Sony DCR-VX2000E Mini DV Camcorder

Sony brought the DCR-VX1000 camcorder to the market in 1995. A workhorse, this MiniDV camera dominated the three-chip* camcorder field. Sturdy and grey, sporting a utilitarian look, the VX1000 provided high-quality video image capture for everybody from wedding videographers to cable-access television producers to network news crews to porn producers (I kid you not -- on a Jerry Springer special about the adult movie industry, there was a segment showing the production of a porn movie and the pornographers were shooting with a VX1000). Even some feature-film producers, such as the makers of The Last Broadcast, did their principal shooting with a VX1000.

With a street price around $3,200 (except for grey-market models), the VX1000 sold very well. In fact, it sold so well that Sony went for half a decade without introducing an update. If people in the video world seem a little excited about the new DCR-VX2000, please understand that some of them have literally been waiting years to see this descendant of the VX1000.

While the VX1000 was one of the first three-chip MiniDV (DV -- a format which records video digitally onto cassettes which are about three-by-two-by one inches and offers about 500 lines of horizontal resolution, plus 16- or 12-bit stereo audio) camcorders (the very first was the Panasonic AG-EZ1), Sony currently faces competition in this category, especially from Canon (the GL-1 and XL-1) and Panasonic (the EZ1, EZ30, and PV-DV950). Probably because of this situation, Sony offers the new VX2000 at a street price of $3,000, which is actually about $200 less than that of the VX1000. Much to the delight of videographers everywhere, while the VX2000 costs less, it features more.


What's New with the VX2000

It looks like the wait for the VX2000 was worth it. While the design of the VX2000's body is fairly similar to that of the VX1000, the new camcorder features a fold-out 2.5-inch, 200,000 pixel LCD monitor, up to 530 lines of horizontal resolution (Sony claimed a max of 500 for the VX1000), and a memory stick (a plastic memory chip unit, about the size of a stick of gum), which allows the capture of still pictures, with a USB adaptor to download the pictures to a Windows-98 PC.

In terms of styling, Sony has replaced the utilitarian-grey of the VX1000 with a bright-silver for the VX2000. Perhaps they're trying to compete with the rather flashy-looking Canon XL-1. The bright silver contrasts with the dark colors of the viewfinder and the carrying handle, giving the camcorder a somewhat chaotic, tacky look. Then again, this is the replacement of the VX1000, so what looks tacky now might be classic in a year or two.

Another new feature with the VX2000 is that it can convert analog video signals to digital, via either its composite or S-Video input jacks. There is pass-through feature for analog-to-digital conversion so, as well as allowing you tape an analog signal directly to a DV tape, the camcorder will let you convert the analog signal you feed into it to a digital data stream which it will output with its IEEE-1394 bi-directional jack (a.k.a. Firewire jack).


The Mystic Firewire, Explained

At this point, I should quickly explain the Firewire jack on the VX2000. Firewire played a large part in launching the DV revolution. From the Sony VX1000 onward, virtually every good-quality DV camcorder has included a Firewire jack. This jack, which is either a four- or six-line connection, provides two-way digital communication between a camcorder and a computer.

Thus, if you have a video-editing expansion card installed in your PC, and the appropriate software, you can not only feed the digital video stream into the computer, but you can also control the functions of the camcorder from the computer, allowing you to specify in and out points for editing and then set the software to command the camcorder to feed the appropriate scenes, in the proper order, from the DV tape in the camcorder to the hard drive in your computer. Once "captured" to your hard drive, you can manipulate the scenes in your computer with your editing software, just as you cut and paste sentences and paragraphs with word processing software. You can also manipulate the audio track, adding music and narration, modify the video with various types of effects, and add titles and transitions.

One of the drawbacks to this kind of video manipulation, known as non-linear editing, is that it takes a large amount of hard drive space to store video (for a good quality image, you need about 13 Gigabytes of storage space per hour of digital video). However, with prices of large, high-performance IDE drives dropping precipitously, non-linear editing of digital video will continue to increase in popularity.

In the Mac world, the new iMac's have provided quite a boost to digital video editing, since these machines come with integral Firewire ports. Some of the all-in-one iMac's, the DV models, are bundled with basic video editing software. Apple has also introduced its own contender in the high-end digital video editing software marketplace with their Final Cut Pro ($1,000).


