Camcorder Reviews

I have owned this camera for over two years and have produced about 10 video productions with it, ranging from 3 minutes to 30.

Overall, the camera works great. I got it on an open-box special at Circuit City, and I think it must have been dropped or something, because there are definitely loose connections somewhere. The viewfinder flickers and the firewire port is very sensitive to how far the cable is plugged into it. I sent it away to Sony for repair and after 6 weeks it came back in the same condition. Since I can't be without the thing for long stretches like that, I've never re-sent it.

Other than this nuisance issue, it has performed flawlessly, even though it's been through some tough situations. It has happily accepted different brands of tape, which many will tell you is a no-no. The pictures are clear and crisp, and my 40+ year old eyes love the 3 1/2" viewfinder.

I would give the camera a 5 star, were it not for the sound quality. In anything other than a hand-held, home video shoot, you should always use an external microphone. I don't know what's wrong, but the audio quality from such a setup is very poor. OK, I'm being picky and comparing the unit to others costing 2 or 3 times as much. But because the video quality compares so well, it makes the lackluster audio a real disappointment. With the on-camera microphone, however, you'll never notice the difference.

For someone who wants really good looking video and doesn't want to have the camera in the repair shop every year, this is a great cam.

I bought the DCR-TRV20 in January, and I have been very pleased with it. The image quality, features, battery life, size/weight, and zoom Zeiss optics are excellent. All around, a good choice ...and I'd buy one again. The still image feature produces digital photographs (1M pixel) that are good enough that I don't carry my 2 and 3Mb digital cameras when I pack the TRV20. I do use PhotoShop to "warm" the images up a little because they have the "cool" look typical of video cameras. Colors are very good, video is impressively sharp, and autoexposure and autofocus are rapid and accurate. There is excellent sound quality from the built-in stereo microphones. The controls are all in the right place for single handed (right handed) operation.

I bought this to take on my honeymoon in Jordan. It weighs about the same as a SLR, but you can take single shots as well. The night vision feature is great. By attaching the camera to my computer via a firewire system, I can also capture still shots from the video mode and print them out. I love it. The TRV20 is small enough to slip in a coat pocket with comfort. Around the neck or over the shoulder, it doesn't cut into you because of the wide strap. I wish the lens cap had a cord attached to keep up with it. The reversable viewing screen is wonderful for showing your movies when a TV hookup is not convenient. Over all, once you learn all the buttons and features, this is a dandy little unit for amateur or semi-professional alike.

I recently decided to get this camera and sell off my TRV900 because I really found I needed something smaller to carry around. It was a tough choice, as the image quality and stills from the TRV900 were decidedly better. But I just couldn't pass up the size. This one is so small for the features you get. It has many, many well thought out features. For instance, it has a little swing-down handle to make filming easier (always an issue with these little digicams). You can hook the camera directly to your computer through USB, no need to get a card reader. Pop-up flash is nice for doing indoor shots. Easy to use menus. Fairly high resolution stills for a digital camcorder. I love the Sony batteries that tell you how much time you have left...same for the tapes and memory cards. Plenty of features that a camera at this level should have.

Now, for the negatives. No progressive scan. Let me say that again. NO PROGRESSIVE SCAN!! Heaven knows why Sony continues to leave this feature off. It was so noticeable between this camera and the TRV900 which does have progressive scan, when you capture stills off of video. The ones from this camera are nowhere near as good. Not even close. If the subject is moving at all (which is usually the whole point of trying to capture a still from video), without progressive scan it is just not as clear, sharp, colorful, etc. Why Sony does not put progressive scan on their cameras is beyond me. Most of the other gripes I have with this camera are fairly minimal. Some of the buttons are fairly hard to locate, the zoom is hard to use and rather touchy, the photo button is right next to it so I often hit the wrong one, etc. Fairly typical problems for a camera of this size. Were it not for progressive scan being missing though, this would definitely be a 5-star camcorder. Without it, sorry Sony. You blew it again.

It is definitely the most expensive "toy" that I have ever owned (not counting my car), but after finally taking possession of the camera, I immediately fell in love with it. The ease of operation, craftsmanship, and overall quality make this the best camera I have ever operated (this Sony replaced an early model Sharp camera). Do you need all of the bells and whistles on it? Probably not. As a matter of fact I?d recommend that you skip any ?special effects? until you start editing the video on your computer (for which I definitely recommend a Macintosh with its free iMovie software ? it doesn?t get any easier than this!). On a side note, don?t pay attention to any reviews that complain about the location of controls and having to use your pinkie to operate the zoom. If these reviewers had read the manual they would have found out that the handle folds down for quite a comfortable grip that doesn?t get in the way when you store the camera.

