Sony DCRTRV240 Digital8 Camcorder 2.5" LCD with USB Streaming

Digital video comes as a real surprise after analog systems, the image quality is superb and free of all the noise associated with analog systems. Digital8 offers a resolution of 500 lines, over twice that of VHS. The superb Super SteadyShot picture stabilization system means you can produce good, shake-free shots. Sound is also digital, and the built-in microphone is adequate--as long as you remember to keep quiet yourself--but an external one is an idea for more serious work.

There are a wealth of features, many controlled by a menu system on the LCD screen. This helps keep the number of buttons down, but can be tiresome to navigate. Getting started is easy, as everything comes set at automatic. Just pop in a tape and away you go.

The camera boasts a remarkable level of zoom: a healthy 25x optical backed by digital zoom that extends this to 700x. At higher levels, however, the picture degrades considerably and you are advised to keep the digital zoom within reasonable levels. Usefully, the display indicates when you've exhausted the power of the optical zoom and are about to move to digital zoom. The zoom control reacts to pressure, right down to a gentle creep.

There's little else to do for easy shooting. There's a manual backlight button and exposure control. It has 16:9 support, which simply cuts strips off the top and bottom of the image so that, when replayed on a wide-screen television, the image fills the screen. This does of course cut back the image resolution a little. It can also take stills, fitting over 500 on a tape, though the quality of these do not make it a sufficient replacement for a high-quality digital camera.

Battery life is enough for a day trip, but spare or better high-capacity batteries are a wise investment. A full charge takes an hour and a quarter and is good for about an hour's continuous use. If you can resist using the LCD, you might get an extra half an hour. High-capacity batteries that can provide up to 10 hours use are available separately.

Another interesting feature is the time-lapse function, enabling you to film flowers opening and so forth. The Super NightShot mode offers a green-hued recording in darkness thanks to an infrared lamp below the lens. The multitude of buttons can be daunting, but after a while you begin to wish the camera had more to offer direct access to some of these features.

The edit modes include the ability to select scenes, which is excellent if a little fiddly to use. It outputs and inputs analog video either in composite or S-VHS and comes supplied with a composite lead and SCART converter, but includes no S-VHS lead. Digital input and output is via iLink, also known as FireWire or DV-in/out. There's also the ability to output video directly to a PC using a USB cable, enabling you to view them on your PC screen. It can even act as an analog to digital converter, feeding the signal through the camera to another device.

The TRV240 is a sophisticated and capable camera with an impressive feature list that'll take considerable time to explore fully. Having tasted what can be done with a digital camcorder, you won't ever want to go back to analog. --Miles Berkeley

Pros:

• Sophisticated digital camcorder, yet easy to get started shooting
• Impressive feature list: time-lapse function, digital still capability
• 25x optical zoom lens

Cons:

• Will need to invest in extra batteries to shoot comfortably all day

Sony put in a 25x optical zoom and paired it with Super SteadyShot image stabilization. Image stabilization is a handy technology that helps to eliminate the shakiness associated with high zoom levels. The only way to avoid shakiness completely is to utilize a tripod, table, or other stable surface. The 2.5-inch LCD is the best way to frame your shots, although you can use the black-and-white EVF to preserve battery life.

In addition to the normal slew of ports (IEEE 1394, S-video, Mini AV) that have made their way onto the TRV240, there's also a USB port, which, with some included software, offers some interesting functions. Specifically, it allows you to use the camcorder to capture stills, or "broadcast live video with audio," according to Sony, which seems to indicate you can use the TRV240 as a Webcam. There is also one very important port on the TRV240: a mic input. Not only do most camcorders have poor built-in microphones, but also they are often situated too near the tape mechanism, meaning you get the annoying throbbing sound of the tape pulled through the heads.

The DCR-TRV240 comes with a power adapter, InfoLithium battery, remote control, two AA batteries, AV cable, lens cap, shoulder strap, USB cable, and software CD-ROM.

I purchased this camcorder and returned it within a day. The first shots I filmed were in the sunlight. Picture quality was bright, vivid, and sharp with great detail and skin tone. BUT, I made the mistake of next shooting video of my baby inside my apartment and that's all it took to ruin my day...

