Sony DCR-DVD505 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Mar 17, 2006 10:00 AM
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Ease of Use (9.0)
The DVD505 (Review, Specs, $664), like most Sonys, is a very ease camcorder to use. If you’re not the type to fiddle around much with manual controls, if you’re more the weekender who wants to shoot a fishing trip, and if you have a spare $1000 lying around, you are the target market for this camcorder. Inside the LCD cavity is a button with a big blue dot in the middle. This is Easy mode. Press it and your cares are over. The DVD505 has excellent automatic controls. It also has what you might think of as manual controls with training wheels, if you’re feeling frisky. Spot Focus and Spot Metering are described in detail in the “Automatic Controls” section above, but in short, they require little more than pointing at the object in the LCD frame that you would like to focus on or adjust exposure for. They’re simple controls and only mildly effective, but they can make the inexperienced user feel like they’re part of the team.
Handling (8.0)
Even though the DVD505 may be priced like a high-end consumer camcorder, it doesn’t handle like one. This is not a straight-up criticism. The DVD505 handles like a low-end Sony. It also handles like a middle-end Sony. They all handle in the same way – very simply. For some users, this is a dream come true. Beginners can purchase this as a status symbol or hot new gadget and hardly have to glance at the manual in order to operate it.
The flip side of that coin is that most in-depth operation of the camcorder like adjusting exposure, focus, or white balance can be a frustrating affair. Touch screens are troublesome things. You’ll find us complaining about them frequently for a simple reason – they give us a lot to complain about, and it affects handling and manual control and gauging picture quality. We understand, from multiple postings, that some people like them. We don’t. Let’s shake hands and agree to disagree.
Aside from the touch screen, the camcorder feels good in your hand. It’s not light, and its certainly not a compact cam. But the raised lip on the upper right side provides an excellent grip. The camcorder feels sturdy, something you can rarely say about budget cams. For instance, the place at which the front of the hand strap meets the body is a swiveling pin connection. This not only lends some flexibility to the hand strap, but it feels secure. By comparison, we were able to pull open the MiniDV mechanism on the Canon ZR500 (Review, Specs, $224.8) and ZR700 (Review, Specs, $277) simply by tugging on the hand strap. The zoom, video record, and still shutter buttons are all very well located for easy finger access. The viewfinder pivots, but we wish it would have extended as well. The LCD screen is a huge 3.5 inches, which would be great if it didn’t just give you more room to put fingerprints on. Overall, it doesn’t handle as well as the Panasonic D300 (Review, Specs, $534.89), but the DVD505 is for a different audience, less concerned with manual control, and more with simplicity. In this regard, it succeeds.
Portability (4.75)
The tradeoff for all the power under the DVD505’s hood is portability. The DCR-DVD505 (Review, Specs, $664) is the largest of the DVD camcorders from Sony. It’s heavy, too, weighing in at 1 lb. 6oz (630g). This is not something you’d likely fit in even a medium sized purse, and I reckon you’d be a fool to put a $1000+ camcorder in a purse or book bag anyway.
LCD/Viewfinder (10.0)
The touch screen LCD for the Sony DCR-DVD505 is an impressively large 3.5 inches diagonally with a resolution of 211,200 pixels. While this resolution is generous for consumer camcorders, which tend to have LCD screen resolutions lurking around 115K, the resolution on this LCD was still not high enough to really provide an accurate viewing device for checking focus when shooting with manual control. The touch screen menu layout was definitely easier to use and navigate compared to a 2.7-inch screen. The 3.5-inch LCD did suffer from incessant finger smearing and smudging when used, which is unfortunate since the monitor otherwise showed little to no solarizing even when viewed at extreme angles (the LCD can be rotated 270 degrees and swiveled). The size of the LCD is rarity in consumer camcorders, with only last year’s DCR-PC55 (Specs, $549.99) providing an LCD this large. Adjustments can be made to LCD brightness through the back light button located beneath the LCD screen on the camcorder body itself. This allows users to make adjustments to the LCD in lighting situations that would otherwise obscure LCD legibility.
The electronic color viewfinder is designed for usability, as evidenced by the pivoting axis point. This allows the user to place the eyepiece at a forty-five degree angle away from the camcorder body and protruding features like the battery pack, which could block functionality if this feature was static. The dioptric adjustment lever is located on the underside of the eyepiece and is properly sized so that even large fingers can make adjustments.
Battery Life (10.4)
The DVD505 includes the NP-FP60, which we tested for life expectancy during continuous shooting. The camcorder was set to Easy mode in 4:3 aspect ratio, with no zooming or manual controls engaged. The LCD was left open. When the DVD media needed to be changed, the battery was removed and the DC power plugged in. Then the battery was reinserted and the recording continued. The included battery lasted for 104 minutes and 10 seconds (1 hour, 44 minutes, and 10 seconds).
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