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Editors' rating
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$1,399.99

It's not cheap, but the Sony Handycam DCR-PC330, with its 3-megapixel CCD, can produce both excellent video and decent digital stills. As a camcorder, its video quality and feature set rival the best of Sony's single-chip offerings. As a camera, it takes photos that are occasionally good enough to enlarge up to 8x10 inches. While it has a few minor flaws, the PC330 can sometimes replace your camcorder and digital still camera when you're not up to carrying both.
The vertically oriented Sony Handycam DCR-PC330 fits comfortably in the hand and has a solid, rugged feel. At 540g sans tape and battery, this solidly constructed camcorder, though relatively compact, is no lightweight.
We're not crazy about the PC330's bottom-loading cassette design, which is common among this class of camcorders. | You use the PC330's power switch to cycle through the capture and playback modes. |
We like the flip-down finger rest, which lets you use your pinky and ring finger to stabilise the camcorder. The Start/Stop button falls comfortably under your thumb, as does the zoom control under your index finger. Controls are intelligently laid out and clearly marked.
You can focus manually via the ring on the PC330's lens. |
Compared to earlier incarnations, the PC330's touch-screen menu system has additional animation and sleeker graphics. You can customise the menus, and the system is largely straightforward to understand and use. But the debate continues over the merits of the camcorder touch screen. Some love its intuitive interface; some hate having to open the LCD to get to the menus.
The Sony Handycam DCR-PC330's standout feature is its 3-megapixel CCD, which can capture photos at its full resolution. Its 2.1-megapixel video resolution isn't shabby either. Combine those numbers with an excellent Leica lens, a built-in flash, and features such as laser-holographic focusing and NightFraming, which provides an infrared preview for framing in low light, and you have the potential for a very acceptable digital still camera living inside your camcorder.
Spot metering and spot focusing, features unique to Sony's camcorders, are both novel and useful applications for the touch screen. Manual exposure control, however, doesn't lend itself to touch-screen operation; we'd prefer to have a physical control on the camera body. Some Sony models won't let you use the progressive (noninterlaced) mode and image stabilisation at the same time, but that's not the case with the PC330. To record time-lapse video, such as flowers opening, use the Interval mode. The NightShot mode records infrared night vision, even in total darkness, though your images will look monochrome green--think Paris Hilton. Unfortunately, this model doesn't have zebra stripes, which indicate overexposed, out-of-gamut areas. Another feature serious amateurs will miss: You can't control the audio level manually, as you can with the Canon Optura 300 and the Canon Optura Xi.
With the DCR-PC330, Sony seems to have mellowed out the hypersensitive zoom controls of the earlier models. It is now possible to perform slow, controlled zooms without inadvertently stalling or speeding up. We'd love to see variable zoom speed, especially slow speeds, on the remote's zoom-control switch as well. The autofocus is quite speedy and decisive, as we've found to be the case on all of Sony's camcorders. The tape transport and the zoom are quiet and well isolated from the mike. The microphone does a good job at capturing vocal tones in typical situations and isn't bad for a built-in unit.
The Hologram Autofocus system works very well for focusing stills in low- or no-light situations, and the NightFraming function is extremely useful for finding your shot in the same types of limited-light scenarios.
As is typical of so many camcorder batteries, the one that comes with the Sony Handycam DCR-PC330 has an average use per charge that's shorter than the length of a standard tape. We'd like to see it creep up to a full hour. |
The Sony Handycam DCR-PC330's video-image performance is very similar to that of the company's older prosumer models such as the DCR-TRV39 and the DCR-TRV80. The PC330's images are sharp and crisp, with very clean edges. As is typical of Sony camcorders, the automatic colour temperature on the PC330 skews a bit toward cool, producing more-vivid hues than a neutral white balance would in typical interior-lighting scenarios but not so severely that the effect is displeasing. The camcorder's standard-operation lower-light video performance is quite decent; the PC330 uses a very clean gain--which you can't control manually--to pump up the available light. When light levels drop beyond the camera's standard-mode capability, using the NightShot or Colour Slow Shutter functions will allow you to keep filming, albeit with special-effect visuals of one sort or another. (NightShot produces monochrome night-vision images; Colour Slow Shutter creates motion streaks and somewhat artistic blurs.)