I tried every manual exposure setting, and every AE option, with varying degrees of suck as the result. Here's the setup: My living room is connected to my dining room, so I had 2 dining room lights (70 watts each) and two living room lights (70 watts each) going. In other words, standard indoor lighting. The quality took a TREMENDOUS dive, regardless of the camera setting, when shooting in this indoor environment. Colors became muted to the point of almost looking greyish, skin tones took on a whitish-grey death tint, grain and color noise was dramatically increased... in other words, this camera is worthless for indoor shooting. The image looked like an old overexposed, color-devoid photo with poor detail, worse color, and flat-out ugly results.

Sure, you could fork out the [money] for an add-on light and get better quality results, but there's nothing candid about shooting video in an apartment when the subject has a bright light beaming into their eyes making them squint.

For comparison sake, I also have a Sony CCD-TRV43 Hi8 analog camcorder. The results are night and day when compared to this Sony digital (DCRTRV240). Put simply, the analog camera performs WONDERFULLY under the same lighting conditions.

What sold me on the camera was the features and digital effects. They're cool. The analog input option to run other video through the camera and into the computer is great. But features don't help you much when the video you actually SHOOT with the camera doesn't look good. The bottom line is that the video you shoot with this camera simply looks bad. I showed the results to 4 different people and they all grimaced when they saw it.

Don't buy this camera. Maybe it'll force Sony to finally deal with such an obviously inherent problem with their digital cameras (read other reviews by customers of this and other cameras in the same Sony line and it's a reoccuring theme.) Either that or it'll force them to start being honest with consumers about what I've come to find and regard as the dirty little secret of digital camcorders under $1,200: they simply do not look good in low light environments. I'm reading that about the Canon models, the JVC models and the Panasonic models as well. Nobody, other than angry customers like me who feel like they've been had, is talking about it. That's just plain shifty.


Great camera, but watch out for hidden costs   October 26, 2002
World Traveler (S.F. Bay Area)
69 out of 73 found this review helpful

I wanted to give this camera Five Stars because it is splendid, but there are hidden costs associated with this camera that I was dissapointed to find out about, so it is only getting 4 stars. Read on to learn more.

The camera itself is fine. It takes clear pictures, and the image stabilization helps keep things steady. It is a little bigger than some of the other digital video cameras available, but easy enough to work with. I have taken this on vacation to Disneyland and the Southwestern U.S. and was happy I had it with me. The night shot feature makes it possible to film in darkness, which is a plus, although the picture comes out a bit green (but it's so awesome to be able to film in the dark, that everyone who has watched my night shots has been impressed and the green wasn't an issue). One of the main reasons I chose this camera was that it plays and records on both regular 8mm and digital video. It was easy to learn how to use this camera, and after reading the instruction manual a couple of times, I was using many of the features, such as night shot, fades, titles, etc.

I found that the microphone picks up the sound of the air going by when I film while hanging out the window of a moving car. It's fairly loud.

I bought a cheap (less than $10) UV lens cover at the advice of the sales girl, and have read about others who have done so as well. It seems like a good idea. This way, the $10 lens cover gets scratched, not the expensive camera lens. This does not appear to change the image quality.

Problems:

~You will want to buy at least one extra battery, and Sony cameras ONLY use the Sony Info-Lithium batteries, which are horribly expensive. I bought the longest lasting one for (Money). It was so frustrating to see other brands of batteries that were less expensive but not compatible with Sony cameras.

~You have to charge the battery ON the camera (you plug the camera into the wall, and use the power coming into the camera to charge the battery), which means you can't film while charging the battery. The solution to this is to spend MORE MONEY and buy a battery charger. The one I purchased cost me (Money). I was happy that this charger came with a car adapter, so I can charge the battery while driving.

~The other problem I have read about but not experienced yet is for users of tripods. The video tape goes in the bottom, and if you have a tripod attached, you need to remove the tripod to get the video out. I haven't used a tripod yet but it will be a bit of a hassle if I decide to try one.

I love this video camera and have no issues with perfomance or quality, but I was disappointed about the expensive batteries and the method of charging them.


Feature rich camcorder... with significant flaws   May 1, 2002
Tim Allison (Manteca, CA United States)
68 out of 70 found this review helpful

From first impressions....this is a great camera.It is rich in features and well priced for the consumer market, particularly for those folks with a lot of old 8mm tapes that you haven't yet converted to VHS or digital.