I've had since 2 years and it worked great under any situation and weather conditions.
It's a very solid product, with lots of great features. Very good image quality, both in video as in still modes.
Also used it for transfering my previous home videos to the PC for editing, using the camera as a 'gateway' with its analog-digital converter (firewall).
It's my first Sony Handycam (previously used JVC cams), but in my opinion there's no point of comparison. I think I'll be tied to Sony for a long while.
Very recommended product. If you can spend a little more, don't hesitate.

About 2 months ago I purchase this camera forunner the DCR-PC5. What I liked about the dcr-pc5 was its small size, still camera mode, the use of he sony memory stick and np series batteries (both compatiable with my soncy dcr-p30 digital still camera)and its great looking hi res video. I had received a sony CCd-TR81 handycam as a graduation gift about 10 years ago and new that a sony was a fairly reliable and durable camera. Some issues that I had about the DCR-PC5 included marginal battery like with the supplied np-11 battery,low still camera resolution and quality, slow still image transfer to by pc via paralell port and slightly akward ability to hold the camera. (I'm 6'2 and have big hands, that might be the problem). Last week a good friend of mine loaned me his DCR-PC9 and I was suprised at the improvements. The battery life has been noticebly increased, the slow parellel connection has been replaced by usb transfer port. How come sony dosent allow still image data transfer via the ieee1394 firewire? Odd. I still think the camera is a little akward to hold and if you don't have a still digital camera and only need to post photos to the web then this is fine. Again the video quality is excellent and I like this camera much more then canon's optura mc10-mc20 line. Feels more solid. Also analog signal can be uploaded to the camera and stored in a digital format and then thransfered to your pc if your into editing which I am. Also a ton of editing effects are built right into the camera. Some people will balk at the price of this model but its worth it even if your only gonna use it seldomly. ...

Best of the miniDV camcorder around. After searching for about a month, comparing more than 15 minidv camcorders. Even actually bought one. I'd have to say that this is the best one that we found.

At first, we bought a JVC GR-DVM90U because after. This camcorder has so many features, lightweight, and thinner than other digicams.

But after we've bought it, we found that it's image quality is very poor in low light condition. Though it has many features in it (such as AE program with 12 digital effects and 17 scene transitions), we never use any of it. Moreover, the image stabilization also not as good as we expected.

As for the digital camera capability, we don't really use it because we have a FUJI digital camera. And the quality of the camcorder's snapshot won't match the quality of the digital camera.

Since we're not really satisfied with our JVC, we tried to look around and end up with 2 choices. Canon Elura 2 or Sonny DCR-PC9. The review of Canon Elura 2 is better than our JVC, but we can't find a review for Sony DCR-PC9 because the product is new. But we know that Sony has a respectable quality, so we take our chances and bought this camera.

The moment it arrived and we hold this camcorder in our hands, we're sure that this is a great camcorder. The camcorder is less the size of the palm. It has the best image quality and the touchscreen is nice to use. The amazing part is that it performs really well in low light condition. You can even use it in total darkness with it's Nightshot feature. Really cool. The image stabilization is also really good.

The only flaw that we found is that the AUTO setting for the light is not really good. If you're using this camcorder indoor, you might want to switch it to the INDOOR option instead of leaving it at AUTO.

Battery life is okay. With around 2 hours of recording (much better than the JVC with only 1 hour of battery life).

So far, in our opinion this is the best digital camcorder around for the money.

I was going to buy the dcr-pc9 based on [a] review but when I went to a store they told me that the dcr-pc101 was the updated replacement that included some modest improvements including much higher still resolution (1 megapixel) and 520 vs 500 scan lines plus USB streaming. I bought the Sony dcr-pc101 and have been very happy.

Factors important to us in selecting the TRV22 product, rather than the TRV19, in roughly this order, were:
* it uses MiniDV tapes, which I preferred to DVDs and CDs and other media because of resolution, cost, and ease of use
* it uses the same memory sticks as our still camera
* it includes an A>D coverter - that is, it has an input so I can connect our VCR and transfer old VHS tapes (like our honeymoon) to DVD; to do that otherwise would have meant a 100-200 dollar device added to the camera or our PC
* it includes 3 forms of digital output (S, USB, and firewire) so that I can transfer the memory stick and miniDV to a PC, for storage and backup and uploading and DVDs
* it had a good lens (Carl Zeiss) and 8x optical zoom (digital zoom isn't the same; it just stretches the pixels)
* it got great reviews, including from Marco
* it has decent still resolution, but we didn't expect to rely on it for stills; paying for still resolution is expensive (about 100 bucks per megapixel in a still camera, more in a video camera)
* it was on sale at Circuit City, with a free extra battery, camera bag, and light lens (although that was last fall)
Things not to be fooled by, if you look at other products:
* digital zoom
* some models with a higher resolution (e.g. the TRV33) actually do poorer in low light AND dont handle motion as well
* an included light (built-in lights are apparently a heat problem, and a better attachment is under 20 bucks)
* a bigger viewfinder (ours is 2.5"; smaller would have been okay; bigger would have been silly)
* paying too much for still resolution (1 to 2 megapixels is more than enough for email, websites, and small prints; 5 megapixels is a waste unless you're printing portraits)

