Product Description

Records to mini DVD-R and DVD-RW * 1-megapixel CCD * 2-1/2" color LCD * 10X optical zoom * digital photo capture * USB 2.0 interface * Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar lens * Super NightShot® Plus

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6031 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Sony
• Model: DVD201
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.00 pounds
• Display size: 2.5
• Included Software: Yes

Features

• Compact DVD Handycam camcorder and 1-megapixel digital still camera records on removable 3-inch (8-centimeter) DVD-R/RW discs
• 10x optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 120x) with Super SteadyShot image stabilizer
• 2.5-inch rotating LCD and color viewfinder
• Low-light recording settings, built-in white LED light, and 1-megapixel CCD
• NP-FM50 InfoLithium rechargeable battery

From the Manufacturer
The DCR-DVD201 utilizes a 1.0 Megapixel CCD imager, delivering exceptional video and still images that all of your family and friends will enjoy. The DVD recording format delivers digital picture and sound quality comparable to that of MiniDV, but on DVD--the disc plays back in compatible DVD Players, computers and even PlayStation 2 video game consoles.

1.0 Megapixel Advanced HAD CCD Imager: 1/5" Advanced HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCD imager with 690K effective video pixels provides excellent detail and clarity, for exceptional digital video (up to 520 lines of resolution) and still image performance. Realize great looking digital still images with 1,000K effective pixels.	DVD Format Video Recording: The DVD recording format delivers digital picture and sound quality comparable to that of MiniDV, but on DVD. Playback of the DVDs couldn’t be simpler. After finalizing the disc in the camera, the disc plays back in compatible DVD Players, computers and even PlayStation 2 video game consoles.
Advanced HAD CCD Technology: Enhanced CCD design allow more light to reach the imager which reduces video noise to improve signal-to-noise ratio by up to 6dB (2x better than a standard CCD). Particularly effective when shooting in dark situations.	1.0 Megapixel Still Image Capture: With a maximum resolution of 1152 x 864, you can capture over 6,000 images on a single disc, plenty for any vacation or event.
10X Optical/120X Digital Zoom: The optical zoom helps to bring the action up close from far away. In addition, the digital zoom interpolation means that extreme digital zooming is clearer, with less distortion than previous types of digital zooms.	Professional Quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens: Carl Zeiss lens have an advanced optical multi-layer coating offering less glare and flare with increased contrast. This results in vivid image brilliance, true-to-life color saturation, and perfect renditions of subtle tones.
InfoLithium Battery with AccuPower Meter System: Charge the battery at any time because unlike NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) batteries Sony’s rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries are not subjected to a life shortening "memory effect". Sony’s exclusive AccuPower meter displays the battery time remaining in minutes, in the viewfinder or the LCD screen.	2.5" Hybrid SwivelScreen LCD Display (123K Pixels): Provides excellent viewing clarity with improved resolution. The 123K pixel LCD rotates up to 270-degrees for multiple viewing angles, providing sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback. The Hybrid LCD Screen provides accurate viewing in sunlight or bright light, virtually eliminating the "wash-out" common with traditional LCD screens.
Visual Index Screen: Shows thumbnail images of movies and still images when playing back on your camcorder or DVD player, making scene selection easier	Burst Mode: Capture up to 4 images in 1152 x 864, or 12 images at 640 x 480 consecutively, perfect for capturing fast action.
Analog Inputs: Record any analog NTSC source to digital video via the analog inputs. Perfect for archiving analog tape recordings. This recorded video can then be edited on your computer.	Dolby Digital AC-3 (2-Channel) Stereo Audio Recording: An advanced form of Digital Audio recording, with sophisticated noise reduction technology, that provides outstanding, lifelike sound quality in any situation.
Progressive Shutter System: A mechanical shutter system that provides progressive scan performance, while utilizing an interlaced scanning system. Digital images will be sharp and clear with excellent definition.	Super SteadyShot Picture Stabilization System: An advanced version of Sony’s SteadyShot system that controls an even higher range of shake and vibration frequencies, to achieve an even higher level of smoothness without degradation of video like some other image stabilization systems.
Intelligent Accessory Shoe: Conveniently gives you the option of adding accessories such as lights, flashes and microphones to the camera, which can communicate with the camera and also draw power from the camera	USB 2.02 Interface: USB 2.0 interface provides an easy way to connect your DVD Digital Handycam camcorder to computers for fast transfer of video and still images to your computer for editing. The camcorder can also be used as an external DVD burner, convenient for making copies of your DVDs or burning edited movies.
Color Viewfinder: Provides a clear, color view of subjects and makes spotting and/or following subjects easier.	Super NightShot Plus Infrared System: An advanced version of Sony’s NightShot Infrared system that allows users to record natural color images in low-light conditions, but without the blurring common with other low-light recording systems.

