Sony Handycam DCR-DVD403

• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 48 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 9 stars

  The perfect family video camera. Easy to use, high quality video and stills.

  by tomhole on June 29, 2005

  Pros: Vdeo/still image quality, ease of use

  Cons: Wind noise, price

  Summary: I am not a professional videographer. We have owned a Canon Hi-8 ES2000 for 10 years and it served us well until it died this year. We needed a replacement ...

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  Summary: I am not a professional videographer. We have owned a Canon Hi-8 ES2000 for 10 years and it served us well until it died this year. We needed a replacement for our family videos.
  
  I knew I wanted a hybrid camera that could do good video and average stills so I didn't have to take two cameras on vacation. Our digital camera is a Canon Digital Rebel and that certainly excels in the still image quality department, but not in the portability category. I looked at getting an affordable DV camcorder for $500 and then adding a nice 5 MP small still for another $300, but that still left me with 2 cameras to carry around.
  
  I started looking at the crop of DVD camcorders earlier this year and the reviews scared me off. Reports of poor image quality and an overall poor bang for the buck lead me to miniDV instead.
  
  That lead me to the Canon Optura 500 and the Sony DCR-PC350, two high end hybrid models. I went with the Canon because of brand loyalty. I used the Canon for 13 days and returned it. The low light performance was lacking and the controls were difficult for anyone to manipulate. I was going to get the Sony to try out but always put it off for some reason.
  
  Our vacation to Mexico was quickly approaching so I logged on to check the PC350 prices and stumbled onto the DCR-DVD403 reviews and that piqued my miniDVD interest anew. Seemed like everything I needed so I bought it and brought it to Cancun for the family vacation. We filmed and snapped pics of everything, everywhere.
  
  Sorry for the long intro, but I thought some background would help base the review properly. We are a family that really enjoys watching our videos for the memories, with little criticism of video quality. That is important only in so far as it should be transparent.
  
  So, what did we think? This is a great camera for us. Video quality is very good. From our casual review, better than the Hi-8 and just as good as the Optura 500. The colors are rich, exposure is fine, focus is fast and accurate. The 16:9 is very nice. I rate it a 10 of 10 for us. It is transparent.
  
  The zoom is a little unpredictable at times. Fast zooms are the norm until you get used to the zoom toggle's sensitivity.
  
  The stills are very good. Shutter speed seems to be too slow to capture any motion at all, but for still objects, the images are great. As good as my old Kodak DC280 2MP still digital. I would rate it a 6 of 10 for stills when compared to my Digital Rebel. Most of the 6 is for convenience, but any image quality differences would be nearly impossible to detect at 4x6. Actually, the digital enhancement Sony applies in camera makes the images look better out of the Sony than out of the Digital Rebel. At least that's what my wife thought.
  
  The only complaint so far is the wind noise. The beach with a 15 knot breeze sounded like a hurricane. At the pool one night with a light 5-8 knot breeze, the sound was dominated by wind noise. Hopefully Sony will fix this. In the mean time, I am going to put a small piece of foam over the mic to see if that cures the problem. Certainly not a show stopper, but something to be aware of.
  
  Low light performance was very good; much, much better than the Optura 500. At the pool at night, we could see the kids swimming in the lit pool. At the beach at night, the night shot mode was good enough to capture us swinging in our hammocks in almost no light at all. Inside the house at night, the video looked bright and clear with no noise. Perfect for us.
  
  Ease of use. This is where this camera beats everything else, hands down. We used DVD-RW's which held 30 minutes of video. No issues there at all. Just remember that stills eat up video time. We kept 10 DVD-RW's in the bag (2 per min DVD case). That was enough for the whole week for us. After we filled up a DVD, we finalized it and watched it in the kid's portable DVD player. To our pleasant surprise, the stills played at the end as well. By far, this is for us. I will transfer the miniDVD's to DVD later on and reuse the DVD-RW's. Hard to imagine a simpler way to do things.
  
  As far as running the camera, it is as simple as it needs to be. My 2 daughters, 6 and 9, were both running it in video and still mode without issues. My wife, who is the defacto standard for measuring ease of use, had it all up and working fabulously without trouble. I have yet to open the manual. This thing is easy to use and requires no special effort to take great videos and stills.
  
  Can't think of anything else to add except this is the perfect camera for us. The Optura 500 was nice, but not perfect. This camera was made for my family.