The first thing I moticed when taking this camcorder out of the box was it's size. It's soooooo small!! And light weight too...which means for those of us who tire of wighty hand-held video cameras....no problem here. You barely even know it is in your hand. Picture quality is good for a single chip, entry level MiniDV....audio is standard built in stereo mic quality. For a while it was a toss up between this camcorder and the JVC line. But I have always liked what Sony produces...and they always come out ahead in low light tests.
The one thing I am still not 100% comfortable with is the fact the menu is a touch screen on the LCD. I still prefer to have actual buttons...but it does save space on the unit. I have always been one to never touch the LCD screen if I don't have to. Now I have too!! Maybe I will use a dull object to do so. Don't want oils from my skin marring the image on the LCD.
Speaking of the LCD...it is great indoors but outdoors difficult to see the image as well...hoping to be able to compensate with the brightness control.
All the opearting controls are right where they need to be when the camcorder is in your hand. It is comfortable and easy to use...right out of the box...thanks to factory defaults settings. Cost is a bit more than others at this level, but I think in the end it is a good choice.

the sony camcorder has got it all! well not really but as far as video quality its awesome! lots of camcorders out there struggle with low light performance but sony is really good when it comes to this. Although sonys are expensive they are worth your money! I would suggest trying to upgrade to the sony trv22 which is only 100 bucks more.....with the upgrade you get memory stick slot, color viewfinder, and analog to digital convertor! Anyway, focusing on this camcorder---haha. its really compact. You can hold it with one definitely. the LCD is pretty good. I like that you can use it as a Webcam using your USB (a port on most pcs) and you can also use it to edit movies using firewire (another port). It also has a place for putting video lights and microphone which is neat.

This is an excellent product and works in the canon G1, G2, and the D30 - I have a G2 and D30 and exchange batteries at will - caution, do not charge these batteries (Li-ion) unless they are run down completely - not to be confused with nicad's but these will go south if you top them off i.e. they are 1/2 charged and you have a habit of fully charging them. Either run them down or get a battery cycler.

This battery lasts for a full day of shooting. This was one of the main things I liked about the Canon G1. Other cameras go through disposable batteries about every 30 shots or so.

More information visit:

http://www.powershotpro1.com

This bag has an adjustable inside, so you can customize the size of your bag, so its fits your camcorder nicely. Also, there are many largr pockets that are great for storing all of my equipment. It has a 5 year warranty so if it breaks, you can get it fixed for free. This bag is great

I bought this bag for my Panasonic DMC-FZ10 digital camera and it is just great. It has an adjustable inside lining so you can customize it to fit your camera or camcorder perfectly. Besides that, the compartment on the front fits all the catalogs and cables and the ones on the sides are perfect for extra batteries, charger and lens filters. All together there are 5 different compartments, besides the main camera compartment, so storage is not an issue with this bag. However, if you are a professional photographer and use more than 5 filters and additional lenses, you may need something a little bigger. Quality wise, this bag is excellent for the price as with any Samsonite product. Comes with 5 year warranty.

Although this is a camcorder bag, I use it for my camera. It has all the compartments that I need for all my accessories. It's VERY durable, easy to use, and the compartments are are nicely sized. My only complaint is that I wish it was just a little deeper in the compartment that stores the camera.

My original goal in purchasing this camcorder was to record a festival in Russia where I would need a reliable battery between charges, good low light shooting,and plenty of space on tapes so I wouldn't run out.

In my first week of shooting, I tried various scenarios. I interviewed a friend in low light conditions. I was very impressed by the quality of the sound - both hers and mine as I was interviewing. The picture quality was good - better than I had been led to believe by reading other customer reviews.

I agree with others that the digital zoom is useless. I tried to film deer in a pasture that I could clearly see, but since it was out of range of the analog zoom, all I got was jitters and smeared video. Evidently the image stabilizer does not work above 10 power or with the digital zoom. Wish I had known this before I purchased the camera.