Customer Reviews

Convenience of DVD worth the degraded video quality?
I am a point and shoot type: Kids/parties/family stuff. No pro training or desire. I just wanted a new camcorder to video the little ones as they grew up.

I haven't bought a camcorder in 10+ years and I did a lot of research. I was ready to buy a Sony DCR TRV38, but the new DVD recorders had just come out. These are 2 different categories of camcorders, but each has its appeal. I decided to give the DVD201 a try for the convenience of direct DVD recording. I have compared the two (borrowed my parents' TRV38 for comparison) side by side. Here are my impressions:
1. Size: the DVD201 is smaller and felt good in hand. Very easy controls.

2. The DVD201 didn't have a touch screen LED. That's good for me!! Its LED screen is 2.5" versus 3.5" on the TRV38. Sony has incorporated a new technology for the LED that lets you see it in bright sunlight. This feature was EXCELLENT!! It actually worked. I never had to use the viewfinder because of screen "washout." It easily beat the TRV38 in that department. The TRV38's LED was unusable in bright sunlight.

3. Image quality: Hands-down, the TRV38 wins here. I was a bit disappointed with the DVD201. Why? Read the review of the Sony DCR-HC40 at camcorderinfo.com and you'll see that they weren't impressed with the CCD (sensor) of that camcorder (it got unsatisfactory marks for low-light quality / and video quality in general). Unfortunately, that CCD is the SAME ONE USED IN THE DVD201. In order to make the camcorder smaller, Sony had to reduce the size of the CCD to 1/5". They claim that "new technology" compensates for the smaller sensor......NOT REALLY!! The larger 1/4.7" CCD of the TRV38 shows in the quality of the video. Both have the same 690K effective pixel resolution, so what gives? Does it matter? Not really!! The bottom line is that the TRV38 provides richer, fuller, and brighter video quality than the DVD201 (for $200 less). The DVD201 video looked gray and washed-out compared to the TRV38. Maybe it's the media itself; mini-DV versus mini-DVD. Maybe it's the sensor. Maybe it's the recording format. It doesn't matter why......the video quality doesn't compare to cheaper units. [side note: the TRV38 has consistently earned very high marks for video quality and low-light ability]

4. As far as low-light ability, the TRV38 "wins" here too, but not by that much. I thought the DVD201 was comparable here with the TRV38. In low light, both videos were a bit grainy. The "Super nightshot plus" gimmicks were just that; gimmicks. The DVD201 does look better due to color being incorporated into the nightshot IR scene. Not a big deal, however.

5. Here's where the new Sony shines: The convenience of the DVD201 is unmatched. Simply pop in a mini-DVD (expensive media, however) and record away. Unfortunately, you have to "finalize" the disc before playing it in a DVD player. The manual warns that this process could take 1 minute to 2 hours?!? HUH? I have burned several so far and it never took more than 3 minutes. Here's the real kicker: Pop the finalized disc into your DVD player and watch it right now!! It's that simple. You will be enjoying your videos while everyone else with a mini-dv camcorder is still trying to hook up the darn camera to the TV with cables. THIS IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST REASON TO BUY THIS CAMCORDER..........Convenience. You don't have to download anything to your computer, compile it, burn a DVD (on the computer), and then pop it into the DVD player.

6. My kids love to watch their home videos...right now!! This camera eliminates the need to hook up anything to your TV with cables (where little hands can break an expensive camera). If you loathe the thought of taking video on a mini-DV, downloading it to the computer via hotwire, compiling/editing your obviously amateur video, re-writing it to a DVD with a DVD burner, and ONLY then get to enjoy it "effortlessly" on your TV, then the DVD201 is for you.

