Sony's DV Flagship, and well worth it.
Written: Aug 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great CCD's, Sharp clear image, lightweight
Cons: No removable lenses
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| flindingo's Full Review: Sony DCR-VX2000 Mini DV Camcorder |
Sony is top of the game when it comes to consumer camcorders, but how about pro-sumer? Well the DCR-VX2000 shows exactly what Sony's got. This is the best of the best of Sony's DCR series. The big question that comes up with the Sony VX2000 is "which to I buy the VX2000 or the Canon XL1". Well in my opinion the VX2000 is much better to be compared to the GL1, a step down from the XL1. The only choice really to pick up the XL1 is if you are planning on using the changeable lenses, if not then the VX2000 or the GL1 are your best picks.
Sony as usual has loaded the VX2000 with some great features. This camera has progressive scan HAD 3CCD pickups. (A bunch of techno-babble, but basically meaning it has great CCD pickups, some of the best on the market.) A CCD is what is used to pick up color light and convert it to electrical pulses, most low-end cameras have 1 CCD that handle all three colors (RGB = Red Green Blue), however higher end cameras have 3CCD one for each color, which means a much richer and brighter image. The progressive scan means that it is continuously scanning the incoming images, instead of working in bursts. And that means you get one great looking image.
The resolution of the VX2000 is 530 Horizontal lines. One thing to note is every DV camera is not equal, even though the DV standard has the same resolution, not all record it. For example D8 usually gets around 440 lines of resolution due to cheaper lenses and lower quality CCD pickups. The VX2000 gets the best resolution next to the GL1 and XL1, which all come out about equal.
The plusses of the VX2000 over the XL1 is it's weight it's about 1/3 the weight of the XL1 and is easy to tote around and hold up for long shoots. (However you should use a tripod when possible!).
The bonus features on this camcorder include still image capture, (640x480, not great to print out, but good for online photographs). It has 12x Optical Zoom, and 48x Digital Zoom (which actually works pretty well because it's not going for 100x+ zoom, it looks rather good due to the high quality CCD's, and lens).
The lens on the VX2000 is bigger than the Digital 8 or lower end DV models, it's a 58mm compared to 37mm of consumer models. The larger lense helps the CCD's and image pickup to produce a much sharper and clearer picture. Included is a 2.5 inch LCD monitor, plus a color viewfinder.
There are other digital effects, and what not but aren't terribly important for they're found on every model. The low-lux shooting is great on all Sony models, and the inclusion of white balance is great (one feature sorely missed on Digital 8 camcorders).
The built on Microphone works very very well, much better than the terrible Digital 8 models which pick up the noisy internal motor of the camera.
I highly recommend this for video producers, and pro-sumers. I do recommend that some comparison be done with the VX2000 the Canon GL1 and XL1 to see which suits you the best. All are great cameras, and this is Sony's best camcorder under $20,000.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
flindingo
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Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 120
Trusted by: 35 members
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