Sony DCR-DVD910 Handycam Camcorder Reviewby Michael PerlmanPublished on Jul 1, 2008 3:08 PM
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Still Features (7.5)The DCR-DVD910 shares the same still features with Sony's high definition DVD camcorders, the HDR-UX10 and HDR-UX20. The DCR-DVD910 can capture stills in the following sizes: 2304 x 1728 (4.0MP), 2304 x 1296 (3.0MP), 1600 x 1200 (1.9MP), and 640 x 480 (0.3MP VGA) to MemoryStick PRO Duo only. In Video mode, the DCR-DVD910 can capture a 3MP still image thanks to the Dual Record function.
The DCR-DVD910 is equipped with a flash mounted to the left side of the lens, and you know what that means. You'll experience uneven lighting in almost any shooting environment, thanks to its off-kilter placement. The flash can be set to Auto, On, or Off and you can set the flash intensity level to High, Medium, or Low. An 8 second Self-Timer is available in the Camera menu, and Redeye Reduction is located in the Home menu.
The Home menu also harbors Sony's Face Detection feature, which locates up to 8 faces at once. A box will appear around the subject's face and color, Focus, and Exposure will be adjusted accordingly. Panasonic's Face Detection only concentrates on 6 faces at once and is less effective than Sony's. It's quite a task getting the HDC-SD9's Face Detection system to pick up on a face. Sony's Face Detection is available in Video and Photo mode.Half of the DCR-DVD910's Photo options are located in the Camera menu. Here's where you'll find all the Manual Controls and a couple extras. The Camera menu can be accessed in an instant, which is highly convenient for on-the-fly adjustment. The DCR-DVD910's Camera menu is composed of the following options:
| Photo Camera Menu |
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| Camera 1 |
Focus, Spot Focus, Tele Macro |
| Camera 2 |
Exposure, Spot Meter, Scene Selection |
| Camera 3 |
White Balance, Color Slow Shutter |
| Camera 4 |
Image Size, Self-Timer, Flash Mode |
For more of the administrative options, the DCR-DVD910's Home menu contains the following options:
| Photo Menu |
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| Page 1 |
Image Size, File No., NightShot Light, SteadyShot, Guideframe, Zebra |
| Page 2 |
Flash Mode, Flash Level, Redeye Reduction, Face Detection, Conversion Lens |
In Photo Playback mode, captured stills are represented as thumbnails that, when pressed, display the selected image within the entirety of the LCD screen. The Photo Playback menu is only composed of four options: Print, Slideshow, Delete, and Delete All. Playback controls are located on the touch screen LCD and include Index, Last Image, Slideshow, Next Image, and Menu.
Still Performance (10.49)
The still performance of Sony DCR-DVD910 was tested by shooting an X-Rite Color Checker chart at an even, bright light, then stunning the stills through Imatest imaging software to determine color accuracy, noise, and saturation. At best, the camcorder produced a color error of 5.72, which was quite good, even better than last year's Sony DCR-SR300. It proved to be the most accurate colors that we've seen on a standard definition camcorder this year. The noise measured 1.1325, which was also a very good score. The saturation measured 93.89.
Out of the lab, the stills from the Sony DCR-DVD910 were good. It's still hard to speak favorably about them compared to a dedicated point-and-shoot digital camera, which easily excels in resolution. But for a camcorder, these stills look good. They would suffice for web-bound photos, but you wouldn't necessarily want them for full-size prints.
Still Resolution (17.97)
The still resolution of the Sony DCR-DVD910 was tested by shooting an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart at an even, bright light, then exported to Imatest imaging software. At best, the camcorder was able to produce a horizontal resolution of 1161 line widths per picture height, with a 4.21% undersharpening.
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