Back to the VX2000, Roger

As previously mentioned, the VX2000 has a Firewire jack. This makes it compatible with all kinds of video editing cards and software and, of course, the new iMac's. However, you don't need external video editing software to get special effects with the VX2000: it has quite a few built in.

Francis Ford Coppola once said that someday young film makers would carry an entire movie studio in their hands. Coppola was looking to the future, and I'll bet he was imagining something like the VX2000. To aid in your video expression, this camera includes the following picture effects: slim, stretch, solarization, monotone, sepia, and negative. Digital effects include "Old Movie," luminance key, flash motion, still, and trail. That's not all you can do to your images with this camcorder. It can also record a still image, and then superimpose part of this still image over the live video which you are recording. When you play back the recorded tape, you'll have a mix of the two, using technology in the camera which is similar to that whereby the weatherman is superimposed on the weather map. Transitions built into the camcorder include overlap, wipe (one image pushes another off the screen), monotone, and "random dot."

One highly expressive effect on the VX2000 is its low shutter speeds. It can go down as low as 1/4-second and, at this speed, you can get all kinds of cool effects. For example, if you zoom in on a brightly-lit sign (at night, preferably) with the shutter speed at 1/4-second, you'll get a really electrifying series of light trails flashing in toward the center of the frame. With the camera held steady at the low shutter speed, objects passing by will appear to pulse and strobe. Likewise, if you pan at the low shutter speed, everything which you move the frame across will have a pulsating look.

Another great feature of the VX2000 is its time-lapse mode. This allows you to record video preset intervals that range from 30 seconds, to 1, 5, or 10 minutes, with shooting lengths that range from 0.5 to 2.0 seconds in intervals of 0.5 seconds. This lets you get that animated-reality effect, such as flowers blooming or clouds zooming across the sky, just like in the movie Koyaanisquatsi (sorry if I misspelled that) or the Dinosaur Junior video where they're golfing around Manhattan. With a little creativity, and all the cool effects in the VX2000, you could easily record an awesome music video with this camcorder.



The Camera in CamCORDER

What really makes or breaks a camcorder is the camera section, the lens and the CCD's which change the image to analog electrical impulses. In the VX2000, the camera features an all-glass (there have been rumors that some plastic was used in the VX1000 lens, though the VX1000 has always had a rep for getting exceptionally clear images) 58mm diameter aspherical lens. The three progressive-scan 1/3rd-inch (most consumer-level camcorders have 1/4-inch chips) CCD's are of a so-called "HAD" (ask Sony what it means) design with progressive scan and, as Sony says, "Progressive-Scan CCDs capture a complete frame of video rather than interlacing two separate fields to produce a video frame. This high performance system eliminates the stair stepping effect that can be seen in standard interlaced systems when capturing still images."


The zoom lens runs from a wide-angle setting to a 12x closeup setting, with an additional zoom level of up-to 48x via digital magnification (in terms of a 35mm camera lens, this would be the same as a 43.2 to 518.4mm lens). You'll probably never use 48x zoom in a real-world shooting situation, but prospective camcorder buyers love zoom, and lots of it, so Sony, and all the other video sellers, oblige. At an extreme telephoto, setting camera shake is high (meaning you're mostly limited to shooting with a tripod at this setting) and the digitally-enlarged image begins to pixilate. To ameliorate the effects of jitter on hand-held shots, the VX2000 features optical image stabilization, a scheme whereby a mechanical device in the optical image path reduces unwanted shaking. This is superior to the other common jitter-reduction format, which is digital image stabilization.

Other camera features include a 16:9 mode, which produces a true widescreen picture (one which will display on a widescreen aspect-ratio video display without having to use black bars to cover part of the image), shutter speeds adjustable all the way from 1/4-second to 1/10,000th of a second, and a two-position neutral density filter (this allows you, in very bright shooting situations, to reduce the total amount of light coming into the camera without otherwise affecting the image).


Ergonomics

In ergonomic terms, the VX2000 is well-designed. For handheld shooting, this 3-pound 1-ounce camera balances well and has just enough weight to make it easy to hold steadily. With the carrying handle on top of the case and the LCD monitor, you could easily shoot with the camcorder held down at waist level and still keep the shot perfectly framed in the screen. Varying the shot position will let you keep your videos visually stimulating.



