5.1 Creator. They have certified it as offical 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. But before the excitement causes you to grab your wallet and car keys, this 5.1 channel moniker should be clarified. The audio that will be recorded isn’t going to have the surround sound audio quality that consumers have come to expect with the John Travolta celluloid action travesty (otherwise known as Swordfish).
This is because most 5.1 channel work is created and mixed as a postproduction process that emphasizes that these are 5.1 channels of autonomous audio that are used to create space aurally in film. That just can’t happen when users are recording with four microphones that are positioned within one square inch on the top of a camcorder. The audio that will result will have minor if no variance between channels. The center channel for the 5.1 channel setup, using only internal microphones, is created by mixing the front left and front right audio channels. While this could possibly be useful if strapped with an older 5.1 playback setup, most DVD players now have a feature that can take stereo audio recordings and spread it across all 5 channels for a comparable audio recording to the one found with the DVD405.
The DCR-DVD405 allows the user to record Mic Ref levels of either Normal or Low. The low level is intended for a more authentic surround sound recording and not intended for the human voice, and the normal level records various surround sounds at the same volume. The difference between the two levels was minimal, and users would be better off investing in an external microphone for the proprietary hot shoe. A surround sound monitor overlay screen can be used to monitor audio levels over the 5 channels, and while it’s a handy visual display, it has to be closed when accessing any other onscreen setting. This makes using the monitor feature for extended periods a hassle.
The most notable variation between audio channels occurred when corners of the microphone guard were touched by the fingers of the right hand. This occurred easily due to its placement. This four microphone setup isn’t all bad; with four channels of audio, any inconsistencies and glitches in the recording will be better masked when compared to a stereo or mono recording of the same material.
If the disparities between the Sony DCR-DVD405 5.1 Creator and professional 5.1 surround sound aren’t offputting, know that this Sony camcorder does have a handful of microphone options for their Active Interface proprietary hot shoe. Microphone options for this camcorder currently include a wireless Bluetooth microphone for $199.99, a surround sound external microphone $149.99 (only records four channels), a high-fidelity stereo microphone for $99.99 and a shotgun microphone for $69.99. These microphones, while certainly better than the internal microphones, are still restrictive in terms of quality. If Sony were to drop the proprietary status of their hot shoe or include an additional Mic-in port, the possibilities for more serious audiophiles would make this camcorder a far better option.
We should note that we didn't listen to the DVD405 on a 5.1 Surround Sound system. The way we came to these conclusions on the quality of the 5.1 performance was that we used the audio monitor on the DVD505 (Review, Specs, $664) to look at the pickup pattern for the microphone. When we tested that we didn't see any difference between the pickup of different sounds at unique places in a testing room. We are working on a method for testing the audio properly to paint a better picture of the audio pickup of the DVD405.
For an overview of the Bluetooth wireless microphone performance and design, refer to our recently published Sony DCR-DVD505 (Review, Specs, $664) camcorder review.
VCR Mode (9.0)
The playback mode is entered by pressing the play/edit button on the left side of the camcorder beneath the LCD screen. The playback mode allows users to view both video and still images as single frames, six thumbnails, or 12 thumbnails. Both multi-up thumbnail formats allow the user to move from page to page via the up and down arrows on the left side of the LCD screen. Switching between the multi-up format to the single image display is accomplished by pressing the thumbnail image on the LCD screen, which is a bit confusing since toggling between six and twelve image multi-up is accomplished through the zoom lever. When video images are displayed as full screen clips, the user can scan from clip to clip via the left and right arrows displayed on the LCD. At the bottom of the screen during full image playback are the standard VCR controls: fast forward, rewind, stop and play/pause. It is also possible to engage 1.1x to 5x of digital zoom for closer examination of images. One of the nice design features of this touch screen playback mode interface is that it enables users to move between video images saved to DVD, still images saved to DVD, and MemoryStick by merely pressing the proper tab located on the bottom of the LCD screen. This will let users view and select images with a speed that is certainly not found with MiniDV format camcorders, and this speedy access is in fact one of the main advantages of the DVD format.
Editing images while the DVD (or MemoryStick) is still in-camcorder is not actually possible with all video modes and formats. In fact, full editing of images or video clips is only accomplishable when the camcorder is set to shoot in VR mode and the footage is recorded to DVD-RW format. If shot on any other disc format or while the camcorder is in video mode, the user must import footage into another postproduction editing program.
Otherwise, the user will find an edit tab alongside the standard VCR controls when reviewing video clips. The edit mode displays a time lapse bar directly above the VCR controls that is used as the marker point for where the edit feature cuts the footage into two separate video files. The DVD405 can also delete, restructure and link video files together to allow further footage manipulation. With a little bit of thought, users can cut, delete and restructure video files with a fair level of ease that will suffice for a rough cut.
Ports (5.5)
Ports for the Sony DCR-DVD405 are located on the back, top and left sides of the camcorder. The MemoryStick slot is located beneath a well designed cover that is sandwiched between the electronic color viewfinder and the body of the camcorder. To open the cover, the viewfinder must be pivoted upwards and out of the way. The port cover snaps open easily and is definitely the most consciously designed port/port cover on the camcorder.
The ports on the left side of the camcorder are directly beneath the LCD screen. The most forward port cover wraps around the bottom and front edge of the LCD and is opened via two tabs located on its back and bottom edge. This port cover is massively oversized, with over half of the cover masking nothing but the body of the camcorder. It’s connected to the camcorder via a hinge that is hardly durable. Beneath the cover are two ports, one for the Remote/LANC and one for a Hi-Speed USB connection. The port cover directly behind this port and fully beneath the LCD screen is opened via a tab on its back edge. This port cover has a hinge on its bottom edge which makes accessing the two ports beneath it problematic if the camcorder is on a flat surface or a tripod head. The ports beneath this cover are an A/V-in/out and a DC-in jack. Since the A/V port is capable of supporting both in and outward video and audio signals, the user can engage in analog to digital pass-through. This is a great feature to have when recording from external playback devices which don’t have a digital interface option.
On the top of the Sony DCR-DVD405 there is an Active Interface shoe, positioned directly behind the four mono in-camera microphones. The Active Interface shoe’s cover is easily opened and has a hinge on its left side that connects to the body of the DVD405. The Active Interface Shoe is a hot shoe, but before getting too excited, it should be noted that this shoe is a proprietary feature that only accepts Sony brand products. While not a port per se, it does provide an additional interface of a sort.