Sony DCR-DVD205 1MP DVD Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Zoom

My husband has been after me for quite some time to purchase the sony DVD Handycam. Neither one of us likes to fool around with transferring of tapes. We both love just finalizing the disc, then popping it into the DVD recorder. It is sooooooooo user friendly, and the touch screen is amazing. So far the greatest feature is the night lighting/ dim lighting feature. That has been great for our sons' later football games. It makes it look like you are shooting in the day light. GREAT PURCHASE. As always Sony lives up to it reputation.

First of all, I am not a expert when it comes to camcorders. I am a mom with two adorable children that I chase after 24-7. In my opinion this is a wonderful camcorder for the price. I recently bought it to replace a Samsung that was dropped and broken. I did a lot of research on Camcorders before choosing this one and one thing I learned is that most of the bad reviews given to lower model cameras come from people who are what I call ametuer professionals, who should be looking at buying more expensive cameras than this one. Anyway, things I like about this camera include has easy it is to transfer it to regular 8 inch dvd. Just pop it into your computer and use the nero software. Second I love that it takes snapshots. Sure with this model they are only 1 mega pixel but most of us have another camera for taking pictures with anyway. If you want one to do both I would highly reccomend the Sony 405 that takes 4 mega pixel pictures. I also love the optical zoom, although I do wish it would zoom further. All in all this camera is an excellent choice for busy parents who are not trying to make motion picture films. A really great and handy camcorder.

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I replaced a Sony Hi-8 camcorder with the Sony DCR DVD-205. The old Sony had a x20 optical zoom, and the new Sony only has x12. I was told you get less zoom with a higher quality lenses, but if the video image is noisy and grainy due to the CCD sensor, video circuitry, and/or low light conditions, that super high quality lenses is useless. I'd rather have the x30 lenses of JVC or Panasonic.

The nightshot on the old camcorder lit up the room with infra-red. It also had a built in light, which was great. Using the light, scenes were bright and in color. On the DCR DVD-205, the nightshot is a weak small spotlight, and as a result the picture is a black and white, somewhat noisy grainy image. Other brand camcorders have a build in lights which give you color, including JVC, Canon, Hitachi, and Panasonic. I'm convinced you need a bright light, and I'm willing to trade battery life for higher quality images.

Probably one advantage for infra-red is you can't see it, but I am looking for good scenes with high quality color images, and nightshot doesn't do that. Sony's super nightshot plus slows down the shutter, so you get a blurry slowly changing image.

A big MINUS for Sony, and PLUS for Panasonic, JVC, Canon, and Hitachi -When you rotate the LCD display 180 degrees on the old Sony Hi-8 Camcorder, the viewfinder remains on. The kids see themselves on the LCD, they giggle and jump around and play while I frame the shot in the viewfinder, and get great scenes. On the new Sony DCR DVD-105, 205, 305, 405, and 505, the viewfinder turns off. Panasonic, JVC, Canon, and Hitachi leave their viewfinder on, so if you want great images of small kids, don't get the Sony Sony totally missed the boat removing this feature, probably to save power I'd rather have an option to off the viewfinder if the LCD is rotated 180 degrees, rather than Sony forcing it off. Based on the lack of a built in light and removal of the viewfinder when the LCD is rotated 180 degrees, I decided to return the camcorder, and I feel good about doing that, because these basic features make the video better and should be in the Sony product.

The get to the fader, you have to go through menus, which is a poor design, those should be buttons on the device, as should the volume controls. The zoom buttons on the LCD display are slow speed and basically useless, the zoom control over the viewfinder is the one to use.

I like the touchscreen, however you have to use it for all menu functions, so it gets smudges quickly. Once the touchscreen breaks, the Camcorder will need to be thrown away.

I recorded with DVD R-W in VR mode so I could do some editing in the Camcorder. I finalized the disc but can't view it in my DVD player, and now it won't unfinalize. I'll need to buy a DVD Recorder on my computer and copy to a DVD-R before I can recover the video.

Sony was too cheap to include an S-VIDEO cable, but viewing on the camcorder screen or over the analog AV cable, all indoor shots (day or night using Nightshot) are viewable but noisy and grainy.

In Summary:

PLUS: Nightshot (infra-red light), although its too weak, doesn't disturb anyone at night.

MINUS: No build in visable spectrum light

MINUS: Viewfinder shuts off when LCD display opens (major flaw for family videos)

PLUS: Can use AC power with the battery installed, true also with JVC and Canon. Panasonic and Hitachi don't allow AC power with the battery plugged in, this is a big minus for Panasonic and Hitachi.

Video Quality Indoors Poor but viewable, Outdoors same as all the others.

Research is still needed to see if Sony really does have the best low light performance the only comparison that counts is how the camcorder works with each brand's built in light provided.

I'm still looking for a good camcorder for family shooting!

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I am still somewhat in awe of the accelerating technology which puts such a potent camera in one's hand. It does everything that one can hope for or expect, just select the 'easy' mode and point and shoot...and voila! How can it be so easy? Videos permantly on DVD easy to play on any computer or player also easy to copy to regular sized DVD's and sent to friends or whomever. A great buy, user friendly consistantly delivering a quality product.

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I am happy with the quality of the video of the Sony DVD Handycam. It is easy to use and basiclly easy to record to a regular DVD. I wish the picture taking capability involved a memory stick. This is easier.