This scaled-down frame grab from the PC330 shows pleasingly saturated colours and good exposure. |
Still photos that we printed on photographic paper at a local lab came out excellent (using a photo process that created a negative from the file) and held their own even when we blew them up to 8x10 inches. However, in low-light situations, our still images didn't fare as well as the PC330's video. Our photos, which we printed on an Epson Stylus Photo 2200, came out fuzzy and noisy; we don't recommend enlarging and printing those. Overall, the PC330's stills look much better than those taken with your average camcorder, but despite their lower resolutions, the Canon Optura 300 and the Canon Optura Xi still produce a better final photo.
Under indoor lighting, the PC330's stills looked far noisier than we expected and showed some noticeable compression artefacts. |
Sony DCR-PC330
Company: Sony Australia
Price: AU$2,999
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: 1300 720 071
Specifications
General | |
---|---|
Depth | 4.4 in |
Camcorder Media Type | Mini DV |
Optical Sensor Type | CCD |
Optical Sensor Size | 1/3" |
Digital Zoom | 120 x |
Video Recording Modes | LP, SP |
System | TTL contrast detection |
Digital Video Format | MPEG-1 |
Image Recording Format | JPEG |
Interfaces Provided | S-Video, component video |
Analog Video Format | PAL |
Horizontal Resolution | 530 dpi |
Image Stabilizer | electronic (Super Steady Shot) |
Shooting Modes | digital photo mode, frame movie mode |
Webcam Capability | Yes |
Image Recording Format | JPEG |
Effective Video Resolution | 2 MP |
Digital Zoom | 120x |
Digital Scene Transition | Wipe fader, overlap fader, random, monotone fader, mosaic fader, black fader |
Optical Sensor Size | 1/3" |
Optical Zoom | 10x |
Video Recording Modes | SP, LP |
Print Standard | DPOF support, PictBridge support |
Auto Focus | TTL contrast detection |
Camcorder Sensor Resolution | 3.3 MP |
Digital Video Format | MPEG-1 |
Optical Sensor Type | CCD |
Camera Flash | |
Type | pop-up flash |
Effective Flash Range | 1 ft - 8 ft |
Red Eye Reduction | Yes |
Features | flash +/- compensation |
Camera Flash | Pop-up flash |
Flash Modes | Fill-in mode, auto mode, flash OFF mode |
Features | Flash +/- compensation |
Exposure & White Balance | |
Min Illumination | 0 lux |
Exposure Metering | matrix, spot |
Exposure Modes | automatic, manual, program |
Shooting Programs | beach & ski, landscape, portrait mode, sports mode, spotlight, sunset & moon |
Special Effects | Card Mix, Chroma Key, Luminance Key, Monotone, Mosaic, Negative Art, Pastel, Sepia, Solarization |
White Balance | automatic, custom, presets |
White Balance Presets | indoor, outdoor |
Max Shutter Speed | 1/4000 sec |
Min Shutter Speed | 1/4 sec |
Min Shutter Speed | 1/4 sec |
Special Effects | Solarization, Sepia, Mosaic, Pastel, Monotone, Luminance Key, Negative Art, Card Mix, Chroma Key |
White Balance | Custom, automatic, presets |
Shooting Programs | Spotlight, sunset & moon, landscape, portrait mode, beach & ski, sports mode |
Max Shutter Speed | 1/4000 sec |
Exposure Metering | Spot, matrix |
Exposure Modes | Program, automatic, manual |
Min Illumination | 0 lux |
White Balance Presets | Indoor, outdoor |
Display | |
Display Format | 211,200 pixels |
Display Form Factor | rotating (270°) |
Miscellaneous | |
Included Accessories | IR remote control, USB cable, audio / video cable, cleaning cloth, lens cap, lens hood, power adapter |
Lens System | |
Type | Carl Zeiss zoom lens - 10x zoom - 5.1 - 51 mm - f/1.8-2.1 |
Optical Zoom | 10 x |
Lens Aperture | f/1.8-2.1 |
Min Focal Length | 5.1 mm |
Max Focal Length | 51 mm |
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera | 45 m |
