Sony DCR-V2000E MiniDV camcorder (Sony Handycam DCR-VX2000E)

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Product:	Sony Handycam DCR-VX2000E
Date:	23/05/01 (408 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: broadcast quality video capture, it has everything that you could possibly want and use, Very good mechanisms, high quality

Disadvantages: a bit too heavy

Key Features: 72mm (equivalent to 43-518 on 35mm camera), C2.5-inch LCD, DV-in/out, analogue-in/out (composite and S-Video), mic and headphone jacks, memory stick for stills, measures: 125x39x62mm, weighs: 280g

Way back in 1995 Sony released the first MiniDV camcorder to a largely indifferent world. The VX1000 quickly became a favourite for electronic news gathering and low-budget documentary making. The VX2000 is their latest semi-pro camcorder and it looks like being every bit as popular as its predecessors.

For a start, it looks the part. Without the need to pander to consumer needs and prejudices it's free to be as businesslike as it wants. The body is chunky with plenty of room for buttons and switches, including a lovely big variable-speed zoom control. The lens assembly is massive while the huge lens hood fits onto a large ring suitable for lens adaptors and filters (the lens itself is not removable). The twin mics are mounted well above the body on a rugged assembly that doubles as a carrying handle. The viewfinder projects outwards from the body far enough that it can be used easily by either eye. The battery compartment is deep enough to house even the most capacious battery without having to have it hanging out the back, although this last observation prompted my only real gripe. If I pay all that money for a camcorder, why should a battery that lasts more than half an hour of stop-start shooting be considered an optional extra?.

Picture quality is unmatched. DV needs a lot of light, but even down to close to the stated minimum of 2 lux the VX2000 performed magnificently. Colours are true and natural. Detail is sharp. Glitches and artefacts are all but absent. Sound, too, is remarkable. Even using the dreaded camera-mounted mics, pickup is clean and clear and more than useful for many applications. With the VX2000, you could shoot it, cut it and broadcast it on the Nine O'Clock News and no one would know you'd '
just' used a camcorder.

Controls are in abundance. Manual focus, manual zoom (unheard of in consumer circles), manual white balance, shutter speed, backlight and spotlight correction as well as AE mode selection can all be accessed using dedicated buttons and switches, rather than scrolling through on-screen menus. On top of all the factory options, you can set up your own custom preset of colour, sharpness, white balance shift and AE shift through a handily placed button.

Sony's usual range of effects and fades are there, including the standard Negative Art and Sepia, and a true widescreen mode. This shoots 16:9 footage using all the pixels rather than a mask and saves the results as a horizontally squashed, anamorphic, picture which can be stretched out to full width on a widescreen telly.

Naturally, it has both analogue and video input capabilities and will even process analogue footage on the fly so you can use it to capture analogue video and send it via a FireWire connection to your computer, bypassing the need for a separate analogue capture card.

Basically, the VX2000 is a filmmaker's fantasy. For the amateur videobloke, the ability to shoot footage of this quality is a dream come true. If you're serious about your movie making and you've yet to take the plunge with a more grown-up camcorder, this is definitely one worth considering. Ignore its impracticalities (you'll not want it on family days out or down the footy ground to record your team's triumph) and just revel in its glorious wonderfulness. Sony'll have to pry this one out of my cold, dead hands.


Handheld, it's a bit of a beast. It's definitely nose-heavy and needs two hands for a proper steady shot. Unlike its rival, the Canon XL1, it can't be braced against the shoulder, but on a tripod it's a dream.

There comes a time in the life of an amateur filmaker when they say, "Damn this crappy
consumer camcorder. The colours are bleeding all over the shop, there's no manual zoom, the manual overrides are a joke and everything I shoot looks like You've Been Framed. I need a proper video camera." And so, with a wave of the zircon-encrusted T magic wand, we present the Sony DCR-VX2000E.

Way back in 1995 Sony released the first MiniDV camcorder to a largely indifferent world. The VX1000 quickly became a favourite for electronic news gathering and low-budget documentary making. The VX2000 is their latest semi-pro camcorder and it looks like being every bit as popular as its predecessors.


Handheld, it's a bit of a beast. It's definitely nose-heavy and needs two hands for a proper steady shot. Unlike its rival, the Canon XL1, it can't be braced against the shoulder, but on a tripod it's a dream.

Verdict: The VX2000 has to be the new camcorder of choice for independent film-makers, serious video journalists and rich enthusiasts

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