The DVD405 is Sony’s direct follow-up to the popular DVD403. Sony did offer a new top model, the DVD505, this year, which uses a CMOS sensor. The DVD405 uses the same 1/3” CCD as last year, but the imaging system seems to have undergone some changes for the better.
The DVD405’s sensor offers 3.31 gross MP, an impressive imager that gave very good video in bright light. It had much more accurate color than last year. The DVD505, which costs $200 more than the DVD405, looked nearly identical. Neither camcorder did very well with curved and horizontal lines, which showed “stair-stepping.” This may be the result of too much sharpening or the high compression rate of DVD.
Low light performance was very good, thanks to the large imager. Brightness decreased only slightly, and the colors were very good. Noise increased, naturally, though it was a fine grain noise.
Using the DVD405 is easy, and a great camcorder for beginners. A large Easy button on the side of the body sets the camcorder in full auto mode, which is great (like on all Sonys). Auto responses are quick and accurate. Those inclined could restrict themselves to point and shoot operation for the life of the camcorder with no problems. This is the strength of a Sony.
More experienced users might find this too restrictive. The menu system is a “user-friendly” touch screen LCD. While simple to operate, it is not a speedy system by any means. Also, the screen is prone to picking up fingerprints and grease, smudging the very device you are using to gauge picture quality. We much prefer a joystick.
Handycam DCR-DVD405 DVD Digital Camcorder
Still features on the DVD405 are good. It can record JPEGs to MemoryStick Duo and MemoryStick Pro Duo cards at sizes up to 2016 x 1512 (3MP) in 4:3 aspect ratio and 2016 x 1134 (2.3MP) in 16:9 aspect ratio. No MemoryStick comes included. There is a flash, burst mode, and bracketing mode. The stills were extremely sharp, but the colors appeared flat.
Like the DVD505, the 405 offers 5.1 channel Dolby Surround Sound. We are not dismissing that this is technically true. However, preliminary tests by our staff indicate that the sound is far from what most people would expect from surround sound. There was very little difference in the information between channels. Just so you know, this is not Hollywood sound.
If you were forced to choose between the DVD405 and DVD505, the 405 is probably the better choice. There were not enough differences between them to warrant the $200 increase. But the Panasonic VDR-D300 tops them both, with better performance and much better manual control. However, we recognize that ease of use is the top concern for many users, so we recommend checking both of them out before you make a decision.
