Sony DCR-PC350 Camcorder First Impressions Review

by Robin Liss
Published on Jul 8, 2004 12:00 PM



Sony last week announced the well-anticipated successor to the DCR-PC330, the DCR-PC350. Soon after the announcement, Sony supplied us with a preproduction DCR-PC350 for review. The DCR-PC350 includes a 3.31 megapixel CCD with behind a Carl Zeiss lens. Like its predecessor the DCR-PC330, the PC350 records stills at 2,106 x 1512 and facilitates a 10x optical zoom with a mediocre 120x digital zoom. The DCR-PC350 does include a new 24p cinematic effect that was neat and useable, but frankly disappointing when compared to the AG-DVX100. For under US$1300, the DCR-PC350 performs slightly better than the DCR-PC330 across the board and in bright and low light levels.

Video Performance
It's tough to make any hard conclusions on the DCR-PC350's video performance because the model we looked at was a pre-production model, however we had a DCR-PC330 on hand to compare it to, and our initial results were quite positive. Sony stated that the video performance was improved, and it definitely was. At 3000 lux, the PC330 and PC350 look very similar. Both camcorders reproduce the chart’s colors well with crisp delineations between colors, and minimal washing, which is usually evident in bright light conditions. The PC350 presents colors a bit crisper than the PC330 at 3000 lux. The PC330’s colors seem a bit too saturated in the yellows, greens, and blues while its reds appear duller than the PC350s. As far as a balanced spectrum goes, the PC350 definitely offers a more balanced representation of the color spectrum. While its colors may not be as bright and as vibrant at 3000 lux as the PC330’s, the balance is definitely there, making the image less jarring to look at. Both camcorders reproduce the gray scale well at 3000 lux with the PC350 offering a slightly more balanced, less washed version. It seems the minor changes Sony made were effective.

The Front
Sony's DCR-PC350 is a very sexy camcorder. It is smaller than its younger sibling, the PC330, and while both camcorders are very aesthetically pleasing on a superficial level, the PC350 is strikingly different than the DCR-PC350. Culminating on the front side of the PC350 is the camcorder's Carl Zeiss T* lens. With a filter diameter of 37 mm and a focal length of 5.1-51 mm, the PC350 is exactly the same lens wise as the PC330; however, its appearance is definitely more compact. The flash has been moved from on top of the body, as on the PC330, to the right side of the lens. Like the PC330, the PC350 includes an infrared sensor below the lens; however, the camcorder lacks a port cover and terminal on the front (it has been moved to the left side).

The Right Side
The right side of the camcorder is dominated by the strap mechanism. The strap belt release slider is located near the middle of the right side, and, typical of a matchbook camcorder, the strap runs diagonally from this slider to the lower right corner of the right side. Above the battery mechanism is panel of buttons, located conveniently in reach of the user's right index finger. On the panel, buttons include a manual focus button which activates or deactivates the camcorder's focus ring. Surrounding the focus button are buttons controlling nightshot, backlight, and still photo flash. On a raised shelf is the photo button, followed immediately to the front by the zoom toggle. The camcorder's flash is located on the front side of this button panel. To the left of the his button panel is a removable panel concealing the camcorder's a/v jack and LANC port.

The Left Side
The left side of the PC350 can be divided spatially between the battery and the LCD screen. The battery sits below the LCD on this side, with its release slide located along its right edge. To the left of the battery is a port cover concealing the camcorder's S-Video and DC in ports. The Firewire, USB, as well as backup S-Video and DC in, ports have been moved from the front, as they were on the PC330, to a separate bay into which the 350 sits (on the bottom of the PC350 there is a special port for the bay. Underneath the PC350's 2.5 inch LCD, there are buttons for display options as well as the LCD's backlight. On the left edge of the LCD, the PC350 offers convenient buttons for zoom and record for quick adjustment when using the LCD.

The Top
The top of the PC350 contains the camcorder's intelligent accessory shoe as well as its stereo microphone. While the PC330 includes the still photo flash above the lens, with the PC350, Sony has moved the flash to the right side of the lens. While a pop-up flash is nice feature, the removal of the flash on the PC350 makes for a very handsome silver top.