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  69 out of 70 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  An excellent DVD camcorder.

  by mukunth_raj on April 19, 2005

  Pros: 3CCD, excellent low light videos, easy play back of recorded video, touch screen, line in recording, wide screen

  Cons: Bundled s/w Picture Package needs a lot of improvement, the View finder is not tiltable like other models

  Summary: I upgraded from my Sony Hi8 to the Sony DCR-DVD403 on 01 April '05 for $750 + s&h. I have been doing a lot of research on the different ...

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  Summary: I upgraded from my Sony Hi8 to the Sony DCR-DVD403 on 01 April '05 for $750 + s&h. I have been doing a lot of research on the different DVD models available in the market. 403 is the latest of all. Here are some Pros.
  1. Has 3 CCD which means true-to-life color.
  2. The 3 MP picture mode also delivers good pictures. (Though I have a 5 MP digicam, its still handy to know that 403 can take good quality digi pics)
  3. The best of all that I like is the way you navigate through the recorded scenes. No more REW and FF's and no more accidental over writing.
  4. Each recording session is stored as individual tracks. What this means is that you have smaller files to edit and manipulate. Which means less time consuming while editing.
  5. The touch screen is another feature that I like. No messy buttons on the body like other models.
  6. Watching video in wide screen looks good. Its compatible with normal TVs as well.
  7. The line-in recording is super. I can convert any movie to a DVD.
  8. It operates good in low light.
  
  Now lets come to some cons.
  1. The view finder, is always straight. I would have appreciated if it can be tilted up and down like other Sony Camcorders.
  2. Mini DVD media is expensive. I work around this by having a few DVD-RWs.
  3. The provided software, Picture Package, is a YUK. I never like it. You can use PP to only burn a MiniDVD on your camcorder. It cannot burn on my external DVD burner. Why would you wan to burn a MiniDVD? But one good thing about that is that the sound can be converted from 5.1 CH dolby to the normal 2 layer stereo. If you ask me why you want to do that, the answer is, if you want to use the MPEG with 5.1 CH Dolby on your other video editing s/w's like Photo Studio etc., you will not hear the sound. You need to convert the audio before using other s/w. I currently use PIXELA Image Mixer (This is provided for other older Sony DVD models) and its able to recodnize the 5.1 CH sound. DVD encoding is also excellent in that software. If you can get a copy of that, then you need not use Picture Package at all.
  
  Overall, The best DVD camcorder in market.

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  29 out of 29 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Excellent performance packed with convenience !

  by nmr on May 13, 2005

  Pros: See under opinion section

  Cons: See under opinion section

  Summary: I have got PAL version of this model few weeks ago. It has got the stunningly good performance with ease and convenience.
  
  Briefly the Pros & Cons:
  
  PRO's:
  1.
  
  
  
  
  ...

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  Summary: I have got PAL version of this model few weeks ago. It has got the stunningly good performance with ease and convenience.
  
  Briefly the Pros & Cons:
  
  PRO's:
  1. Convenience in playing back the recorded miniDVD in computer or set-top DVD players immediately after finalization.
  2. 3M-pixel CCD Resolution (3.05M still and 2M video effective pixels)
  (1/3 inch size CCD means better video quality)
  3. Very good low light performance
  4. No need of rewinding, forwarding for blank space search with miniDV.
  5. No possibility of accidentally video getting overwritten as with miniDV (in case of overlook)
  6. 16:9 recording (Wide)
  7. 5.1 Channel Dolby digital surround sound recording and in-built 5.1 ch enabled mic.
  8. Excellent still quality equal to digital camera of 3M
  9. Can edit MPEG2 after downloading clips from miniDVD and finally record into bigger DVD.
  10. Provided software does the conversion of audio from 5.1 ch to stereo for compatilbility with many softwares. Till 5.1 ch enabled encoding softwares are available, the miniDVD could be copied directly to 12cm DVD without loosing such audio performance for home theatres.
  11. DVD-RW usage is more economical for recording usage over long-term. May rerecord for 1000 times approx.
  
  Cons:
  1. DVD (MPEG2) format is not recommended over DV for extensive editing.
  2. May need to change miniDVD's (30min SP) for recording more often than a miniDV tapes (1 Hr. SP). But, this is not an issue for most of us as we may take a logical break (Standby during unimportant scene) well with-in less than 30 min to change the mini DVD.

