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REVIEWS
HEAD
Sharp VL-DC1 & Sony DCR-PC7 Digital LCD Camcorders
Why are they here?
The new digital video cassette (DVC) format is about the
most exciting thing to have happened to camcorders in a very long time,
suddenly they’ve become interesting again. DVC has two big advantages over the
VHS-C and 8mm analogue formats: firstly picture and sound performance are nudging
broadcast quality, and second, the tiny tapes lend themselves to equally small
deck mechanisms. The first DVC camcorders from Sony and Panasonic were aimed mainly
at enthusiasts and serious video movie-makers, but JVC surprised everyone with
their pocket-sized DV1, a fully featured machine no larger than a personal
stereo. Since its launch last Summer it has become an instant hit, especially with
gadget freaks. It was inevitable that Sharp would launch a digital version of
their ViewCam camcorder, with a built-in LCD screen, but Sony found themselves in
the unusual position of having to respond to a new trend, not of their making,
hence the PC7.
Any unique features? Sharp’s VL-DC1 follows pretty much the
same pattern established by their analogue ViewCams, with a swivelling camera
module attached to the deck and screen assembly. It’s a point-and-shoot
machine, designed for maximum ease of use. It has a few creative facilities,
but it is designed to appeal to family users, who want to be able to make video
movies with a minimum of fuss and bother, and play back their recordings, on
the spot, to a small audience. The major advance on this model, apart from the
new recording format, is the 4-inch LCD, which produces a clear bright image,
even in strong ambient light, but for our money the most important innovation
is the smudge resistant screen. Normal LCD screen look really horrible after a
few minutes use, this one is somehow immune to sticky fingermarks.
The PC7 is both smaller and neater, with two colour LCD
screens. The one on top is a conventional viewfinder; the other one is on the
side, it’s 2.5 inches across and it’s on a hinge, so it opens out to face the
user. It can also be turned towards the subject, the image is automatically
inverted, so it’s the right way up. On the side of the deck there’s a tiny
speaker, so you can hear what’s going on as well. It has three program
auto-exposure modes, and an image stabiliser, but none of the creative
facilities of the JVC machine, or, to a lesser extent the digital ViewCam. It
does however have some advanced editing features and a digital video (DV)
output or ‘FireWire’ interface, that will allow it to download images into a
PC, equipped with a suitable adaptor card. Sony are currently the only company
to market then, they sell for around £500.
How do they perform? Both machines work extremely well, with
picture resolutions of over 460 lines. That compares with around 250 lines on the
best 8mm and VHS-C camcorders, and 400 lines on S-VHS/C and Hi8 equipment.
Recordings look exceptionally clean, with hardly a trace of luminance or colour
noise. The newly developed CCD image sensor on the PC7 has slightly better low
light performance, and colours look a shade crisper but both of them cope well
with artificial light, and difficult lighting situations.
Sharp’s 4-inch LCD screen is one of the best we’ve seen,
very detailed, and colours look almost natural. The Sony screen isn’t so
bright, and colours can be a little vague at times. The LCD viewfinder isn’t
much better, and it’s fairly coarse too, unable to resolve the fine detail needed
to for manual focus adjustment in poor light.
The PCM digital stereo soundtracks on both machines produce
a crisp sound unusually good treble and bass response -- compared with most
analogue camcorders -- though the forward facing microphone on the ViewCam
produces a more realistic soundfield. The microphones on the PC7 are on the
top, and they tend to pick up sounds from all around, and below, including some
motor whine and handling noises.
ViewCam is a little bulkier than the PC7 and really needs to
be held with both hands for maximum comfort; the Sony machine is a little more
convenient, though the box-like shape isn’t ideal, and some of the controls are
tricky to get at one-handed.
Verdict: Sony win hands down when it comes to the cuteness factor,
and the top mounted viewfinder makes it a little more flexible. The extra editing
facilities and digital output means it will probably appeal more to serious
users. The ViewCam is more of a fun ‘n family camcorder, great for snapping and
almost idiot-proof, with superb picture quality.
Sharp VL-DC1
Features: manual iris override, time/date recording, record
search, high-speed shutter (5-speeds), instant zoom (12x optical, 30x digital),
interval recording, timecode recording, slomo replay, snapshot recording, image
stabiliser, remote control
Sockets: headphones and external mic (minijack), DC power,
AV output
Picture quality ****
Sound quality ****
Build quality ****
Features ***
Ease of use ****
COMPETITORS
JVC GR-DV1 £1800 HE38
Sony DCR-PC7 £2000 HE42
Sharp UK Ltd., telephone 0161-205 2333
Sony DCR-PC7
Features 3-mode program AE, time/date recording, fader, x10
optical/x20 digital zooms, snapshot recording, image stabiliser, record review,
tally lamp, remote control, FireWire interface
Sockets AV
& headphone output (minijack), S-Video out (mini DIN), DV out,
power/control/AV (proprietary multi-pin)
Picture quality ****
Sound quality ***
Build quality ****
Features ****
Ease of use ***
COMPETITORS
JVC GR-DV1 £1800 HE38
Sharp VL-DC1 £2000 HE42
Sony UK Ltd., telephone 0181-784 1144
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R. Maybury 1996 0311
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