Sony DCR-DVD101 Handycam DVD Camcorder - High Price, Poor Performance
Written: Jan 06 '05 (Updated Sep 01 '05)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Battery Life:
Movie Quality:
Pros: Easy to use, compact, features, USB2.0 (but no FireWire), good controls, battery
Cons: Price, poor digital stills, noise in low light, slow DVD operation
The Bottom Line: I don't quite understand why somebody would pick the DVD-based camcorder over the tape one. Yes, the discs look shiny and more high-tech than tape. Yes...
dkozin's Full Review: Sony Handycam® DCR-DVD101 Camcorder
I have received the Sony DCR-DVD101 mini-DVD camcorder as a New Year's gift. If the gift givers read this review, I would like to thank them for such a nice gift. As any gift, this one is appreciated, despite some of its flaws.
The DVD101 is a camcorder that records to min-DVD discs (write-once DVD-R or rewriteable DVD-RW) instead of the more conventional MiniDV or Digital8 tapes. This approach is quite different for several reasons.
You can see the photo of this camcorder that I took as well as sample digital still pictures taken with DVD101 at
(you can copy and paste the address above into your browser's address bar).
Mini-DVD vs. MiniDV or Digital8
One Mini-DVD disc can store 1.4Gb of information, which lets you record 20 minutes in HQ (best quality) mode, 30 minutes in SP (standard quality) or 60 minutes in LP mode. The video is recorded in the same format as commercially-produced DVDs - using MPEG-2 encoding with sound being 2-channel Dolby Digital.
MiniDV or Digital8 tapes can fit 60-80 minutes of video in SP mode or 50% more in LP mode (with virtually no loss of quality). Video is recorded using DV encoding (significantly less compression and thus better quality than MPEG-2).
Both formats have pros and cons. The tapes fit more and at better recording quality, they cost less. Mini-DVD can be played back on a regular DVD player, needs no rewinding, lets you jump to the segment you want.
The DVD101 comes with one write-once Mini-DVD-R. I have seen a pack of 12 Mini-DVD-R at my local Sam's Club selling for $24 (about $2 a piece). Since I wanted to try a DVD-RW, I got a Sony Mini-DVD-RW (1x-2x speed) disc for $8.
Overall
The DVD101 features advanced multi-coated Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optics with 10x optical zoom (43-430mm in 35mm equivalent), a 680,000-pixel 1/6-inch CCD (with 680,000pixels, out of which 340,000 are active), a 2.5-inch color LCD screen and a color viewfinder, stereo microphone, digital photo mode with 640x480 resolution, Super SteadyShot picture stabilization.
The camcorder features auto white balance or lets you perform manual white balance adjustment. Also, you can turn off the auto focus and adjust the focus manually, using the joystick on the side of the camcorder, above the LCD.
You can even make copies of your discs using a computer. You first use your computer to read the source disc, then you insert the blank disk in the camcorder and let your computer write to it. In essence, you can use your camcorder as a DVD writer. The camcorder has a fast USB 2.0 interface for computer connectivity.
There is no FireWire (i.Link) interface, just high-speed USB 2.0. You can use USB to transfer stills and video or you can finalize the DVD and put it in your computer.
The camcorder is compact and nice-looking. I am not impressed with the craftsmanship, however. Both the LCD and the disc compartment lid do not close tightly, leaving some space. It is not too big of a deal, but I would expect better in a $700 camcorder.
The controls have good tactile feel and are sturdy. The ergonomics are good.
Comparison with Sony MiniDV Camcorders
Unlike its MiniDV cousins from the Sony lineup (Sony DCR-HC20, HC30 and HC40), the DVD101 has buttons underneath the LCD screen, although they are of the cheap kind. Unlike Sony’s MiniDV camcorders, the viewfinder tilts (in HC camcorders the viewfinder only telescopes, which is not good) in addition to telescoping.
Similar to Sony MiniDV camcorders, the DVD101’s LCD has an additional Record Start/Stop button next to it as well as an LCD backlight button to turn the screen backlight on and off.
The optics and CCD sensor are similar to the ones used in Sony HC20 and HC30. The zoom rocker feels more sturdy than that on the HC30 and lets you control the zoom speed with more precision.
The DVD101 has conventional menu system, controlled by the buttons and the small shiny joystick on the side of the camcorder (unlike the HC20 and HC30, which use touch-screen control). The menus are very easy to navigate and the camcorder overall is very easy to use. I was able to use it after reading only several pages of the manual.
The camcorder comes with a remote (and battery for it), carry strap, lens cap with a string, one mini DVD-R disc, a USB cable, an A/V cable, disc with software, power adaptor and power cord, manuals.
The lens cap is pretty small and I wonder why there is no integrated lens lid instead.
I will talk more about the camcorder’s performance, but will make more comparisons with Sony MiniDV camcorders.
Performance
The camcorder comes with one mini DVD-R (write-once) disc. I have also used a, purchased separately, mini DVD-RW (rewriteable) disc. The DVD-R and DVD-RW discs can be used in the “Video” mode. In this mode, after the disc is “finalized”, you can play it on a DVD player or in a DVD-ROM drive.
The DVD-RW disc can also be used in VR mode. In this mode, you can edit your movie, create playlists, etc. VR mode is ot as compatible with DVD players as Video mode.
The camcorder comes with a Li-Ion battery that charges pretty quickly. I was able to use the camcorder after charging the battery for only 30 minutes (not a full charge, but it let me use the camcorder for more than half hour). The battery is being charged by the camera – the battery is always attached to the camera and the power adaptor plugs into the camera. You can see the battery remaining power in minutes at any time.
