Sony DCR-DVD404E review

DVD camcorders have a number of advantages over the more common MiniDV models.

For starters there's no tape rewinding or tedious real-time video capturing to be done. What's more, you can simply pop the disc into a compatible DVD player and watch your video straight away.

Sony's DCR-DVD404E is compatible with DVD-R/RW and DVD+RW formats. Discs hold just 30 minutes of high-quality footage, though, so stick to MiniDV if you intend to record long events.

Still pictures can be saved to a Memory Stick Duo card or straight to the DVD itself, which we found particularly convenient as we could store stills and video from the same event.

The DCR-DVD404E has well-positioned and responsive controls, so it's very easy to operate. If you don't want much interaction at all, Sony's easy mode is brilliant as it automates everything and even simplifies and enlarges the information that appears on the display.

The 2.7" widescreen LCD screen has a respectable resolution of over 100,000 pixels and looks bright and accurate. It's also a touch screen and provides access to all the menu options. This is great for novices, as it keeps the number of buttons on the camcorder to a minimum. Those who like to tinker may find it a bit tiring, though, and fingerprints on the screen can be a problem.

Inside the camera is a big 1/3" CCD with a total of 3.3 megapixels. This large sensor provides great overall image quality, with little noise even in dull lighting conditions. In fine weather it produced bright colours and some impressive detail. It can't match budget three-CCD models in good conditions, but it produces better video under more challenging circumstances. It also has an IR mode for shooting in complete darkness.

The camera shoots widescreen video but, like many camcorders, it crops the top and bottom of the image slightly to create a 16:9-ratio image.

We were rather impressed by the stills it took. Flesh tones were accurately rendered, detail was fair and there was little noise. It's easily good enough for smaller prints and saves you having to carry both a camera and a camcorder with you.

Audio quality was also good, with clear voices and no audible sounds from the camcorder itself. The microphone can record in Dolby Digital surround sound, but when we played back the results we could discern little positional audio.

This is a great camcorder that also takes decent stills. You get better video quality for less money from a MiniDV camcorder, but if convenience is a priority, the DCR-DVD404 is ideal.