Sony DCR DVD403 DVD Camcorder Reviews

The Sony DCR-DVD403 camcorder is special. Special in a way that’s new and innovative – rather than cute and harmless -- special in a way that’ll not only make you want to buy it, but also show it off to anyone who’ll look and listen.

What’s so special about it? Well, for one, the DCR-DVD403 records footage and pictures directly unto a DVD – meaning, no more memory cards, no more uploading pictures unto the computer and then spending the time to burn them unto a DVD – this camcorder makes your footage ready to show as soon as the last minute of DVD is up.

Secondly – a 4ch microphone that records Dolby 5.1ch surround sound is built-in to the camera – meaning muffled, badly-recorded and often too-quiet sound will now sound, while not professional, a whole, whole lot better than any other home camcorder microphone.


Besides these two features – which are really the main selling points – the DCR-DVD403 is a 3-mp CCD camcorder and uses the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens and the 3.3M gross pixel capture to not only shoot high-resolution footage, but also to take up to 1,800 pictures with the camcorder’s 3,050 effective pixels.

Furthermore, the camera’s 2.7-inch, 16:9 LCD is a touchscreen – meaning, no more buttons; it’s all on the screen, baby.

But wait – here’s a few more things to feed your feature hungry: A Super SteadyShot mode controls shake and vibration frequencies, a Super NightShot mode amazingly lets you see in the dark – in color. A manual focus lets you do what you want – while an intelligent auto-exposure program helps you do all the rest. Finally, using an optional NP-FP90 battery pack, users will be able to record up to five hours on a fully charged battery.

Are you sold yet? We are. The camera, for a home camcorder, looks fantastic. It’s light, easy to use, and has more features than you can get your hands on. The photo mode takes truly good (if not great) pictures – eliminating the need for a digital camera. All this makes the DCR-DVD403 one of the few things in this world that’s truly worth its price.

So, what’re its downfalls? Well, for one, the PC Picture Package CD that comes with the camcorder is flawed – mostly in the transfer-movies-to-PC area, where a lot of users experienced problems. It’s not a horrible problem – but could get frustrating. Secondly, users should remember that this is a home camcorder, not, by any means, a professional film camera. The image quality is good, but you won’t be making your big feature-film on this (for that, look into the DVX100 by Panasonic, or the newer HVX) – and a similar problem lies with the microphone. It’s good, when compared to other camcorder microphones, but it’s no directional microphone of the movies – and if you’re in a windy place, prepare to hear more wind than voice.

Still, these are minor problems when it comes down to the sheer amount of features this camcorder has. Easy to use, technologically-forward, and just plain cool, the DCR-DVD403 should be at the top of your list when in search of a home camcorder or even a digital camera.

Things That Make It Special:

* Uses a 2.7-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio touchscreen LCD.
* Uses Dolby digital 5.1 audio recording.
* 1/6-inch CCD imager
* 3.3-megapixel resolution.
* Compatible with DVD-R/-RW/+RW formats.
* 10x optical zoom w/ digital image stabilization.
* Won’t get you into Sundance – but will make you think you can get into Sundance.