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  17 out of 17 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Best from Sony

  by donepuds on April 3, 2005

  Pros: High resolution, Ease of use, Touch panel LCD

  Cons: Mediocore software

  Summary: I owned Mini DV camcorder for more than 5 years. Recently I decided to upgrade to DVD camcorder. After some extensive research, i decided to buy Sony DCR-DVD 403. It ...

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  Summary: I owned Mini DV camcorder for more than 5 years. Recently I decided to upgrade to DVD camcorder. After some extensive research, i decided to buy Sony DCR-DVD 403. It supports DVD +/- RW formats giving users wider selection for recording, though I couldnt find mini DVD+RWs yet from Sony. If you are looking for camcorders that can replace your digital camera, this is the one. It has 3M resolution, built in flash, night shot, and more importantly touch panel LCD. I really like the touch panel LCD in this camcorder. It is very easy to use. NP70 has good battery life (more than 2 hrs). You can also choose between 4:3 & 16:9 recording and display formats. Overll this camcorder is worth the price.
  
  The picture package software supplied with the camcorder needs lot of improvement. It is below average for this kind of camcorder. More optical zoom also would have made this camcorder a must have.

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  13 out of 13 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 10 stars

  King of all 2005 camcorders!

  by monkeyof1986 on August 24, 2005

  Pros: Very easy to use; touch screen; AWESOME performance in low light!

  Cons: sony Picture Package Software; does not allow you to use memory stick for stills.

  Summary: After intense research on camcorders, i narrowed down my choices to the Panasonic GS250 and the Sony DCR-DVD403. Since the prices are quite the same, it is even more crucial ...

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  Summary: After intense research on camcorders, i narrowed down my choices to the Panasonic GS250 and the Sony DCR-DVD403. Since the prices are quite the same, it is even more crucial to compare the two camcorders and their features.
  
  [Number One being most significant, and last number being least significant]
  Reasons i would choose GS250:
  1. Editor's choice at http://www.CNET.com
  2. 3 [seperate] chip CCD. This produces a more vibrant colors compared to 1 chip CCD's.
  3. More options for users.
  4. Decent still pictures.
  
  Reasons i would choose the DVD403:
  1. MUCH Easier to use DVD's than Mini-Dv's (with Mini-Dv's becoming obsolete, much better to stick to dvd's). VERY easy to make copies while retaining original quality.
  2. Widescreen LCD (Touchscreen)
  3. Analog to Digital recordings in a few "touches". {this allows you to record movies directly from your VCR/DVD RCA/S-video output to the camcorder A/V input}
  4. 3 MegaPixel still picture digital camera.
  5. Very Good Sony Online live chat customer support as well as 24 hour live phone support!
  
  It is clear why i went with the Sony DCR-DVD403 over the Panasonic GS250. The reason i give this camcorder a 10 is simply because i think this is so far the best camcorder in the market (although it isn't perfect in some ways). I have taken about 10 hours of video, and only have had to use 3 mini DVD-RW's. The Picture Package software provided with the camera is aweful, but the way to get around is by using a 3rd party software (just click and drag). This way you can combine 3 mini-dvd's into a regular size dvd disc and have upto 1.5 hours of recording on each along with the stills. It is true that Mini dvd+/-rw's are expensive, but you'd only need to buy like 6 (3 hours of video), for regular use.

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  11 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Nearly Perfect

  by gsindelar on April 14, 2005

  Pros: Specs, touch screen, ease of use, speed, video quality

  Cons: Some ergonomic issues

  Summary: After extensive research, I chose the DVD403 and received it yesterday.
  
  First the bad: the power switch is difficult to manage with the tiny safety button. Secondly, the photo button
  
  ...

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  Summary: After extensive research, I chose the DVD403 and received it yesterday.
  
  First the bad: the power switch is difficult to manage with the tiny safety button. Secondly, the photo button is slightly hard to reach with your index finger for which it is designed. Lastly, the zoom toggle is a bit flimsy and hard to regulate for slower zooms.
  
  The good: I've read in numerous places that DVD camcorders don't measure up to MiniDV camcorders. I took a leap with the DVD403 having not seen it in person nor read an editorial review about it. The specs are stellar, especially the 1/3 inch CCD (same as the highly regarded DCR-PC350. The startup time for recording when using a DVD-R is nearly instantaneous. (This has been a big issue with previous DVD CCs). The unit feels weighty and very solid overall. Videos taken in normal indoor lighting conditions were of high quality. The touch screen is wonderful: It's intuitive and easy to use.
  