7. Here's the downfall, however; Not much editing ability with the DVD201. Using a DVD-R disc, you burn the DVD as you are taking the video. If you use a DVD-RW, you can download the video to the computer, erase, edit, and rewrite with it. (Apparently, the supplied editing software sucks, but I can't comment because I haven't used it). I will probably never edit much, so I don't mind. If you love to edit, think twice about this camera.

PROs: Small size, good feel, excellent LED screen, ultra convenient DVD media (can eliminate computer interface if desired), perfect if you don't care about doing much editing, excellent image stabilization, "finished product" for kids' review very quick (shoot the video, finalize disk, ready for DVD player, DONE!!), good sound quality

CONs: Video quality not as good as cheaper units (looks gray/washed-out), expensive media, sound of DVD spinning captured on tape (low "whir" audible), a bit grainy low-light performance, no wind filter, not much editing ability

HERE'S THE QUESTION TO ASK YOURSELF: Is the convenience of the DVD media worth an extra 200 bucks at the expense of video quality? I'm still debating. Don't get me wrong. The video quality is good, but not great. The DVD201 is a good point and shoot camcorder, but isn't video quality what it's all about? Maybe. Maybe not. Convenience is a huge factor for some of us. One thing is for sure; the DVD201 beats the heck out of the JVC VHS-C I'm replacing. Of course that camcorder is 10+ years old.

BOTTOM LINE: Who will buy this camcorder? People who place convenience at the top of their list of features and are willing to sacrifice some video quality to get it!!!

Hope this helps. By the way, I'm debating whether to return my DVD201 or not.

Nice camera with lots of features.
Have had this camera for a few weeks now, and I must say the image quality is impressive. We originally had a DCR-DVD200 on backorder since Christmas time, and recently found out that it was discontinued by Sony (as well as the DVD100 & 300), making way for the new DVD101 & 201. Glad I waited, for these new models are over 25% smaller than their predecessors, and hopefully Sony has addressed some of the earlier complaints customers had about the previous models, improving on the features/qualities.

Besides the sharp image quality, the stereo sound is superb (in my opinion), however the spinning noise of the disc in quiet environments can be noticable in your recordings. The "Pixela" software that comes included seems to be a little too basic, and found using the free Windows Movie Maker is much better, however you can only make VCDs with WMM. I have tried some trial versions of DVD editing software (Ulead's Videostudio and Movie Factory), but so far they don't seem to support this camera, or at least the 'Dolby Digital' audio, rendering the captured videos silent. Anyone recommend a certain program to use that works with this? Those seem to be my only complaints.

All in all, I'm quite happy with this camera, and recommend it for the ease of use and image quality.

Once you are converted you won't go back
It's just incredible convenience to be able to record directly onto a (mini) DVD, then pop the DVD into your home DVD player, and then play your video and also store it on a permanent (100+ years?) medium. No more fumbling with IEEE 1394 cables, transfering video over to VCR or (ugh!) PC, only to face a demagnetized VHS tape or crashed computer hard drive.

The convenience of using DVD-R/RW is the #1 reason why you'd buy this camcorder. It's also stylish and easy to operate, with a great shape for the (right-hande) palm. But Sony should have included a larger zoom than the 10x optical included. Considering Canon's miniDV can do 20+x zoom, Sony should improve this.

The review by Pat from Colorado is helpful but I disagree with his/her assessment of the video quality. I think the DVD201's video quality is pretty good. It's not pro-quality like the 3-CCD camcorders from Canon, but it's pretty good compared to other consumer-class miniDV camcorders. Initially I was afraid of digital artifacts on the video, but have seen none so far.

With DVD-R (much cheaper than the 3" DVD-RW, which is also hard to find) you can record only once, but you can always just copy the files to your PC and use Windows Movie Maker or Adobe Premiere or any video-editing package. I haven't tried it, though. It's just fabulous to just pop out the DVD from the camcorder, pop it into the DVD player and not worry about anything else.

Is this worth $900 while you can get a great miniDV camcorder from Canon, JVC or Panasonic for one-third of that? I can't answer this question for you. For me, the convenience alone is worth a heft premium, since I no longer pull my hair out over frustrated video-transfer attempts. I can now actually enjoy shooting AND playing back my home videos. I can now live a few years longer, I think.

NOTE: When buying blank media, be sure to buy the right format!