The fresh disc you insert has to be formatted by the camcorder first. This is annoying to someone who have used camcorders before (tapes require no formatting). The formatting is relatively quick, at least comparing to finalizing a disc though. I will get to that later.
The disc insertion and removal is a bit slow and cumbersome. You have to move the hand strap away from the disc lid, open the lid and put the disc on the spindle and push it down pretty forcefully. After the lid is closed, the disc spins up and the camcorder offers you to format it (if new) or the camcorder reads it (a pretty slow process, I estimate about 10 seconds). During this time, you cannot shoot. This is unlike tape-based camcorders, where after a couple of seconds you are ready to shoot.
After you are done with the disc and want to finalize it to be viewable on a DVD player, you have to wait for the finalization process to finish. After I recorded a couple of minutes of video and a handful of still pictures, I had to wait whole 10 minutes for my DVD-RW to finalize!
To record on the finalized disc (DVD-RW only), you can unfinalize it (took 2 minutes in my case). Or, if you don’t’ care for the contents already recorded, you can format it anew.
While the camcorder formats or finalizes the disc, you see a warning that you should avoid camcorder vibrations. This is pretty annoying.
I have to mention that if you just want to remove the disc and replace, you can do it without finalizing, but it takes several seconds for the disc to stop spinning and for the lid to open. The disc is also not very easy to remove – you lift the edge of it with your finger and have to apply as much force to it to make it snap out of the spindle that it makes the disc bend slightly.
You can select between three speeds/quality modes: HQ, SP and LP. They fit approximately 20, 30 and 60 minutes on one disc respectively. I say approximately, because it depends on the material you shoot. Static images conserve space whereas scenes with fast motion require more space and reduce the recording time.
I wasn’t able to see much difference between HQ and SP modes. The LP mode was noticeably worse.
The video quality of the recording was decent in good light, but noticeably noisy indoors, and in darker scenes. Not only did this camcorder overcompensate for the darkness by increasing the exposure, the colors seemed to be less vivid in the darker scenes as well and the noise was visible even on the LCD let alone on the computer screen. The white walls of my apartment developed yellow streaks and the yellowish lid of the jar with the tiger balm started flickering blue.
The noise was present despite the best Sony's marketing efforts (boasting about Advanced HAD CCD and such). The camcorder is rated at 5Lux at F1.7, which is much worse than my old Digital8 Sony DCR-TRV120 (1Lux at F1.6). For the record, the old Sony DCR-TRV120 had an 1/4-inch CCD with 460,000 pixels (290,000 of which were active) and produced better picture quality in dim light and, seems like, overall. I bought it more than 4 years ago for less than $600.
Now, back to the DVD101.
Pushing the “Exposure” button and moving the joystick to adjust the exposure down helps with noise and makes the image more realistic in the darkness. But to an extent.
The same was the case with digital still pictures. The camcorder can take them at 640x480 (VGA) resolution and store them on the DVD (no memory card slot is provided). The picture storage takes a couple seconds and the pictures can be included in your movie. But the picture quality is pretty bad, even for 640x480 resolution. There is the video noise mentioned above and the diagonal lines looked jagged when viewed on the computer monitor. The looked OK when viewed on my DVD player, but the sharpness was poor and there was visible overly-aggressive edge sharpening.
You can see the sample digital still pictures taken with DVD101 by me at
(you can copy and paste the address above into your browser's address bar).
The auto focus worked well and the “Focus” button let me switch to manual focus. The manual focus is not via a ring, but rather by sing the joystick. The manual focusing was fast and easy, but it was a bit too fast – it is easy to focus on “infinity”, but also easy to overshoot your focusing point overwise.
So there you have it. A famed name in optics (Carl Zeiss) and impressive numbers and technology do not good image quality make. The CCD is noisy in low light (video) and is not suitable for decent still pictures otherwise.
Also, the built-in stereo microphone picks up the slight whirring sound of the disc spinning (proud Dolby Digital inscription notwithstanding).
The LCD is great - fluid and is highly visible as is the color viewfinder. The Viewfinder has diopter adjustment. The camcorder has a tripod mount and features highly effective image stabilization.
The mode selector switch has good feel to it and requires just enough effort. The A/V/S-Video outs as well as the external microphone input are located under a lid in front of the camcorder, just above the microphone. The high-speed USB 2.0 port is in the back. There is no FireWire (i.Link) connectivity. The thinking probably was that there is no need for it as far as the USB 2.0 is present and you can use the DVD to transfer data to your computer.
Speaking of computers, you will need the supplied software (at least the USB driver). My computer recognized the camcorder as a removable DVD drive, but couldn’t read from it until the software was installed.
Bottom Line
I don’t quite understand why somebody would pick the DVD-based camcorder over the tape one. Yes, the discs look shiny and more high-tech than tape. Yes, you don’t have to rewind them and look for the segment you want. And yes, you can play them in your DVD player or DVD-ROM drive. But the mini-DVD holds only 20-30 minutes in good quality setting, the discs require formatting and finalizing and spin-up and slow-down periods are slowing you down.
In addition to general cons of the mini-DVD technology, this particular camcorder has its own flaws. Low light video noise and poor digital still performance make it a poor choice for many.
On the flipside, this camcorder is easy to use, compact, has good ergonomics and lets you produce discs immediately playable in virtually any DVD player. If you still want a DVD camcorder, mostly plan to shoot in bright light and don't care about digital stills, this camcorder may be worth getting.
Compact DVD Handycam camcorder records on removable 3-inch (8cm) DVD-R//RW discs 10x optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 120x) with Super SteadyShot im...More at Amazon Marketplace
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