My other complaint was that I never got accurate readings on battery life. So I could never tell when to re-charge. The battery symbol was always empty, even though the camera was clearly full and worked. I assumed that this is a defect in the camera, called Canon Tech support who confirmed this, and am now getting a replacement.Question for other users...Do you remove the battery every time you stop shooting? It does say to do this in the manual. Just asking.

My final goal is to edit digital video and make a movie, saving it on a CD. This is because, as some of you may know, our video ( NTSC) is incompatable with European video standards (PAL). By editing the video and saving it to a CD it should be playable in Russia and elsewhere.

As a novice to the camcorder world I was very concerned and confused about the wide range of features and prices available in the market so, unusually for me, I took a little time and did my research.

Boy am I glad I did, and I am especialy pleased with the result. The Canon is perfect and does everything I want. It's easy to use and the results have been extremely good, especially considering that I am really new to all this.

It seems from the reviews I have read that most camcorders with built still photography features lack the quality of purpose built digital cameras, and while this is also true of my Canon, its not really an issue as I have several still cameras in 35mm and digital formats that I like to use.

The quality of the video on the Canon is really very good. I do not have the needs of a serious hobbyist or professional but I still want something that gives good quality and I am very pleased.

I am also very happy with the overall ergonimics of the camera and its ease of use. One of my first outings was a car trip out of NY city and I shot a lot of city shots from the car. The results were very satisfying.

I have only used a few of the special features and have not done any editing yet but on first glance I found the instructions a little confusing but I put that down to my lackof experience.
I really have no negative comments, my only small niggle is the hinge on the little door that covers the DC power seems very flimsy and I sense it may snap one of these days but apart from that the camera is really sturdy

In terms of value, after much research I feel I got a very good product at a fair price. I compared it to Sony and JVC products and felt that I bought a lot of quality and flexibility and saved over 200 dollars over the Sony without losing any features that I needed.

So this has been a very gratifying experience and I look forward to using the camera for a very long time. I strongly recommend it.

I purchased a ZR-25 which is basically the same camera.
My satisfaction with the camera is overwhelming. I mainly bought it for our trip to Disney, boy did it work great! It fit in my fanny pack! Let's face camcorder facts, if it is to cumbersome to carry, ya just won't use it! This thing is tiny and the video is DVD quality! I cut 2 DVD's so far, and the video is superb! One complaint people have had with this camera is the poor indoor/low light capability. True, it is probably not as good indoors as the lower lux sony's, but I found that if you set the shutter speed to 1/60, the indoor video quality improved noticibly from poor, to acceptable. In the automatic GREEN mode, the shutter speed must be at 1/100 or 1/250 which doesn't allow in enough light in when indoors. The outdoor video is so crisp, I cannot believe it. I'm satisfied with image stabilization also. Some cameras have noticibly more, but this always ends up sacrificing total recorded screen resolution, and I think Cannon made the right choice. BUY IT, LOVE IT, USE IT!
Kev out.

Unfortunatly when shopping for a prosumer camera in this price range weighing the pros and cons is definitatly tough. The canon XL1s is and Excellent camera that captures the ENG style most pro cameras at this range misses. However before getting all hot and bothered over that the camera has trouble focusing in low light and a very pixilated picture when it does. The Mic on some of the the XL1s's pick up body noise which is extremely distracting since zooming is a loud function. They sell an adaptor for about $$$ but I have no idea how good it is. To boot there are no XLR plugs on the camera. So guess what. You got it another adaptor.
Ok its not all bad In fact there is some good. The 16:9 crop bars are excellent for professional shooting. The ENG camera build is of the professional style so you look like the real deal. For the Director in us all the focus ring allows for a makeshift short depth of field... excellent for a film look. At this price you have to bite the bullet and weigh the pros and cons and hope when your return peroid ends you made the right decision.

The picture quality of the XL1s is outstanding and it is known to be the industry's leading pro-sumer camcorder. It is also an extremely versatile camera, allowing you to change lenses, vary your audio options (such as connecting to professional audio sound systems), and film in both frame and wide-screen formats. The only drawbacks are that it is quite a leap in complexity and it doesn't have a pop-out viewfinder, which means you're stuck looking throught the eye-piece or have to buy an attachable view-finder.

It isn't for your average videographer who wants to just take video of family and vacations. It is actually being used to film documentaries and for professional services such as filming events such as weddings (which is what I use it for).

Due to its size, weight, complexity, and cost (especially when you add the optional accessories such as filters, additional lenses and microphones, etc.), you had better be very serious about videography before you invest in the XL1s. If you are, you will be thrilled with this camera.

