Sony DCR-SR40 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Dec 11, 2006 11:00 AM
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The Front (6.5)
The design of the DCR-SR40 is brutally simple, and the front of the camcorder is notably unadorned. The main feature on the front is a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 20x optical zoom lens with a filter diameter of 30 mm and a 2.3 to 46 mm focal length. The 35mm equivalents for the lens are a 48-960 mm focal length in 16:9 camera mode, a 44-440 mm focal length in 4:3 camera mode, and a 44-880 mm focal length in 4:3 memory mode. The lens aperture measures f1.8 to f3.1. The lens is seated in the large front-end of the lens barrel, which defines the squat shape of the camcorder.
To the left of the lens is a black plastic cover that conceals the Super NightShot Plus Infrared System sensor. The sensor enables the camcorder to record an image illuminated with the onboard IR lamp, and must be unobstructed for this feature to work properly. A metal loop affixes to the camcorder at the lower left corner of the front, and secures the hand strap. Below the lens, the onboard stereo microphone is visible as perforations in the grey plastic of the body.
The Right Side (7.0)
The right side of the DCR-SR40 presents about as Spartan a façade as you’re likely to find on a camcorder. Unlike most consumer models that locate their removable media compartments here, the non-removable 30GB HDD of this unit remains out of sight because you’ll never need to access its hardware. The only feature of interest to users is the hand strap, which attaches to the lower corners of the front and back of the body, and runs along the length of the camcorder. Sony straps are very nicely padded and therefore, are quite comfortable in comparison to the thin straps that other makers use. This strap slopes down towards the front of the camcorder at about a 10 degree angle, which helps to orient the lens for hand-held shooting.
The Back (4.5)
The back of the Sony DCR-SR40 is unadorned, with only a few important controls and the battery slot. The Power/Mode dial is on top, and its design follows that of Sony’s other current Handycam camcorders. The dial has two fixed positions: off, rotated all the way counter-clockwise; and on, one click clockwise from off. With the camcorder powered on, nudging the dial further counter-clockwise allows you to toggle between camera, still photo, and playback modes. A small green button on top of the dial must be pressed to unlock it from the current setting.
To the left of the Power/Mode dial are three small LED indicator lamps that indicate whether the camcorder is in video, sill photo, or playback mode. A fourth lamp labelled “Access” is below the mode lamps, and illuminates when the HDD is actively in use. Below and to the left of the Power/Mode dial is the Record Start/Stop button. The button is marked with a red dot, and protrudes slightly from the body of the SR40 making it easy to find by touch.
The battery slot occupies the bulk of the remaining space on the camcorder’s back end, below the dial and to the left of the Start/Stop button. The slot forms a deep indent in the body, and batteries can be slid into place from below. When the included NP-FP50 battery pack is inserted, it sits almost flush with the surface of the camcorder while an extended life battery would protrude further. The battery release switch is on the base of the camcorder at the edge of the battery slot. If you use a tripod, you will find this placement inconvenient because there’s no way to access the switch when the SR40 is affixed to a tripod head.
The Left Side (5.5)
The left side of the Sony DCR-SR40 is home to several external buttons, the onboard ports, and the LCD screen, which serves as the camcorder’s only display, and as its touch screen menu navigation interface. The screen on this camcorder is small by current standards measuring 2.5” with a resolution of 123K pixels and an aspect ratio of 4:3. The step-up SR60 and SR80 upgrade to a widescreen 2.7” display which offers a better means of monitoring 16:9 video as well as additional maneuvering room for operation of the touch screen display. The extra 0.2” should not be underestimated unless you possess tiny fingers or video gamer dexterity. It’s helpful when it comes to navigating Sony’s touch screen menu.
Like most camcorder displays, this one jumps through the usual hoops, opening to 90 degrees from the body, rotating through 270 degrees, and even folding into the LCD cavity screen-side-out to offer multiple viewing angles. Three buttons on the outside edge of the LCD work as secondary camera controls, for Record Start/Stop and zoom control. The screen-side buttons can be very useful when operating the main controls on the camcorder’s top and back is difficult, such as when holding the camcorder at either a high or low angle. Unlike the main zoom toggle, the buttons are not pressure-sensitive and move the zoom at a medium-rate fixed speed only.
The LCD cavity is home to a few buttons and features, including the Easy button – for one-touch engagement of Easy recording mode – at the lower right corner, and the Disp/Batt Info button. The Disp/Batt Info button cycles through LCD display options when the SR40 is in record mode, and displays detailed information about battery life and HDD space in standby mode. Above these buttons, an onboard speaker used to monitor sound in playback mode, is embedded in the body. The tiny reset button is at the lower left corner of the LCD cavity. Pressing this button with a paperclip or other sharp object returns the camcorder to factory settings.
Below the LCD cavity, a rubber port cover protects the DCR-SR40’s two terminals, for DC-in at right, and AV at left. The lack of an onboard USB port is unfortunate because it means you’ll need to rely entirely on the Handycam docking station to transfer footage digitally to a PC for editing or backup. The SR60 and SR80 feature a USB terminal on both the station and the camcorder, and that omission on the SR40 reduces its versatility. The port cover itself adopts a common design, attached to the body by a thin plastic connector. As a means of protecting the terminals, it works, but the thin connector makes the cover vulnerable if it happens to snag on something as it dangles open. To the left of the ports is an external Back Light button which engages BLC (back light compensation) during recording.
The Top (5.0)
The top surface of the DCR-SR40 is home to a handful of essential controls but as you must assume by now – it's pretty bare. Near the back edge is the Photo button, nestled next to the Zoom lever. Sony’s zoom controls are very well engineered, and more refined in terms of feel than those on many other consumer camcorders. The SR40’s zoom controller is both sensitive and easy to use, due in part to a “rocking lever” design that Sony has implemented better than its competitors.
Just right of center, about mid-way up the lens barrel is the NightShot Plus on/off switch used to enable and disable the camcorder’s night shooting mode. It is interesting to note that NightShot and Back Light are the only external controls that allow you to select recording modes on the DCR-SR40. Higher-end camcorders geared towards advanced users are often covered with external buttons and controls but on this entry-level camcorder, Sony has whittled the interface down to the bare necessities. Apparently Sony has concluded that BLC and NightShot Plus are the two features worthy of their own external controls, relegating all the others – from exposure to focus – to the touch screen menu.
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