| | |  | Point-and-shoot Digital Cameras | Home » » » » Sony DCR-DVD403 3MP DVD Handycam Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom | | | | | | | Description: | | Now you can make videos that sound as great as they look. The first 3-megapixel CCD model camcorder in Sony's DVD Handycam history, the DCR-DVD403 provides both high-resolution images and high-quality surround sound. The famous Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens and 3.3M gross pixels capture high-definition DVD digital movies. Or go the DSC (digital still camera) route and let the camcorder's 3,050K effective pixels give you up to 1,800 pictures on a single DVD. The built-in 4ch microphone records Dolby 5.1ch surround sound directly onto the disc, making those moments to remember ones you'll truly never forget--especially after you add background music and special effects, which come with the Picture Package of video-editing software. | | | Features: | |
• 1/6-inch CCD imager with 3.3-megapixel resolution
• Compatible with DVD-R/-RW/+RW formats
• 10x optical zoom with digital image stabilization
• 2.7-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio LCD
• Dolby digital 5.1 audio recording
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 5.2 inches | | Product Width:
| 3.7 inches | | Product Height:
| 2.4 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.37 pounds | | Package Length:
| 10.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 8.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 3.5 inches | | Package Weight:
| 2.0 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 99 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 99 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
269 of 276 found the following review helpful:
 Love itMar 31, 2005
By S. George
This is the first camcorder I've purchased and I intentionally held off until a good DVD camcorder was available. The dcr-dvd403 is worth the wait.
Video quality is outstanding; I'm recording everything in 16:9 with the highest quality possible (the camcorder records in low, medium and high quality yielding 1 hour, 30 minutes or 20 minutes of recording time per dvd) and surround sound. The camera picture quality is good but not exceptional.
I've heard of horrible startup times in previous DVD camcorders and am happy to say that after you turn this on you only have to wait a few seconds to start recording. With DVD media, you do need to format the disc one time, which takes about 20 seconds, but that is a one time cost. You also need to finalize DVD-R or DVD-RW media (you don't need to finalize DVD+RW). The cool thing with DVD-RW is that you can unfinalize it and keep recording.
There are a few things on this camcorder that really stand out:
- Super quick startup
- When you take pictures they are stored on the DVD instead of a memory stick. You can record video and pictures on the same DVD.
- The night shot mode is really cool, let's you see in the dark
- The touch screen is really cool, much better than having a million buttons on the camcorder.
- 16:9 support and 5.1 surround sound is really cool.
172 of 176 found the following review helpful:
 My Dream CamcorderApr 14, 2005
By It's Just Me
I have been interested in buying a DVD camcorder for a while, but was held back by the reports of bad performance. I even tired one, the Panasonic M50 but returned it to the store after few days because of awful performance, bad colors, resolution, dark picture in the middle of a sunny day.
And then I was browsing for a replacement for the M50, and I saw the priliminary reports for the 403, no reviews were present but the specifications were very promising, about 10 times the resolution for the M50 and 3 times the resolution of the best DVD camcorder out there, flash for stills, cool lens, dolby digital sound, together with the small size and the convenience of the DVD camcorders. I saw that all the issues that were held against Sony DVD camcorders in reviews were addressed in this one. So, I decided to buy it, and I LOVE IT. Everything that I wanted in a camcorder is there, great colors, great sound, great resolution, great picutre on a 52 inch TV, great stills, the flash makes them come to life and the resolution is very good, comparable quality to the stills produced by my Canon S410, and you can record stills and videos on the same DVD, and watch both on your DVD player. And it is sooo easy to use, I finished my first DVD-R before even I went through 1/4 of the catalogue, buttons are intuitive and convenient. I agree with the previous reviewer about the finger prints on the screen from using it to make adjustments, but when the screen is on you do not see them at all. And imagine how proud I was about my purchase infront of my husband and kids, when I was able to pop the finalized DVD into our DVD player few minutes after I just finished recording.
I was researching DVD camcorders for few months before I bought this one, and the bottom line is, if money is not an issue for you, then consider this one, if you compare the specifications, this camcorder is in a category of it's own compared to any other DVD camcorder out there. I am in love with it, and I have been shopping for accessories for it already. It is worth every penny I paid.
71 of 71 found the following review helpful:
You CAN move the video from the little DVD to a big oneDec 08, 2005
By New Jersey Mom
A lot of people writing reviews here seem to think that they're stuck buying expensive small cancorder-size DVD's ($20 for 3) and filling them up with 20 minutes each of high quality video.
For a few minutes extra work you can put your files on your computer and then, when you have enough files to make it worth while, create a new "big DVD." Then you can just reformat your little disk and keep using it in your camera to take more video.
To do this,you must have a DVD drive on your computer. If you don't have one, invest a few bucks in getting an external one.
Also, be sure you record in DVD-RW Video (not VR) mode.
1. First use Picture Package (comes with the camera) to copy/convert the video from your little camcorder DVD-RW disk onto your hard drive in the form of individual .mpg files (You can do this by connecting your camera to your computer via the USP port, or, much more easily, just put the mini disk from the camera right into your DVD drive. )
2. Reformat your mini camcorder disk (which erases all the images) and keep on recording more video.
3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 until you have enough .mpg files on your hard drive to fill a large DVD.
