Video Is Looking Better Than Ever

Sony DCR-DVD403 DVD Handycam

Photograph: Marc SimonThe last time we tested camcorders, the quality of video from the DVD models didn't match the quality of that from the tape-based units. This time around, that's not the case: In our tests, the Sony DCR-DVD403 had the best overall quality, with strong, bright colors and smooth movement in both indoor and outdoor lighting. And the unit's zoom, photo, and record buttons fall comfortably under the fingers of the right hand.

You access most of the controls through the LCD's touch-sensitive screen. This minimizes the number of camera buttons, but it also means that you can't access these controls if you're using the viewfinder instead of the LCD. And some of the controls are buried a little deep: To change the recording-quality mode, for instance, you must press buttons in the on-screen menu seven times. A nice detail, however, is that the zoom and record buttons are duplicated on the edge of the screen.

The built-in microphone can record Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, which adds a lot to the viewing experience. The camera took video with clear, bright audio; good separation; and a strong surround-sound feel that would be great for, say, shooting video on a roller coaster. However, like most camcorders where the microphone is located on top, it didn't pick up voices well from a distance.

This Sony comes with two modes for shooting in near darkness: NightShot, which slows down the shutter speed, and Super NightShot, which switches on an infrared LED below the lens. Unlike the other camcorders we reviewed for this story, the DCR-DVD403 doesn't save still images to a memory card; instead, it writes JPEG files to a DVD. Its images were well exposed and had good color and reasonable detail. They would look fine up to a print size of 4 by 6 inches.

Although we liked many things about the DCR-DVD403, it has the inherent problems of most DVD camcorders: You must finalize the disc (so it can't record further) before playing it back in a set-top DVD player (the process can take up to 15 minutes); and at the unit's highest quality setting, you can squeeze only 20 minutes of video onto a DVD. The camera captures video as MPEG-2 files, which most video editing software can't open; to cut undesirable footage, you must use Sony's basic editing program, Picture Package.