Hands-on VX2000 Report, Part Two
by David Ruether, Spring 2000

The Companion notes... this is the second half of David Ruether's extensive review. It has been reproduced here with permission of the author from its original location at www.ferrario.com/ruether/sony_dcr-vx2000.htm (be sure to check out this page for some great comparison images which accompany his review). The following comments are based on several weeks of experience with two samples of the VX2000...

The Sound:

The built-in VX2000 microphone is unusually wind-insensitive, and adding a couple of layers of air-conditioning filter foam improves this, making this one of the few camcorders that can be used in moderate wind without an external mic. The built-in mic has a rather bright sound, and appears to have unusually low gain compared with several other external mics I tried. The result is that audio levels are unusual, and this makes adding most mics on the AGC appear impractical, because excessive limiting ruins the sound.

However, switching to manual gain works best with external mics, and the viewfinder's audio level meter sometimes makes it easy to keep track of manual audio-gain needs. I was able to hear excessive noise (and "popcorn" noise, in addition to hiss) when input and output gains were set incorrectly. In normal use, though, with peaks just below clipping I have not heard unusually high background noise levels.

In a quiet room, there appears to be no pickup of camera motor sound, unlike the other camcorders I've tried, though motor noise pick-up with most of the 3-chip DV camcorders has been minimal. I did hear the recorded noise of releasing the start/stop button on one of the VX2000s. Adding a small center blob on it prevented the button from sticking to my finger during release.

Overall, the sound is very good, and having line-level selection available is useful, but it is not without some quirks. The Canon XL1 still wins here, though, for its versatility, general sound quality, and controls, though I have reservations about its lens controls and image quality compared with some others camcorders I've tested.

Handling:

The VX2000 is fairly large and heavy as far as "compact" camcorders go, but it is very noticeably smaller and lighter than the XL1. It is therefore harder to pack in normal sized camera bags than most others.

The zoom ring is hard for me to accurately control for smooth full-range zooms, but it is excellent for smooth start/stops for shorter zooms. The VX2000 rocker zoom control appears better than other Sony zoom controls, but it has the usual abrupt starts and stops. The large manual-focus ring is nice.

The two built-in neutral density filters (1/4 and 1/32) make for easier control of depth of field and shutter speed, in my preferred "AE with selected aperture" operating mode. Unfortunately, unlike the VX1000 with which I can use AE-A with almost any selected aperture without needing to stop and switch on the ND filter, the VX2000 can actually run out of available shutter speeds in AE-A mode... requiring an ND filter for good exposure in bright light. Using an ND filter is advisable in bright light to lower the shutter speed, reducing strobing during motion and vertical smear of bright lights, but it is also nice to be able to move from a dark interior to a bright exterior in one single shot.

The battery placement is good, and the largest Sony batteries will fit (a welcome addition!) and they do not interfere with viewfinder use.

As usual, the indicated battery run times in the specs and in the viewfinder display have little to do with reality... but the run times are so much longer these days with the medium and large size batteries. There is no external battery charger supplied with the VX2000. Batteries are charged only internally using the supplied AC adapter, unless you spring for the accessory external charger, or already have another one which is supplied with most other Sony Mini-DV camcorders. I just use my TRV9 charger.

The viewfinder is good, especially when used with the excellent eyecup, which accommodates glasses well. However, it fits so tightly that steamed eyeglasses are a regular hazard with the big VX2000 eyecup. In comparison, on the old VX1000 viewfinder the magnification was higher, the eyepiece was larger, and the off-axis view was better than the VX2000, and the color could be dialed out for a slightly easier-to-focus B&W image.

The viewfinder image mysteriously blinks occasionally on both my VX2000 samples. The little fold-out LCD monitor has some occasional uses, but it is too hard to see in bright daylight to be of much use most of the time. A useful viewfinder feature is included: a rectangle in the display (which can be switched on/off) that can be used as a guide for aligning the camcorder with horizontal and vertical subject lines.

Along with its bright silver color, there are several "hokey" features brought over from the TRV900 to the VX2000, giving it a "consumer" look and feel undeserved by its overall excellent picture and sound capability. Features such as function chimes, useless AE modes (though AE-A with selected aperture, combined with AE bias-adjustment and sometimes an ND filter to prevent high-speed shutter negative effects, has been very useful to me). Also there are some useless special effects (with the exception of B&W mode), and the silly still-photo feature. For stills, any of the much smaller, sharper, lighter, cheaper digital still cameras will produce better results, without spoiling video footage with non-interlacing - and I suspect the auto exposure error in the VX2000 and TRV900 is related to still image needs. I would rather Sony and others skipped the nearly useless features such as still image capture in favor of lower prices and more compact camcorders.

But these features can be ignored, along with the time-lapse ability, which is puts excessive wear on the tape transport mechanism. The VX2000 does have some nice features brought over from the TRV900 and VX1000, or added new ones. These include color bars, analog-to-DV transcoding (without having to record analogue footage onto Mini-DV tape first), LP mode recording, 16-bit sound recording, line-level recording ability, VF sound-level meter, VF guide rectangle, two levels of VF highlight overexposure indication (zebra stripes), and the "manual" zoom ring (it is servo-type, but it almost feels real).

Handling the VX2000 is fairly pleasant, but some controls are still hard to find and awkward to use. I think the Panasonic AG-EZ30U is the easiest to carry, pack, and handle of the DV camcorders in this group, though its controls and low-light ability are very limited.

Ah, well, nothing is perfect, and I prefer other camcorders for particular strengths... but overall, the VX2000 is the best yet that I have tried. Just keep in mind that these are very early observations, and may change with more experience...

David Ruether
David Ruether Photography
see also www.ferrario.com/ruether/camcorder-comparison.htm
rpn1@cornell.edu

Read the first half of David's review.
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