4. Get a piece of software called TIMPGEnc DVD Author 1.6. You can get a free 30 day trial at http://www.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/guide.html
3. Using the Author 1.6 software, first convert all the .mpg files you select into DVD files (which will be stored on your hard drive), then, put a new (big) DVD in your DVD drive and, with one more click, burn the DVD files from your hard drive onto your DVD.
Took me only a few minutes of fooling around with the software to figure out how to do this. (And I'm no computer wizard.)
Now if there was an easy way to stream this stuff over the net, it'd be as useful as my still camera!
60 of 60 found the following review helpful:
If you have a computer with a DVD-RW burner GET THIS CAMCORDEROct 26, 2005
By dvdfan
I have been using the DCR-DVD403 a lot since I got it and have been using $5 mini-DVD-RW disks. When you put the disk in for the first time the camera asks if you want to format in regular mode or "VR" mode. The VR mode let's you edit the disk in the camera so that's what I use, but I was worried that I would have to finalize the disk in the camera before being able to read the video files on my computer. NOT SO! My $70 aOpen DVD-R/RW drive in my computer reads the disks with no problem and I copied the .VRO files to my hard drive very quickly. I rename the .VRO extension to .MPG and the PowerDVD software that came with the aOpen drive displays my videos beautifully on the computer. The Nero disk burning software (also came with the aOpen drive) lets me compose my video files onto regular-sized (4.7GB 2 hour) disks and they are ready to give to friends and family! What used to take hours with my previous miniDV tape-based camcorder now takes only minutes. It's so nice not to have to capture footage onto the computer before I can use it.
When I don't want to mess around at all with the computer I just use the mini-DVD-R disks, finalize them, and pop them right into my DVD player when I want to watch them.
Besides the ease of use with my computer, the best things about this camera are:
The 3 megapixel camera results in fantastic MPEG videos and also great still images (saved in the mini-DVD disks as JPG files.) I can finally stop carrying both a camcorder AND digital camera because the DCR-DVD403's still images give me the image size and resolution that I want and the camera even has a flash for still images.
VR mode with the mini-DVD-RW disks let's me "on-the-fly" delete scenes I don't want. I couldn't do that with my mini-DV tape camcorder.
The viewfinder is great when I am recording something in very bright light (like at the beach) and I don't want to struggle with the LCD display. Just don't forget to extend the viewfinder when you use it or else the battery presses against your cheek too much. Also, you have to close the LCD for the viewfinder to turn on.
16x9 mode let's me create "movie-style" videos. I tested these on my friend's widescreen plasma TV and they fill up the whole screen without stretching and they look awesome on the huge TV screen!
The included Video-IN cable lets me connect my old camcorder to the new one to transfer my mini-DV tapes to mini-DVD. This is so much easier than using the computer and a capture card.
The sound is fantastic, especially when I heard it on my friends surround sound system while watching the videos on his plasma TV.
Low light shots are very good.
Accessories I plan on buying soon:
A charger that let's me charge my batteries outside of the camera.
Telescoping microphone for even more professional audio.
Wide angle lens adapter and various lens filters.
Sony also offers a video light that attaches to the top of the camera. The low light capabilities of the camera are great by itself but it will be nice to have greater control of lighting. The HVL-HFL1 video light also has a more powerful still image flash than the one that is on the camera.
42 of 43 found the following review helpful:
Excellent hardware-- mediocre softwareMay 01, 2005
By R. Remington
From a hardware standpoint this camcorder is excellent. Picture quality under a variety of lighting conditions including dim lighting is excellent. The quality of the still photos is also excellent-- I haven't used my digital still camera since I bought it. The only letdown is the very mediocre software package that comes with it. I'm surprised a quality company like Sony would bundle a $1000 high end camera with budget software. It's workable but don'w expect much more than very basic functionality.
This is the first miniDVD camcorder that has worked it out in terms of ease of use, reliability, and picture quality. Sure, in 2-5 years we will all be using blu-ray digital cameras that will hold 2 hours of HD video on 1 disk, making the paltry 21 minutes of high quality video (1 hour on low quality setting or 30 minutes on normal quality)seem quaint, but until then this one is it.
UPDATE-- I've have the camera a couple of weeks now. I'm feeling better about the bundled software--it turns out a lot of the bugs that I initially experienced using the software were due to codec issues and not the software itself. I actually find the software, although basic in it's features, pretty useful and stable. For those who want to edit their videos more extensively, Windows Movie Maker is free from Microsoft and handles the MPEG2 video format used by this camera very well.
The camera itself is a joy to use. I have found that 21 minutes of high quality video per disc is not as restrictive as I once thought-- having the power to edit my videos (ie cut out the garbage)makes that 21 minutes go a long way. And the media itself is not expensive-- I just bought 20 miniDVD-Rs online for $20.
Overall, a great choice--it gives me the option to burn my video right away and watch it on my DVD player at home, or if I feel like it I can download it to my computer and edit it and then burn it and watch it. Either way, a winner.
See all 99 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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