  I was impressed by the Panasonic 3 CCD models, but my bottom line was the DVD format and the DVD403's 1/3 inch CCD that should give comparable video quality. I think MiniDV is a thing of the past. Although I've only had it one day, my first impression is extremely positive. Hope this helps.

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  9 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Best I Have Ever Owned Hands Down

  by jimmyleepic on July 28, 2005

  Pros: Very easy to use, amazing video and sound quality for a consumer level product, excellent still photos, vibrant colors, able to shoot in low light with ease

  Cons: lack-luster editing software and currently available DVD-R's, -RW's, and +RW's, available are only 30 min. no biggie though.

  Summary: I just had the DCR-DVD 92 and returned it to get the DCR-DVD 403. The difference is amazing. First of all, the difference in the video and sound quality is ...

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  Summary: I just had the DCR-DVD 92 and returned it to get the DCR-DVD 403. The difference is amazing. First of all, the difference in the video and sound quality is staggering. The 403 really allows you to capture all the colors and sounds of the moment. The 92 was in a word...blah. The 800x digital zoom on the 92 was nice but that's about it. It basically let me take photo and video from very far away with very poor quality. In fact, my cell phone took better still pictures than the DCR-DVD 92. In my opinion, that feature is simply a waste on that camera. It's funny that in the same family of DVD camcorders, the big brother of this line really shines. The 403 is vastly superior in all respects.
  
  Even down to simply getting a bigger battery, a remote control, and most importantly, a means to actual edit your footage or photos in your computer even though the supplied software leaves a bit to be desired. In any case, this camcorder is by and large the best I've ever owned hands down. I am sure that there will be a ton of advanced editing software available shortly that supports the mpeg2 format from this camera as well as DVD's with more storage capability. At least that's what I hope! =)

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  7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  I love new technology!

  by schnegcj on July 8, 2005

  Pros: Compact, easy to use, outstanding quality

  Cons: Options a bit cumbersome to use

  Summary: I love this new technology. I replaced an old 8mm camcorder with this new one. What a difference! This camcorder is so compact and easy to use, and the quality ...

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  Summary: I love this new technology. I replaced an old 8mm camcorder with this new one. What a difference! This camcorder is so compact and easy to use, and the quality is out of this world. I bought it at the beginning of a road trip and used it for graduation parties and amusement park trip. The colors and clarity were fantastic. Both the videos and still shots were great and I was able to easily use the mini-DVDs with my home computer for editing into an amateur production. I could not be happier with any other camcorder. I love having this unit.

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  4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  The best DVD camcorder

  by rolsin6964 on June 3, 2005

  Pros: Video resolution;Camera resolution;lens;flash;everyth ing

  Cons: Zoom;nothing else

  Summary: The DVD403 has the best video resolution for DVD camcorders that I have seen out there. Whichever model you decide to choose make sure to review the video resolution as ...

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  Summary: The DVD403 has the best video resolution for DVD camcorders that I have seen out there. Whichever model you decide to choose make sure to review the video resolution as some models do not compare. The camera works great on here and now helps me eliminate having to carry the digital camera too. I am very happy with this purchase.

  Updated
  I also forgot to mention that you can record from your tv/vcr or anything with video out for that matter right on to the mini-dvd.

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  4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  GREAT camcorder, camera, and no current rival on the market.

  by dpenny on July 28, 2005

  Pros: 3 megapixel processor, great color, ease of operation, quick playback for instant gratification, and the discs can be easily backed up and then mailed to grandma and grandpa so they can see the kidos!

  Cons: viewfinder does not tilt or pivot

  Summary: After owning one other Sony camcorder and a very nice Canon digital camera, I did not think I would be ready to part with both of them so easily, but ...

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  Summary: After owning one other Sony camcorder and a very nice Canon digital camera, I did not think I would be ready to part with both of them so easily, but I am. This really is a nice camcorder/camera. The picture quality is excellent and after a couple of weeks I am ready to give it a strong recommendation to others seeking a serious dvd camcorder. I scoured the market and did not initially want to spend this much $$$, but after doing the research and now using the product I am very glad to have made the step up to the DVD403. It was money well spent.

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  3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

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