What's reviewer: "a customer" & "Tyrone Brumwell"...thinking! There is a Canon XL2 comming out next month in August. I contacted Canon USA and verified it. You can do the same at 1-800-OkCanon. SAVE your money for this new beauty ($4,000) it will be worth it! Read the specs at canon's website. The Xl1 and XL1s, don't come close!!!

I just bought the DCRTRV720 - the 320's bigger brother. It has a bigger LCD screen, a color viewfinder and a remote. The bigger LCD screen and the remote were the motivating factors over the 320.

This is definitely the most terrific camera I have ever worked with. The picture quality is outstanding, and there is absolutely no shortage of features. Combined with the my Apple PowerMac G4 Cube and it's editing software iMovie, this camera absolutely rocks.

I bought this specifically for digital work, but liked the versatility of being able to take existing standard 8 and Hi 8 tapes and play them back into my Mac so that they can be used for editing. There is no range of cameras on the market other than the Sony DCRTRV range that will allow you to do this. MiniDV is also way more expensive.

Also cool are the digital stills that you can take with this camera. I bought a digital camera just before I bought the camcorder and I am now really sorry that I did. The camcorder does a much better job of the digital stills than the digital camera does.

I would recommend this camcorder range, and especially the 720 over anything else in the market.

I found this camcorder perfect for a 12 yr old, but I do belive the memory stick and still photos are a bit much. It has some way cool picture effects (negative, mosiac) and some great features (nightshot, 450x zoom)

It has an increddibly compact size for a camera of its capabilities. I now use it to video parties, and school productions which i make alot of money out of.

However, I do think, that like the analog range, it needs a built in light, so you dont need to pay extra for it to attach to the IAS. (Intellegent Accsoeries Shoe).

Happy Buying!

For the price, this is the best buy for the money....it takes excellent video footage...the only drawback is the battery life is short..need to purchase at least the 8 hour capacity (very expensive)...

I had been "window shopping" the digital video format for about 2 years. My criteria were simple. I desired a quality picture, simple to operate (meaning I had a fighting chance), and a minimal digial still picture option. I narrowed my selections down to the Canon and a simular sony model. The fact sony uses the memory stick and my other devices use the Secure Disk helped me make my decision. The first test for the camera was a trip to Italy. I was extreemly happy with the video quality in both low light (nothing like the old church test) and bright sunlight. Too, the still pictures were very good in full sunlight, but indoor with flash (including my childrens' sporting events) I have been less happy. The truth is, I knew I needed greater still resolution, but I considered the still fuction more of a bonus. The size of the camera is also nice, given I have larger hands (the canon mc40 was just too small). Ease of use is great and there are clearly more options than I will ever desire. I am very happy with my value for money.

I have worked with professional level Beta units, and prosumer DV cameras such as the Canon XL1. Although the Optura lacks some of their useful features, like zebra striping, it has fantastic image quality that rivals 3-CCD units, in a very compact package.

Having the flash is a must to make the still mode useful, if you ever want to use it. Exposure was good and image quality fairly good, considering it is only a 1.3 Mpx image.

I have larger hands but I found the camera very comfortable to hold. I have had problems with other Canon gear because I find they design for very small hands compared to Nikon.

I have not seen any of the rewinding problems reported in the other review of this product, after about 20 hours of use.

My only complaint is that low light performance can be weak. I would be concerned about trying to shoot good video in candlelight conditions (i.e. Thanksgiving Dinner) but those would be tough conditions for any camera. Nor would I ever consider using something like Sony NightShot -- I'm not interested in family video that looks like war footage.

A great camera, at a better price point than the comparable Sony PC-110.

After 6 months of researching digital camcorders, I finally settled on the Optura 100MC. I am glad that I did. It got some heavy use over the past month and I am extreamly pleased with its performance.

Highlights:
> Great video
> Easy to use (once you read the instruction booklet)
> Fits nicely in your hand
> Numerous manual options to control lighting, etc...
> Takes real good digital stills
> Fun to use
> Have not encountered any tape eating problems

Drawbacks:
> Instruction booklet is long so allow about 3 - 4 hours to read it in order to get the most out of your camcorder
> High price but you can find it cheaper by doing a little searching on the internet
> Cover on front of camera to protect DC adapter plug and S-Video port is attached by a cheap plastic connecter
> Audio pickup is not that good

I am extreamly happy with the Optura 100MC and it took me a long time and a lot of hours of research to locate the most bang for the buck. Definetly consider the Optura 100MC if you are purchasing a digital camcorder.