Sony DCR-DVD505 Camcorder Review by David Kender Published on Mar 17, 2006 10:00 AM

Comparison
Sony DCR-DVD403

In terms of performance, the DVD403 had much better sharpness than the DVD505. Color performance, however, was better in the DVD505. The DVD403 had strong saturation, which makes the colors “pop,” but the 505 was a more accurate rendering. Comparisons of the stills told the same story with color, but the DVD505 trumped the 403 is sharpness too.

In the end, if you are presented with the choice between the DVD403 and the DVD505, I’d have to recommend the DVD505. If you’re buying a DVD camcorder, sharpness is probably not your first concern. If it was, you’d be looking at MiniDV, or better, HD. Color is something that the different mediums can compete on, and the DVD505 offers truer color.

DCR-DVD405
The next model down, the DVD405 ($900 MSRP) looks to be a very good camcorder in its own right. Though our full review is not completed yet, we have begun testing and have gotten a good look at video, still, and low light performance.

The imager on the DVD505 is a ClearVID CMOS sensor, versus the DVD405’s CCD of the same size. That’s not all the $200 upgrade buys you. It shoots stills up to 4 MP, versus the DVD405’s 1MP stills , and the DVD505 can take stills while in video mode up to 3MP. The DVD405 does not have the Smooth Slow Record, and the LCD is much smaller, at 2.7 inches.

In terms of performance, the DVD405 had slightly worse color performance, and more in-camera sharpening issues that caused halos along areas of high contrast. Low light very similar to the DVD505. Overall, the $200 doesn’t seem to buy much in terms of video performance. If you want better stills, the DVD405 is no contest, but on a strictly video platform, save your money and get the DVD405.

Panasonic VDR-D300
The Panasonic VDR-D300 is Panasonic’s top of the line DVD camcorder, whichi makes this the other titan in the room with the DVD505. It has 3 1/6” CCD chips, and as with all Panasonics, it offers much better manual control and excellent handling. Automatic controls are not as good as Sony, but overall, we strongly prefer a camcorder that asks for your input into picture quality.

The smaller chips could not compete against the DVD505 in low light, and low light performance counts for a lot in whether we recommend a camcorder or not. But in bright light, the D300 was much sharper. It came at the cost of some fine grain noise, but overall, the D300 had a stronger picture. The DVD505 had much better still performance.

The fight between the DVD505 and the D300 is of great interest to us. DVD camcorders, by their nature, cater to the point and shoot user. This has been Sony’s strength through the years. But as DVD eclipses MiniDV as the medium of choice for consumers, the base will eventually expand to more types of consumers. Will Sony continue to dominate , or will Panasonic’s focus on the manual control user begin to pay off? Last year, we were strongly behind the Sony DVD403. This year, in this specific stand-off, we’re recommending the Panasonic D300. There is simply no contest in video performance. Low light counts for a lot, but you can always find more light if you really try. Once you have it, wouldn’t you rather have a camcorder that can make better use of it? If you are the buyer with ease of use as your primary concern, however, the DVD505 is the better buy.

Hitachi DZ-GX3300
While we haven’t had a chance to do a full review of this camcorder yet, the DZ-GX3300 is Hitachi’s top of the line DVD camcorder this year. It, too, has a 1/3” chip, a CCD, with 3.3 gross MP, an active accessory shoe, and a price tag of $799. Hitachi’s cannot match Sonys for automatic control. The manual control is about on par with the DVD505. It does not have shutter or aperture control, and a stunted exposure and focus control similar to the DVD505.

Stills can only be recorded to DVD-RAM discs, though video can be recorded to DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. The large imager should produce good video. Last year’s DZ-MV780 (Review, Specs, $499.99) had solid video in bright light, and very sharp low light.

Handling is rather stunted, and is arguably worse than Sony’s touch screen. All control functions are located on the left side of the body, above and inside the LCD cavity. This is the same design as last year’s Panasonic DVD camcorders, and we’re quite thankful that Panasonic upgraded the line to its MiniDV standards.

However, we don’t really expect the GX3300 to compete with the DVD505. Hitachi’s best is no match for the titan Sony.

Who It’s For
Point-and-Shooters (7.0)
For the point-and-shoot user who loves auto mode and can’t imagine ever wanting more advanced manual control, the DCR-DVD505 (Review, Specs, $664) is certainly towards the top of the heap. If manual control at a later date may be desired, it would be wise for this user group to look elsewhere for more interactive options.

