Sony Handycam DCR-SR85 Camcorder Review

(3.50)

-1152 x 864 (1.0 Megapixels)
-1152 x 648 (widescreen image, 0.7 Megapixels)
-640 x 480 (VGA)

To take still images you have to flick the mode toggle (the on/off switch) to photo mode. This changes the aspect ratio on the LCD to fit whatever size you have selected for still images (it will be 4:3 if you're taking photos at highest quality). Taking photos is done by pressing the shutter button at the top of the camcorder, directly behind the zoom toggle. The DCR-SR85 does not have a dual-record mode, which allows you to snap photographs while you are in video mode. This feature is commonly found on on many of Sony's higher end products and HD camcorders.

Not having a flash is the norm for compact standard definition camcorders. Sony does sell proprietary flashes and video lights that will mount to the accessory shoe at the top of the camcorder. In this price range, Sony is alone in offering accessory shoes. The Canon FS11, FS10, and FS100 do not have shoes, nor does the Panasonic SDR-H60, or the JVC GZ-MG330 and MG360.

The Photo Settings menu contains the following items:

Note: Flash Mode, Flash Level, and Redeye Reduction are only available
if a flash device is connected to the proprietary accessory shoe.


The Photo Settings menu

The Photo Playback menu contains the following options:

Still Performance (5.31)
We measured the still performance of the Sony DCR-SR85 by photographing an X-Rite Color Checker chart under a bright, even light. We photographed the chart under a variety of exposure settings, then ran the images through Imatest imaging software to get results. At its best, the camcorder produced a color error of 11.3, which is abysmal—especially for Sony. As a whole, Sony often rules the roost when it comes to producing accurate colors, but this clearly is not the case with the DCR-SR85. This is a far worse score than last year's Sony DCR-SR42 (7.02 color error) and the Canon FS100 and FS11, which produced statistically equal color errors of 8.03 and 8.5 respectively. This very poor showing from the DCR-SR85 was most noticeable with deep blues, reds, and purple colors.

The camcorder also had too much noise in its still images, producing a noise percentage of 1.9025%. Again, this is worse than last year's standard definition camcorder from Sony, the DCR-SR42, which had 1.6475% noise in its still images. Canon averaged 1.7% noise on both the FS11 and FS100. None of these are good scores for camcorders in this price range, but the SR85 has the worst of the bunch. Lastly, Sony produced a color saturation of 101.1%, a figure that is more in line with the rest of the competition.

The still performance of the Sony DCR-SR85 is particularly lousy, even for standard definition camcorder. Any photos taken with this device probably won't even cut it as low-quality web images. Do yourself a favor and buy a cheap point-and-shoot digital camera—the resulting photographs will be significantly better than anything you'll see from a regular camcorder.

Still Resolution (5.16)
The Sony DCR-SR85 didn't execute as poorly with still resolution as it did with still performance. We tested the still resolution of the camcorder by photographing an ISO 12233 resolution chart under bright, even light. We again used Imatest imaging software to analyze the images. The best result from the DCR-SR85 was a horizontal resolution of 622 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) with a 1.5% oversharpening. The camcorder produced a vertical resolution of 689 lw/ph with a 2.3% undersharpening. It looks like the SR85's increased pixel count (in comparison to last year's Sony SR42) gave a significant boost to resolution, while worsening color accuracy and noise.

These scores are worse than the numbers put up by the Canon FS11 (897 lw/ph horizontal, 737 lw/ph vertical), but the Sony had far less oversharpening (the FS11 had a 42.8% oversharpening on its vertical resolution). In all, the still resolution scores from the SR85 are decent for a camcorder in this price range.