PROS:
- Digital 8 with backwards compatibility (reads all analog 8 tapes) and can still record in digital.
- Electronic Image stabilization (Called Super-Steady Shot)
- Excellent 25x optical and 700x digital zoom (very nice).
- Camera controls and data connectors are laid out quite nicely.
- Solid audio capability (records nice 16-bit stereo sound).
- Intelligent hot shoe: for adding accessories like a brighter light or bigger microphone (few other cameras in this price range have this expandability).
- Nice remote control and video playback features.
- Both an auto and manual focus capability
- Comes with an "infoLITHIUM" battery, good for about 60 minutes and which indicates the precise time left on the battery.
- Both USB and 1394 (fire wire) data transfer.
- Video/Audio in jacks: very nice for converting non-digital formats to digital (i.e. VHS).
- Streaming web-cam capability

*Note: Up to this point, this is a 5 star product...but read on, for my biggest complaints with this camera.

CONS:
- Tapes feed from the bottom, which is not a big deal UNLESS you use a tripod. When using a tripod, to change a tape you must remove it from the tripod AND unscrew the tripod mount to get the tape bay open. A call to Sony and every camera/tripod place in town resulted in the same answer...you are out of luck, there is no adaptor made that will address this problem :(MAJOR bummer to me).
- The camera records poorly in lowlight. Even though it is considered 0 flux (able to record in color one foot away), it desperately needs light or the quality takes a dramatic dive. The advertised super night shot turns everything green; which is good if you are a sniper, bad if you are a video enthusiast.

*Note: You can add a bright light accessory using the aforementioned hot shoe, to help address the lighting issue.

- The battery ratings from Sony are very misleading. For example: you can buy the "ultra battery" (NP-FM91) which is rated at 10 hours-which seems quite impressive... The problem is most folks will never use the battery the way they achieved those 10 hours.

Here's the "real" breakdown of estimated battery time with actual use:
* 10 hours - in standby mode (no LCD and no Super-Steady Shot)
* 6 hours - recording/ playback (no LCD and no Super-Steady Shot)
*3-4 hours - recording/playback (with LCD & Super-Steady Shot on)

So what LOOKS like a clear Sony advantage re: battery life is really not, when you consider other brands can also achieve 3-4 hours of battery life with their "ultra battery" and the same manner of usage.

Summary: In my estimation, this camera could be a good or bad buy depending on what your needs are.

* This camera might be a good buy IF you use 8mm, record in adequate light, need a strong zoom function and don't use a tripod for more than 1-2 hours at a time or would like to convert older video formats to digital.

* It is not such a good buy IF you don't need 8mm backwards capability, use a tripod for an extended period of time (2+ hours), need a memory stick function, are choosing Sony based upon it's "clear advantage" in battery life or consistently do recording in lowlight

For me however, the tripod fiasco and the poor lowlight recording was enough of an issue for me to knock it down a bit and return it to the place of purchase.

*Note: in all fairness to Sony, every bottom feed camera available will have a similar tripod/tape issue, and many low-end digital camcorders perform poorly in lowlight.


Sony excels   April 9, 2002
R. Iser (Maryland)
50 out of 55 found this review helpful

I have had two Sony camcorders in the past 12 years. The first one lasted 10 and the second fell way short at only 2. I tested out a Sharp 151u and a JVC GR-SXM740U both were bombs. Sharps video playback was less then poor and JVC had the worst sound quality ever. I was going to stay away from Sony this time but I found myself back at their doorstep.

The Sony TRV240 is the most amazing camcorder I have ever seen. After about 30 minutes of reading I had this camcorder pumping out digital video and sound quality like never before. There are so many features and it just so happens that we will end up useing most of them. The firewire port and usb are super. I was able to record TV and old movie home movies right onto the camcorder thru the A/V port and then feed them into I Movie on my Mac. The result is some super footage. I did however purchase a 4 year warranty on this machine. That way I can have piece of mind for the next four years. I dont think anyone will be disapointed with this camcorder. It has made me feel like a video editing pro. Movies and still shots will never be the same in this house.


Sony DCR-TRV240   May 20, 2002
J. Hill (Van Alstyne, TX USA)
15 out of 19 found this review helpful

My second Sony camcorder. Much better than my older one.
Excellent manual, explains all items clearly.
Amazon has a good deal on the Sony EZ Editor which is well
worth the money.... The Vivitar free gift is a
gift of a very nice canvas bag and tripod. Does not have the "stick memory". Really not needed in my opinion.
A combination that's worth buying.