Budget Consumers (3.0)
For the budget consumer, the $1100 price tag on the Sony DCR-DVD505 is sure to derail interest, especially if image quality is at all important. The DVD format quality is still inferior to the MiniDV format; MiniDV camcorders can be purchased for a fraction of the price of the DVD505.

Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid (8.0)
This camcorder is the top of the line for DVD camcorders in 2006, and it definitely has hybrid abilities with both MemoryStick Duo Pro and DVD formats available for still image recording. In addition to multiple recording formats and image size, the DVD505 also comes with a well placed in-camera flash and a Sony proprietary hot shoe for either external flash or video light.

Gadget Freaks (7.5)
With a 3.5-inch LCD and the dubious status of being the highest priced consumer DVD camcorder on the market, the DVD505 may be an essential must-have for the DVD camcorder freak on the lookout for the next generation of hybrid DVD camcorders.

Manual Control Freaks (3.0)
Manual controls aren’t a strong point on Sony consumer camcorders, and the DCR-DVD505 is no exception. It has limited options and a less than enjoyable touch screen menu navigation, layout and interface.

Pros/ Serious Hobbyists (4.0)
There is no reason for the pro or serious hobbyist to consider consumer DVD camcorders at all, considering their relatively poor image quality, high compression levels, and struggling performance. Unless, of course, you’re looking to show off the top-end model in the DVD line.

Conclusion
The DCR-DVD505 is crown jewel of Sony's DVD division, with all the hallmarks of a top model. It's the biggest camcorder, in size, it has the hottest new technologies inside, and the company is determined to convince you that it's the best in the market. We found it to be many of these things. But as for the best camcorder in the DVD market... no.

Please believe that we were excited about this camcorder. In what is amounting to a slow year for news, the DVD505 with its ClearVID CMOS sensor and huge still resolutions was the one of the highlights at CES. Our tests revealed, however, that the hype was just that - hype. While the color reproduction and accuracy certainly improved over last year's DVD403, the sharpness took a steep decline. That's simply unacceptable from a camcorder that claims to be not a replacement for the DVD403, but the model above and beyond the replacement.

Of course, our usual praises and jabs for Sony are here, too. The ease of use is hard to beat, and the automatic controls are as good as they are on most Sony camcorders. But manual control is severerely lacking, and it is in this category that $1000+ camcorders typically define themselves from the budget models. There is no discernable manual control improvement over their lower-end DVD camcorders, except perhaps the larger LCD screen, which makes for better live viewing.

Also, we feel that at this price range, a camcorder should be able to compete with similarly priced camcorders in other media. As long as the ceiling remains 8.5 Mbps on DVD camcorders, they will never be able to match the video quality of a MiniDV camcorder. We know that the DVD505 has the potential, it's got the same chip that is used in a Sony HD camcorder, it's just being held back by the excessive compression for DVD discs. Perhaps someday  a DVD camcorder will be able to record AVI files. Or something else! Anything else! High-end DVD camcorders need to start offering more than just ease of use. This is not just a criticism of Sony. This is for Panasonic, for Hitachi, for Canon, and for all the other DVD camcorder manufacturers. Perhaps Blu-Ray offers some glimmer of future hope.

If the two titans of DVD are the Sony DVD505 and the Panasonic VDR-D300, we have to hand it over to the D300. Manual controls were immensely better in the D300, and image quality took the slight lead. Throw in a mic input and you've got yourself a pretty good little camcorder. Sony proved to be the better performer in low light, and, naturally, ease of use. If you're the typical DVD camcorder user and all you want is to point and shoot and not think we recomend the DVD505, but we think it's slightly ironic that you'd be spending $1,100 on your camcorder and not want to think about it when you use it. The still capabilities of the DVD505 are much better, too, but still features should not be a main factor in purchasing a camcorder. They cannot hope to match the quality of even cheap point and shoot digital still cameras.  We found the 5.1 channel Dolby Digital to be more or less of a red herring, which knocked out one of its major marketing points

Bottom line: The Sony DVD505 is a great DVD camcorder with top of the line still performance and decent class video performance, perfect for the ease of use DVD camcorder buyer. However, if you're spending this much on a camcorder, we recomend going with the Panasonic for it's slightly better performance and, more importantly, better manual control.