Battery Life

The weight of the VX2000 can increase, up to an additional pound, depending on which size of battery you use with it. Sony's biggest so-called info-lithium (i.e., lithium-ion which, since it has no memory effect, is superior to nickel-cadmium) battery will power the camcorder for up to nine hours. Is that enough for you? It's certainly longer than the maximum recording time of DV cassette, which is currently 60 minutes (the camcorder has an LP mode which will give you 90 minutes of recording, but with certain limits on audio performance). Sony's "Accu-Power" feature shows remaining battery time, in minutes, in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen.



Pro Features at a Consumer Price

Like a professional camcorder, the VX2000 features a color-bar generator which generates a set of NTSC-standard color bars which you can record onto the beginning and end of each segment you put to tape. These bars provide an accurate reference which will allow to you adjust your video monitor and any other equipment you use for post-production. Another pro-oriented feature you'll find on the VX2000 is a zebra-stripe generator. This feature, which you can set at 100% and 70%, creates, as its name indicates, black horizontal stripes across any area of your viewfinder screen where the image is overexposed.

While the VX2000 has an automatic mode which will allow video novices to begin shooting excellent images right away, it also has all the manual controls which any serious videographer will want. If you're coming to videography from a still photography background where you used quite a bit of manual control of your camera's parameter's, you'll especially appreciate these manual controls, which include exposure, shutter speed, focus, zoom, audio level, and white balance. The manual white balance is an essential feature since setting the white balance before each new shot (unless you're shooting again in exactly the same light as your previous shot) is the only way to ensure accurate color. The VX2000, like all camcorders, also has an automatic white balance control. However, an automatic white balance control will not always give you good color. Many lighting situations can easily throw off an automatic white balance mechanism.



All About Audio

The VX2000 follows the DV audio specifications, providing a choice of two channels of 16-bit (better-than-CD-quality) or four channels of 12-bit (slightly less-than-CD-quality) audio. In the 12-bit mode, you can record live sound onto two of the tracks and leave the other two to dub to later (however, the VX2000 lacks the capability to dub audio onto the two empty 12-bit tracks after you've shot the footage).

An audio level control on the VX2000 lets you manually control the audio recording level. This is key to getting professional-quality audio. While the VX2000, like all consumer camcorders, also includes an audio AGC (automatic gain control ? an electronic device which automatically adjusts the audio recording level according to the level of the signal which comes in from the microphone), AGC's can cause problems and manual audio control is the professional option of choice for the best audio.

A high-quality four-section capsule mic, mounted forward of the front end of the carrying handle, provides excellent audio performance. However, if you decide to go with an external mic, which you'll need for top-quality audio, the VX2000 has a stereo 1/8th-inch miniplug microphone jack. To connect pro-quality microphones, all of which use XLR connectors, you'll need an adaptor box such as the Beachtek DA4 or the Studio-1 Pro. These sell for about $200.



Double Duty as Digital Still Camera

The VX2000 also records 640-by-480 VGA-quality still images, allowing it to double as a digital camera. It comes with a 64-Meg memory stick and a USB adaptor which allows you to download the still images from the memory stick directly into your Windows 98 PC (or into a Mac). The camcorder comes with Picture Gear 4.1 lite software for manipulation of the still images you shoot with it. For higher still-image quality, the VX2000 has progressive-scan CCD's, which capture a full frame of video rather than interlacing two fields to create the frame.



Miscellaneous Features

Finally, the VX2000 features an "intelligent" accessory shoe on the forward, top section of the carrying handle, just behind the microphone. This shoe power on/off and various other operational commands to various Sony accessories. For example, some of the Sony video lights can have their level controlled according to the parameters sensed by the camera and the levels you've set in the camcorder.



Conclusion

Was the VX2000 worth the wait? Five years is an awfully long time, even with a successful model like the VX1000. But, when you consider that the VX2000 offers more quality and features, at a lower price, than the VX1000, I'd say that most videographers would be fairly pleased with this new flagship Sony's consumer-oriented camcorder line (and although it's a consumer-oriented product, it's fully capable of producing professional-level video).


*A three-chip camcorder divides the light from the lens into three color streams and then each of these streams is picked up by a separate CCD (charge-coupled device) chip. This provides a much better quality image than what you would get, all other things being equal, from a one-chip camcorder. Almost all camcorders selling for under $2,000 are one-chip units. One of the lowest-priced three-chip camcorders is the Sony DCR-TRV900, which sells for about $2,000. All the professional camcorders, such as those used by television news crews, are three-chip units.



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