The Back
The viewfinder sits on top of the back of the PC350, and below it stretches a control panel featuring buttons for record and easy mode. Also, on this panel is a mode selector to switch between off, tape mode, memory stick mode, and VCR/playback mode. On the right of the button panel is a mic input jack with the memory stick slot below. Below this button panel is a button for easy mode.


Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control
The automatic control options of the DCR-PC350 are standard to those of other Sony touch screen camcorders. It does include an easy mode, which is basically a full auto mode. The camcorder provides spot metering and spot focus which are much more accessible now with the 3D menu navigation system.

Overall Manual Control
The 3-D menu screens of the DCR-PC350 are nice and relatively easy to navigate. More useful options, such as exposure, spot focus, spot meter, and program AE are available directly within the P-Menu screen, as less used buttons are buried deeper in Sony's Byzantine menu system. It would be nice to see white balance occupying a spot near the beginning of the menu screen. A multitude of digital effects and display options are available for the manual controller to tailor the camcorder to her/his needs.

Zoom
The DCR-PC350 offers a optical zoom of up to 10x magnification with a 120x digital zoom. This is controlled using the zoom toggle on the right side of the camcorder. The side zoom controller or the DCR-PC350 is a little tough to use, however, Sony's added a great zoom controller to the side of the LCD screen. It was a great addition because of the dependence on the LCD screen with the new touch screen models. It also very naturally works with the shooting method that most people use of holding the camera by the handstrap in their right hand and holding the LCD screen in your left. It's a great innovation on the part of Sony.

Focus
The PC350 includes a focus ring which is very convenient for fine tuning your images. It's too bad that the focus ring is not a hybrid one like the ring included on the newly announced DCR-HC1000. The camcorder also includes a Spot Focus function that allows the user to touch a certain spot on the LCD to indicate a particular area for the machine to focus on.

Exposure (Aperture)
Manual exposure adjustment on the PC350 is controlled through the camcorder's LCD touch screen menu. A little less convenient that a jog dial, this setup does allow for Spot Metering where the user can adjust exposure to certain areas of the image by pressing the appropriate area of the screen.

Shutter Speed
Unfortunately with the upgrade from the DCR-PC330 to the DCR-PC330, Sony did not include an option for manual shutter speed.

White Balance
The DCR-PC350 offers white balance options for auto, outdoor, indoor, one push, and a manual set option.

Gain
The DCR-PC350 does not offer any manual gain options.

Still Performance
The DCR-PC350 takes still photos to Memory Stick Pro at either 2016 x 1512, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480. The option for taking stills at 1600 x 1200 is an upgrade from the PC330, which only offers options for 2015 x 1512 and 640 x 480.

Low Light Performance
At 60 lux, both the DCR-PC350 and the DCR-PC330 produce very crisp images, which are expected for such expensive machines. There is a definitely an increase in grain, especially evident in the blue end of the spectrum and in the darker tones of the gray scale. The imbalanced saturation of greens, yellows, and blues of the PC330 is again evident at 60 lux, if not further accentuated in the darker environs. Overall, the PC350 looks, as it should, a good deal better with a better balanced spectrum and slightly less grain. It seems that the noise the PC330 experiences all across the spectrum at 60 lux, the PC350 only experiences in the darker areas of the spectrum.

At 15 lux, both camcorders pick up a significant amount of grainy noise in approximately equal proportions. The PC330’s over saturated greens, yellows, and blues pay off at 15 lux giving these areas some extra punch and brightness, especially when compared to the PC350’s dull grayish colors. One thing that these machines retain under all three light conditions was crispness of color; even at 15 lux, both the PC350 and the PC330 reproduce crisp, clearly delineated colors, although obviously substantially darker and covered in a layer of gray noise.