Focus Adjustment | automatic, manual |
Zoom Adjustment | motorized drive |
Filter Size | 37 mm |
Lens Brand | Carl Zeiss |
Features | low dispersion glass |
Viewfinder | |
Viewfinder Type | LCD |
Viewfinder Color Support | color |
Viewfinder Diagonal Size | 0.44 in |
Viewfinder Resolution | 180000 pixels |
Viewfinder Type | Electronic - LCD |
Viewfinder Diagonal Size | 0.44" |
Viewfinder Resolution | 180,000 pixels |
Viewfinder Color Support | Color |
Memory / Storage | |
Included Memory Card | 16 MB MS |
Image Storage |
Fine JPEG 2016 x 1512: 10 - with 16MB card Standard JPEG 2016 x 1512: 24 - with 16MB card Fine JPEG 640 x 480: 96 - with 16MB card Standard JPEG 640 x 480: 240 - with 16MB card |
Video Capture |
MPEG - 320 x 240 - 160 sec - with 16MB card MPEG - 160 x 112 - 640 sec - with 16MB card |
Memory Card Slot | Memory Stick card |
Additional Features | |
DV input | Yes |
Additional Features | Built-in speaker, backlight compensation, digital noise reduction, analog to digital conversion with pass through |
Low Lux / Night Mode | Yes |
Flash Terminal | Hot shoe |
Flash Terminal | hot shoe |
Features | analog to digital conversion with pass through, backlight compensation, built-in speaker, digital noise reduction |
Connections | |
Memory Card Slot | Memory Stick card |
Microphone | |
Microphone Operation Mode | stereo |
Microphone Operation Mode | Stereo |
Software | |
Type | Drivers & Utilities, PIXELA Image Mixer |
Software | Drivers & Utilities, PIXELA Image Mixer |
Header | |
Brand | Sony |
Product Line | Sony Handycam |
Model | DCR-PC330 |
Packaged Quantity | 1 |
Video Input | |
Type | Digital video camera |
Camcorder Type | consumer |
Min Illumination | 0 lux |
Digital Zoom | 120 x |
Digital Video Format | MPEG-1 |
Image Recording Format | JPEG |
Interfaces Provided | S-Video, component video |
Camcorder Media Type | Mini DV |
Video Recording Modes | LP, SP |
Special Effects | Card Mix, Chroma Key, Luminance Key, Monotone, Mosaic, Negative Art, Pastel, Sepia, Solarization |
Digital Scene Transition | black fader, monotone fader, mosaic fader, overlap fader, random, wipe fader |
Flash Terminal | hot shoe |
Image Stabilizer | electronic (Super Steady Shot) |
Features | analog to digital conversion with pass through, backlight compensation, built-in speaker, digital noise reduction |
Audio Input | |
Audio input type | microphone |
Microphone Form Factor | built-in |
Microphone technology | electret condenser |
Exposure Parameters | |
Exposure Metering | matrix, spot |
Exposure Modes | automatic, manual, program |
Shooting Programs | beach & ski, landscape, portrait mode, sports mode, spotlight, sunset & moon |
White Balance | |
White Balance | automatic, custom, presets |
White Balance Presets | indoor, outdoor |
Shutter | |
Max Shutter Speed | 1/4000 sec |
Min Shutter Speed | 1/4 sec |
Auto Focus | |
System | TTL contrast detection |
Optical Sensor | |
Camcorder Sensor Resolution | 3.3 megapixels |
Camcorder Effective Resolution (Video Mode) | 2 megapixels |
Optical Sensor Type | CCD |
Optical Sensor Size | 1/3" |
Optical Sensor Size (metric) | 8.5 mm (1/3") |
Sensor Qty | 1 CCD |
Camera Display | |
Type | LCD display |
Display Form Factor | rotating (270°) |
Diagonal Size | 2.5 in |
Diagonal Size (metric) | 6.4 cm |
Display Format | 211,200 pixels |
Touch Screen | Yes |
Camera Memory | |
Memory Card Form Factor | Memory Stick |
Included Memory Card Capacity | 16 MB |
Memory Card Slot | Memory Stick card |
Camera Specifications | |
Print Standard | DPOF support, PictBridge support |
Camcorder Features | |
Low Lux / Night Mode | Yes |
Dimensions & Weight | |
Width | 2.3 in |
Depth | 4.4 in |
Height | 4.7 in |
Weight | 1.1 lbs |
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