2003 CamcorderInfo.com B&H Camcorder Shoot-Off: $400 Price Group

by Robin Liss
Published on Oct 12, 2004 12:00 AM



The $400 - $499 price group includes the Sony DCR-TRV350 with a 1/6 in. CCD, the Panasonic PV-DV103 with a 1/6 in. CCD, the JVC GR-D70 with a 1/6 in. CCD and the Canon ZR60 with a 1/6 in. CCD. The first test was the normal lighting conditions, where the lighting was set to 3000 LUX. As we saw in the $300 pricegroup, the Sony and the Panasonic did very well in the pricegroup however the superior optics in the Canon ZR seemed to result in the best video under normal lighting conditions.

The first camcorder in the group is the Sony DCR-TRV350:

 

Sony seems to increase the saturation in their consumer camcorders more than other companies, and this was very apparent in the DCR-TRV350. The camcorders all seem to lean red, producing pictures which are slightly redder. Although this hurts the Sony slightly in overall color representation, as you will notice the yellow tile is slightly orange, it ends up helping out the normal user in their everyday situations - the simple reason being that lighter skin tones look better on the Sony's because the lean towards red, and most of the time people are the focus of video. Generally however the color representation of the DCR-TRV350 is very good - though certainly not as even as the Canon ZR60. The Sony has a very good dynamic range (how bright the whites are and dark the blacks are), similar to that of the Panasonic PV-DV103, however the clear dynamic range winner is the Canon. Read the full DCR-TRV350 Review - Shop for the DCR-TRV350 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the DCR-TRV350 @ PriceGrabber

The JVC GR-D70 is the second camcorder in the price group:

 

 

The GR-D70 looses in the $400 price group as the $100 less expensive GR-D30, they both use the same imaging system. The GR-D70 has the poorest dynamic range of the bunch. The GR-D70 seems to lean towards blue, look at the magenta tile, which appears more purple with the GR-D70. The lean towards blue has the opposite effect of the DCR-TRV350's lean towards red, and makes light skin tones appear dead instead of lively. The JVC does a terrible job with the skin tone tile, it looks gray when compared to the other three camcorders in the group. Read the full GR-D70 Review - Shop for the GR-D70 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the GR-D70 @ PriceGrabber

The PV-DV103 is the third camcorder in the group:

 

The PV-DV103 produces a fair image, however as we saw with many of the Panasonic's the image is undersaturated. The image looks slightly washed out and too ''white'.' Compare the red tile which is in the center of the top row to that of the Sony and you can see the real differences in saturation. The yellow tile on the PV-DV103 appears more orange than it should. The dynamic range of the PV-DV53 (Review, Specs, $199.06) is similar to that of the JVC and it doesn't stand out. Interestingly the image produced by the PV-DV103 under normal lighting conditions (and low light) is worse than the $100 cheaper PV-DV53 - most likely because the chip on the PV-DV53 is larger. The colors on the PV-DV53 are more saturated and look more lively. Shop for the PV-DV103 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the PV-DV103 @ PriceGrabber

The ZR60 is the fourth camcorder in the group:

 

The ZR60 did very well under normal lighting conditions - most likely because of the superior optics in the ZR60. Canon specializes in lenses so you would expect a good lens in the ZR60. The colors are slightly undersaturated when compared to the DCR-TRV350, but they are certainly not as undersaturated as the PV-DV103. I think that the ZR60's saturation is a good mix between the two. The colors appear lively with out being too red as they are on the DCR-TRV230. The yellow tile looks pretty drab on the Canon. Overall however, the Canon's color representation is more 'fair' than the DCR-TRV350 under normal lighting conditions. Shop for the ZR60 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the ZR60 @ PriceGrabber

Here is a composite of all four camcorders:

 

Under normal lighting conditions (3000 LUX), the Sony DCR-TRV350 and the Canon ZR60 are in the upper half with the Panasonic PV-DV103 and the JVC GR-D70 in the lower half. The DCR-TRV350's image is more saturated and also much more red, it might produce better skin tones, but when you do a comparison between the skin tone tiles on the two they are pretty much even. Overall, the Canon ZR60's superior optics beat out the DCR-TRV250, producing an overall better image. The JVC falls into last place in the group because of the poor dynamic range and the lean towards blue which makes the image look drab.

As we found in all of the pricegroups, the camcorders really began to show their true colors (pun intended) when we turned the lights down to (15 LUX) the first was the DCR-TRV350:

 

There is some color information with the DCR-TRV350, however there is also some grain - making the image pretty disappointing. Read the full DCR-TRV350 Review - Shop for the DCR-TRV350 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the DCR-TRV350 @ PriceGrabber

The second camcorder is the GR-D70:

 

As we saw in the $300 price group, the GR-D70 was the worst camcorder of the four, there is barely any color information there. The camcorder doesn't kick in any automatic gain (you need some gain, the trick is finding a balance) so the user is presented with no color in their picture. Read the full GR-D70 Review - Shop for the GR-D70 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the GR-D70 @ PriceGrabber

The third camcorder is the the PV-DV103:

 

Despite decreasing the CCD size from the PV-DV53 to the PV-DV103 from 1/4 in. to 1/6 in. the PV-DV103 clearly holds it's own against all the other 1/6 in. CCD camcorders in the bunch, with the best low light performance. There clearly is some grain, however it's not excessive like the ZR60 and although the Sony has slightly more color information, the PV-DV103's picture just looks brighter and as a result is much better looking. Shop for the PV-DV103 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the PV-DV103 @ PriceGrabber

The fourth camcorder is the the ZR60:

 

The ZR60's low light performance is terrible, and a clear example of automatic gain control done to excess. The image is excessively grainy. Although there is color, when you are shooting the ZR60 as actual objects instead of the flat chat all the detail will be clouded with the noise of the automatic gain control. Shop for the ZR60 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the ZR60 @ PriceGrabber

Here is the composite of all four camcorders:

 

Taking both low light and normal light performance into account, the ranking for the $400-$499 price category in the 2003 B & H CamcorderInfo.com Shoot-Off is 1. Sony DCR-TRV350, 2. Panasonic PV-DV103, 3. Canon ZR60, 4. JVC GR-D70 - though I don't believe any camcorder is the clear winner. The Panasonic wins in low light but the Sony and the Canon certainly triumph it under normal lighting. The Sony only takes the number one stop because it did pretty good in both situations. Taking everything into account, the Canon clearly ranks over the GR-D70 because of it's impressive performance under normal lighting conditions. However, the abysmal low light performance of the ZR60 drops it out of the running for the top two spots.