LCD/ Viewfinder
The LCD on the DCR-PC350 has a standard measurement of 2.5 inches diagonally, and can be flipped out by pressing a small switch on the camcorder body. The LCD can be rotated to a desired position to allow for easy viewing during recording. During play back, the LCD has to be left open, as the VCR controls are located in a panel behind the LCD. The color viewfinder on the GS200 pulls out about an inch and a half from the camcorder body, and can be extended upwards approximately 45 degrees.

Audio
The stereo microphone on the PC350 is in the same terrible spot as it was on the PC330, far back on the top of the camcorder. While good audio is never a high point of matchbook style camcorders, it would have been nice to see an improvement. The PC350 does include an intelligent accessory shoe which is nice. The PC350 seems to lack a headphone jack which is unfortunate, considering that the PC330 does include one. Recording modes of 12 and 16 bit audio are available.

Handling
I felt pretty comfortable with the DCR-PC350's handling, and I don't typically like matchbox style camcorders. The biggest handling problem with the DCR-PC330 seemed to be it's excessive weight, and my first impressions of the DCR-PC350 is that the reduction in size, volume and weight have solved that problem. The camcorder is surprisingly easy to operate and comfortable to hold. Of course, it is not something you will be able to hold for a long period of time with one hand, and I would prefer the form factor of a horizontal camcorder which allows you to hold the lens while holding the camera body, but I still like the handling of the DCR-PC350.

Ports
The PC350 includes ports for S-Video, DC in, A/V in/out, and LANC all on camera. Also, off-camera on an external bay are a USB port, Firewire port, an additional DC input, S-Video, and A/V input. The one jack that is missing is a headphone out jack. This is a serious overlook on the part of Sony. For some reason, Sony's engineers think that the prosumer market which they are targeting this camera at is not interested in monitoring their audio as they record. It seems like a terrible move to me and may throw this camera out for many users.

Other Features
Cinematic Effect Sony is introducing a new feature on the DCR-PC350, called Cinematic Effect. Cinematic Effect is designed to make your video look like film. There is a good explanation of what it does in our DCR-PC350 news story. The effect basically shoots the video progressively and drops every fifth frame. It also increases the contrast and changes the color balance while adding noise to better replicate film. The effect looks neat, but you can tell that every fifth frame is dropped because of the extremely jittery motion produced by the DCR-PC350. The jitter goes beyond what we've seen with AG-DVX100's which include true 24 frames progressive video. It looks more like 8 mm film. It's a good effect in that it will make your video look neat without ruining it, but it is not a substitute for the AG-DVX100.

Easy Mode Offers a full auto mode with options only for things like clock set, language set, etc. Nightshot Offers a infrared enhanced night vision Super NS: enhanced more intense night shot Color Slow Shutter: available only when not in night mode, color slow shutter slows the shutter speed to produce trails and allow more light through the aperture in extremely low light conditions. Zebra: includes options for 70 and 100, shows zebra strips on the LCD and viewfinder in over-exposed areas. Spot Focus: with the help of the touch screen, one can adjust the focus to a particular area or object in the image, by touching the appropriate spot on the LCD. Spot Metering: with the help of the touch screen LCD, one can adjust the exposure to a particular area or object in the image, by touching the appropriate spot on the LCD. Cinematic Effect: creates the illusion of 24p recording to simulate a recording on film…..

16:9 widescreen mode Digitally manipulated 16:9 mode is an option on the DCR-PC350

Webcam The DCR-PV350 is equipped to function as a webcam.

MPEG Short videos are saved in MPEG4 format.

Analog to Digital Pass Through: The DCR-PC350 is equipped to serve as a pass through device, allowing the user to transfer analog to digital and vice versa.

Conclusion
The DCR-PC350 offers noticeable improvements over the DCR-PC330, and the price has been dropped. If you can stand the matchbox style format, this might be one of the best buys on the market with it's superior image quality, high resolution stills, and Sony's resolving the handling issues. However, as with any matchbox style camcorder it's difficult to handle. Our first impressions of the DCR-PC350 are that it's a solid camcorder; however we need to hold out fully recommending it until we've dealt with a full production model.